Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Before the adoption of the constitution, especially the U.S. Constitution.
- adjective Born before the adoption of the constitution, especially the U.S. Constitution.
Etymologies
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Examples
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The justices themselves have unanimously confessed that “the substantive content of the clause is suggested neither by its language nor by preconstitutional history.”
The Volokh Conspiracy » Open Comment Thread on McDonald 2009
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His thinking was preconstitutional, appealing to common law, the law of nations, and the law of nature.
Alexander Hamilton, American Richard Brookhiser 1999
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His thinking was preconstitutional, appealing to common law, the law of nations, and the law of nature.
Alexander Hamilton, American Richard Brookhiser 1999
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Douglas, says Dworkin, was a man who sensed in his gut the existence of fundamental moral rights of a preconstitutional or ultra-constitutional nature, but for that very reason felt trapped by the traditional realist view that labeled such feelings as but a judge's personal predilections.
An Exchange on William O. Douglas Lehman, Warren 1981
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Liberals have proposed a binding preconstitutional bill of rights to prevent a potential Islamist majority from limiting individual freedom in the name of religious morality.
NYT > Home Page By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK 2011
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Liberals have proposed a binding preconstitutional bill of rights to prevent a potential Islamist majority from limiting individual freedom in the name of religious morality.
NYT > Global Home By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK 2011
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