74th Congress · Senate Document No. 232

PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION

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mold and model the exercise of its powers, as its own wisdom, and the public interests, should require.” 1

Primary Consideration—Meaning of Words Used.

Primarily, constitutional interpretation is a question of ascertaining the meaning of the words used. No word or clause can be rejected as superfluous or meaningless, but each must be given its due force and appropriate meaning. 1

The Constitution must receive a practical construction. 1 Words are to be taken in their natural and obvious sense, and not in a sense unreasonably restricted or enlarged. 2 “As men, whose intentions require no concealment, generally employ the words which most directly and aptly express the ideas they intend to convey, the enlightened patriots who framed our Constitution, and the people who adopted it, must be understood to have employed words in their natural sense, and to have intended what they have said.” 3

Unless there are strong reasons for a contrary interpretation, terms in the Constitution, as in statutes generally, are to be given the meaning they have in common use. 1 But, in view of possible change in usage, and between the literal and the actual construction, that meaning should be given which obtained at common law and at the time the Constitution and its several amendments were adopted. 2

“The interpretation of the Constitution of the United States is necessarily influenced by the fact that its provisions are framed in the language of the English common law, and are to be read in the light of its history.” 1 Resort to the maxims and principles of the common law is constantly had. 2 For example, the term ex post facto, which, literally construed, would apply to any act operating upon a previous fact, has always been understood as embracing only criminal laws and laws providing for the recovery of penalties or forfeitures. 3

Where a particular word or sentence, taken by itself, is obscure or of doubtful meaning, such expression is to be examined in connection with its context. Noscitur a sociis applies with special force.1 While the particular

1 Martin v. Hunter, 1 Wheat. 304, 326 [1816].
1 Knowlton v. Moore, 178 U. S. 41, 87 [1900].
1 Union P. R. Co. v. Peniston, 18 Wall. 5, 31 [1873].
2 Pollock v. Farmers Loan & Trust Co., 158 U. S. 601, 618 [1895].
3 Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat. 1, 188 [1824].
1 Tennessee v. Whitworth, 117 U. S. 147 [1886]; United States v. Sprague, 282 U. S. 716, 731 [1931].
2 Veazie Bank v. Fenno, 8 Wall. 542 [1869].
1 Smith v. Alabama, 124 U. S. 465, 478 [1888]. See also United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U. S. 649 [1898]; Moore v. United States, 91 U. S. 270 [1876].
2 See e. g., South Carolina v. United States, 199 U. S. 449 [1905]; Callan v. Wilson, 127 U. S. 549 [1888]; United States v. Sanges, 144 U. S. 310 [1892]; Gompers v. United States, 233 U. S. 610 [1914].
3 Locke v. New Orleans, 4 Wall. 172 [1867].
The final sentence on this page continues onto Page 64. The Noscitur a sociis footnote appears on the next page.