(1) the text and structure of the Constitution
(2) intentions of those who drafted, voted to propose, or voted to ratify the provision in question
(3) prior precedents (usually judicial)
(4) the social, political, and economic consequences of alternative interpretations
(5) natural law
There is general agreement that the first three of these sources are appropriate guides to interpretation, but considerable disagreement as to the relative weight that should be given to the three sources when they point in different directions.
Many interpreters of the Constitution have suggested that the consequences of alternative interpretations are never relevant, even when all other considerations are evenly balanced.
Natural law (higher law, God's law) is now only infrequently suggested as an interpretive guide, even though many of the framers of the Constitution recognized its appropriateness.
Persons who favor heavy reliance on originalist sources (text and intentions) are commonly called "originalists."
Persons who favor giving a more substantial weighting to precedent, consequences, or natural law are called "non-originalists."
In practice, disagreement between originalists and non-originalists often concerns whether to apply heightened judicial scrutiny to certain "fundamental rights" that are not explicitly protected in the text of the Constitution.
The following definitions are generally accepted by the Supreme Court Justices...
- Textualist: An originalist who gives primary weight to the text and structure of the Constitution. Textualists often are skeptical of the ability of judges to determine collective "intent."
- Intentionalist: An originalist who gives primary weight to the intentions of framers, members of proposing bodies, and ratifiers.
- Pragmatist: A non-originalist who gives substantial weight to judicial precedent or the consequences of alternative interpretations, so as to sometimes favor a decision "wrong" on originalist terms because it promotes stability or in some other way promotes the public good.
- Natural Law Theorist: A person who believes that higher moral law ought to trump inconsistent positive law.
