Constitution

CHICAGO - Americans cherish and revere the Constitution. But often their attitude brings to mind the Broadway show I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. The only thing many of them like more than the Constitution is the opportunity to fix its grievous flaws. The latest suggestion for improvement stems from a belief that it shortchanges the needs of crime victims. The entire criminal justice system, of course, could be seen as a giant apparatus set up to vindicate the interests of crime victims.

Two countries. One has a Constitution with a Bill of Rights. These documents limit the power of the elected branches. They cannot be repealed or easily amended. Although neither one says so explicitly, there is a rock-hard tradition that the courts, and not the legislature or the executive, have the final say over their interpretation. No elected official would claim more authority than the Supreme Court in interpreting the Constitution. Put it all together, and an individual citizen can feel pretty secure against the tyranny of the majority or a runaway government.

TOKYO -- In a setback for the Japanese government, the defense minister was forced to resign last night after declaring that Japan's constitutional limitations on the use of military force are out of date and urging passage of an amendment to permit full participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations.The resignation of Keisuke Nakanishi, the 52-year-old director-general of Japan's Self-Defense Agency, underscores the intensity of the disagreements within the government over Japan's expanding international role, especially at a time when the country is seeking a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in a move long feared by opponents, imposed emergency rule yesterday, plunging the country deep into political crisis and drawing swift condemnation at home and abroad. Musharraf, an army general who seized the presidency in a coup eight years ago but has seen his grip on power falter in recent months, wasted little time in asserting his broad new authorities. He sent troops into the streets, expelled Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry and jammed private TV channels that have been critical of his rule.

Last week, as President Bush haggled with rebellious Senate Republicans over proposed refinement of legislation setting terms for the interrogation and trial of suspects in the war on terrorism, John Yoo, the man who helped ignite a fierce debate over the legal limits of the terror war, was preparing to begin a national tour to sell his book War by Other Means and his theories arguing for enhancement of presidential power. A leading legal architect of the Bush administration's post-Sept.

HOW SHOULD WE interpret important texts? From sacred scripture to the hallowed documents by which we shape cultures and organize governments, this question is crucial to many debates.Should texts be read literally, or should we also bring reason, history and experience to bear in interpreting them? That question has no fast or simple answer.Now comes a debate stirred up by law journals that may cast some light on the pitfalls of approaching a text too literally. It centers on the Constitution, a document that has kept some of this nation's best minds productively employed in teasing out its best meanings for each generation.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke to high school students at the Park School yesterday about the Constitution, telling them they should read the "Federalist Papers" for a better understanding of the document.Scalia said the essays, written between 1787 and 1788 by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, would serve the students better than "listening to me."About 300 students from the upper school heard the conservative justice speak at Park's Meyerhoff Theater. Many raised their hands afterward, and a few were called on to speak.

WARSAW, Poland -- The country's Roman Catholic bishops demanded this week that Poland abolish the constitutional separation of church and state.They asked instead that Poland's fundamental charter be rewritten to reflect the majority's Catholic morality."

The U.S. Constitution may be the world's oldest, and the Founding Fathers did keep their thoughts succinct, but those helping South Africa, Germany and the Soviet Union write new constitutions say reformers exercising their newfound freedoms should look elsewhere for guidance."

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraqi Governing Council members signaled yesterday that they were ready to sign the interim constitution as early as today. Those council members who balked at signing the transitional constitution last week said they would sign the document. The planned signing was delayed at the last minute Friday after at least five Shiite members said they would not sign the constitution before consulting further with Shiite leaders. The holdouts were told by Ayatollah Ali al Husseini al-Sistani that the constitution gave too much power to the Kurdish and Sunni minorities.