1、CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i The Modes of Constitutional Analysis: Historical Practices (Part 8) January 13, 2022 This Legal Sidebar Post is the eighth in a nine-part series that discusses certain “methods” or “modes” of analysis tha
2、t the Supreme Court has employed to determine the meaning of a provision within the Constitution. (For additional background on this topic and citations to relevant sources, please see CRS Report R45129, Modes of Constitutional Interpretation.) Judicial precedents are not the only type of precedents
3、 that are arguably relevant to constitutional interpretation. Prior decisions of the political branches, particularly their long-established, historical practices, are an important source of constitutional meaning to many judges, academics, and lawyers. Courts have viewed historical practices as a s
4、ource of the Constitutions meaning in cases involving questions about the separation of powers, federalism, and individual rights, particularly when the text provides no clear answer. An example of judicial reliance on historical practicessometimes described as traditionin constitutional interpretat
