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42 W. New Eng. L. Rev. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.journals/wnelr42 and id is 1 raw text is: WESTERN NEW ENGLAND LAW REVIEW Volume 42 2020 Issue 1 CONSTITUTIONAL LAW-ORIGINAL EXPLICATION: A DEMOCRATIC MODEL FOR THE INTERPRETATION OF MODERN STATE CONSTITUTIONS* JORGE M. FARINACCI-FERN6St INTRODUCTION This Article proposes a model of constitutional interpretation for U.S. state courts that takes into account the authoritative adoption history of their respective state constitutions, particularly those that were adopted in the twentieth century and were the result of a highly democratic, public, participatory, popular, and socially transcendental process of creation. From a methodological perspective, I offer the model of original explication. This method has already been implemented in foreign countries like Bolivia,' and U.S. jurisdictions like Puerto Rico.2 U.S. states that adopted constitutions through similar processes should follow their lead. Other countries can also jump in. This Article was presented at the 4th Annual Constitutional Law Scholars Forum organized by Barry University School of Law and Texas A&M University School of Law in Orlando, Florida on March 1, 2019. This Article is partially based on several chapters of the author's S.J.D. Dissertation, Original Explication and Post-Liberal Constitutionalism: The Role of Intent and History in the Judicial Enforcement of Teleological Constitutions, Georgetown University Law Center (2017). The author would like to thank his research assistant, Zod Negr6n Comas, for all her incredible help and contributions. t B.A. & M.A. (University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras), J.D. (University of Puerto Rico Law School), LL.M. (Harvard Law School), S.J.D. (Georgetown University Law Center). Assistant Professor of Law, Interamerican University of Puerto Rico Law School. 1. See generally Jorge M. Farinacci-Fern6s, When Social History Becomes a Constitution: The Bolivian Post-Liberal Experiment and the Central Role of History and Intent in Constitutional Adjudication, 47 Sw. L. REv. 137 (2017). 2. See generally Jorge M. Farinacci-Fern6s, Originalism in Puerto Rico: Original Explication and its Relation with Clear Text, Broad Purpose and Progressive Policy, 85 REV. JURIDICA U. INTER. P.R. 203 (2016). 1

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