Contemporaneous exposition is the best and most powerful in law.

Explanation

A statute or instrument is best explained by the construction placed upon it by those who lived when it was made; later reinterpretation is suspect.

Where this applies

• A constitutional provision is being reinterpreted centuries after it was written to mean something different.
• The people who wrote and ratified this law understood it differently than how it's being read today.
• The original understanding at the time the law was enacted should control its meaning.

See also

• 10.1.4 Usage is the best interpreter of things.