CONSTITUTION DAY: A Living Document Needs Updated Definitions, Interpretation

Thursday is Constitution Day, celebrating a document that provides the framework for the government of the United States. It was signed in 1787, with 12 amendments—the Bill of Rights—added three years later. The document consists of words written in a different time. Over the years the courts have refined definitions and interpreted intent, giving meaning to constitutional laws that without that further refinement would be vague or ambiguous. To mark this day, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology invited Pennington County prosecutor Will Williams to speak to students, and SDPB’s Victoria Wicks was there.