To secure these rights: The Declaration of Independence and constitutional interpretation

This dissertation expounds a systematic theory of American constitutional interpretation. It argues that the Constitution should be interpreted in accordance with the Lockean natural rights political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence and that the judiciary is the branch of American government that should be ultimately responsible for identifying and applying that philosophy in constitutional interpretation. In effect, the dissertation advances a jurisprudence of original intention, but one far different from that promoted by modern conservatives.;The second part of the dissertation explores the role of the Court in the Constitution's scheme of protecting the natural rights of the American people. It concludes, by analyzing the form of government established in the Constitution, by considering issues of institutional competence, and by examining the fundamental purpose of judicial review; that the Court should be primarily responsible for identifying and applying the political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence in constitutional interpretation. In essence, the study finds that much modern constitutional scholarship has been unnecessarily preoccupied with attempting to reconcile judicial review and democracy. Both are essential aspects of the American constitutional order.;Since the theory of constitutional interpretation advanced in the dissertation affords the judiciary immense power, checks on the Court are discussed. Finally, the dissertation attempts to demonstrate that, contrary to the position of many critics of natural law jurisprudence, a natural rights-based theory of judicial review can resolve disputes that come before the Court. To that end, the natural rights political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence is applied to some of the leading issues of constitutional law.;The first part of the dissertation examines the jurisprudence of the American founding by explicating the political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence and the jurisprudence of the Constitution. It concludes that the Declaration articulates the philosophical ends of the United States and that the Constitution embodies the means to effectuate those ends. Significantly, the study embraces the "traditional" view that the political philosophy of the American founding is the natural rights philosophy of John Locke. Revisionist characterizations of the founding as republican and Hutchesonian are rejected.