Elements

The thesis of this course is that there are two kinds of fidelity at the core of the Supreme Court's elaboration of our Constitution — fidelity to meaning and fidelity to role. Fidelity to meaning is the fidelity that we all expect of any court or judge: it is the effort to preserve the meaning, across context. Fidelity to role is the constraint on that practice of preservation. 

In this part, I introduce these separate elements. Section 1 begins with a puzzle: Is Article V the exclusive mode by which the Constitution can be amended? And if it is, then was Article XIII of the Articles of Confederation? And if it was, then was the Constitution constitutionally ratified? And if it was, then how do we account for the background context that makes that ratification valid? 

Section 2 displays both fidelity to role and fidelity to meaning. The first two cases are perfect examples of role; the third sets up the problem for meaning. 

Section 3 then digs deeper into the core metaphor of fidelity to meaning — translation.