Sen. Herb Kohl just asked Elena Kagan whether she believed that the Supreme Court should make decisions based on the original intent of the framers, or see it as a living document. She responded that she doesn’t see it as an “either or” question. In some cases, she said, the Constitution is clear — such as the fact that Senators must be at least 30 years old, but other parts lend themselves to multiple interpretations. In the Heller gun case, she said that all nine justices looked at the original meaning of the Constitution, even though they came to different conclusions about original intent. When it comes to free speech, she said that the Court has interpreted the Constitition more broadly.
