DOES THIS MAKE YOU AS MAD AS IT MADE ME?

Well if he can be silly, so can I. But I did learn this week that Germany doesn't have a constituiton.

In a recent pair of drug-related cases, the Supreme Court ruled that federal sentencing guidelines are advisory and judges do not have to follow them in every case (U.S. v. Booker and U.S. v. Fanfan). This ruling, which surprised many, holds both promise and danger, depending on what Congress does.

Germany's constitution is called the Basic Law. When it became the constitution of West Germany in 1949, this name was chosen to mark its temporary nature as a constitution serving only one part of Germany. Since unification in 1990, the Basic Law serves as a constitution for all of Germany. Unlike the U.S. constitution, the Basic Law is a lengthy document of 141 clauses, called "articles." The Basic Law is not only amended by adding new clauses to the original document, but also by changing the text when necessary.

From Freeduck's source

Quote:

In a recent pair of drug-related cases, the Supreme Court ruled that federal sentencing guidelines are advisory and judges do not have to follow them in every case (U.S. v. Booker and U.S. v. Fanfan). This ruling, which surprised many, holds both promise and danger, depending on what Congress does.

But wouldn't mandatory sentences be a part of sentencing guidelines? This looks very much like a potential loophole. Or did Congress close it? I need to do some more research too.

We were required to read our 'Basic Law' in school. In Germany we don't have a constitution, because after '45 it was believed that the Federal Republic without the eastern part of Germany couldn't have a constitution, as the reunification was the proclaimed goal of the government. Writing a constitution was therefore seen as accepting the existence of a divided Germany.
After '89 there was a brief discussion whether or not the Basic Law should henceforth be called our constitution... But I guess people were just so used to refering to it as the Basic Law that nobody seriously bothered.

You can find the Basic Law here, it's 34 pages - and yes, we to pass a pretty intense test on it, too.