"We look to the history of the time of framing and to the intervening history of interpretation. But the ultimate question must be, what do the words of the text mean in our time"
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The specific intent is institutional as much as philosophical. Brennan isn’t arguing that judges can freewheel; he’s arguing that the Constitution’s authority depends on its ability to govern a society the framers couldn’t foresee. The subtext is a warning: if constitutional meaning is frozen in 1789 (or 1868), the document becomes less a framework for democratic life than a museum label, and the Court becomes an antiquarian society with life tenure.
Notice the careful sequencing. He builds legitimacy by showing his work - history matters - then insists that legitimacy cannot be only backward-looking. “Intervening history of interpretation” quietly elevates precedent, lived experience, and institutional continuity over a single, contested founding moment. “Our time” is doing enormous work: it smuggles in modern realities (industrial power, mass media, racial hierarchy’s afterlives, gender equality claims) as relevant facts, not afterthoughts.
Contextually, this is Brennan as the Court’s great defender of a “living Constitution” against resurgent conservative originalism. It’s not a plea for novelty; it’s a demand that constitutional language stay capable of justice without pretending the past already solved the present.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Jr., William J. Brennan,. (2026, January 17). We look to the history of the time of framing and to the intervening history of interpretation. But the ultimate question must be, what do the words of the text mean in our time. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-look-to-the-history-of-the-time-of-framing-and-64115/
Chicago Style
Jr., William J. Brennan,. "We look to the history of the time of framing and to the intervening history of interpretation. But the ultimate question must be, what do the words of the text mean in our time." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-look-to-the-history-of-the-time-of-framing-and-64115/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We look to the history of the time of framing and to the intervening history of interpretation. But the ultimate question must be, what do the words of the text mean in our time." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-look-to-the-history-of-the-time-of-framing-and-64115/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2026.
