The U.S. Constitution By John S. Pinto

In the last few months, the U.S. Supreme Court has handed down decisions that affect our lives in many ways. The most controversial was the Kelo decision, where the court said the City of New London, Connecticut could take away someone's home and give it to another private party for development. Asian immigrants come from countries that range from democracies to dictatorships.

When I lived in India, I was aware that it was a democracy. However, I had never read the Indian Constitution although I was vaguely familiar with some of its provisions. As immigrants to this country, it is important that we become familiar with the United States' Constitution so that we may know our rights and responsibilities. The United States has enjoyed unprecedented liberty, prosperity and stability, in large part due to its Constitution.       Let us examine a few myths or misconceptions about the Constitution. 1. Public policies of which we approve are constitutional and those policies of which we disapprove are unconstitutional. The main purpose of the Constitution is to limit the abuse of governmental power. The delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 sought to create a government that would be effective in carrying out its essential tasks, such as foreign policy and national defense, and not create a government that exercised power in an arbitrary manner and without limits. It is the duty of our elected representatives to implement policies within the framework of the Constitution. It is up to us as citizens to judge the soundness of these policies and use the ballot box to render judgment. 2. Federalism is the same as state's rights. Federalism refers to the division of powers between the states and the national government. The national government is constrained to exercise only those powers as set forth in the Constitution, such as issuing currency, administering immigration laws, running the post office, and waging war. The states can do anything under the Constitution unless they are prohibited by some provision of the Constitution. 'State's rights' in the constitutional sense refers to all the rights of sovereignty retained by the states under the Constitution. The other half consists of the powers reserved for the national government or prohibited to the states.       The role of a judge is to do justice under law. As Justice Felix Frankfurter remarked, "The highest example of judicial duty is to subordinate one's personal will and one's private views to the law." In other words, a judge must not make up laws depending on his or her personal views. Making laws is the job of the other two branches of government, the legislature and the executive branch./The United States Constitution was written for 'we the people.' With only a few exceptions, there is an absence of technical terms or legalese. It is easy to read. I urge each of us to become familiar with it. It will help us in our everyday lives.

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