Opinion ID: 1908722
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 10

Heading: Relevant Principles of Constitutional Interpretation

Text: The analytical framework applied to interpret the Constitution and Declaration of Rights is quite decided and familiar. We declared in Johns Hopkins University v. Williams, that, while the principles of the Constitution are unchangeable, in interpreting the language by which they are expressed it will be given a meaning which will permit the application of those principles to changes in the economic, social, and political life of the people, which the framers did not and could not foresee. 199 Md. 382, 386, 86 A.2d 892, 894 (1952) (Internal quotations omitted) (Citations omitted). Thus, while we may not depart from the Constitution's plain language, we are not bound strictly to accept only the meaning of the language at the time of adoption. Cohen v. Governor of Maryland, 255 Md. 5, 16-17, 255 A.2d 320, 325 (1969); Boyer v. Thurston, 247 Md. 279, 291-92, 231 A.2d 50, 57 (1967); Buchholtz v. Hill, 178 Md. 280, 286, 13 A.2d 348, 351 (1940) (So it has been said that a constitution is to be interpreted by the spirit which vivifies, and not be the letter which killeth.). In addition to the plain language of Article 14, we, for the purpose of determining the true meaning of the language used, may consider the mischief at which the provision was aimed, the remedy, the temper and spirit of the people at the time it was framed, the common usage well known to the people, [] the history of the growth or evolution of the particular provision under consideration ... and to [the] long continued contemporaneous construction by officials charged with the administration of the government, and especially by the Legislature. Johns Hopkins University, 199 Md. at 386, 86 A.2d at 894 (Internal quotation omitted). Thus, we construe the Constitution's provisions to accomplish in our modern society the purposes for which they were adopted by the drafters. Norris v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore, 172 Md. 667, 192 A. 531 (1937). ii.