How to reform our dysfunctional federal government
For many members of Congress . . . almost their only job experience has been politics. They can hardly understand how the rest of us live.
John Paul Stevens’ greatest legacy
By clarifying constitutional amendment law, Stevens made it more accessible to citizens who now seek to use it to cure our dysfunctional federal government.
First-Ever Legal Treatise On the Constitution’s Amendment Process!
The new book collects over two hundred years of history, amendment practice, and court decisions.
Are recent “rescissions” of Article V applications valid?
“The preambles of seven of the nine rescissions show they were based on material mistakes of law and fact.
Missouri court gets it right on constitutional amendment law
“The courts have a long record of applying constitutional amendment law accurately and fairly.”
New Study: only one state away from a convention to propose a balanced budget amendment
The Constitution says that “on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, [Congress] shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments.” However, there has been relatively little credible research into what “the Application of . . . two thirds” means. Most scholars who have investigated the issue agree that applications must […]
Correcting Hillary Clinton’s Misconceptions About Those Favoring An Amendments Convention
None of the amendment campaigns . . . favors the open-ended convention needed for radical change. All of their model legislative applications severely limit the convention’s scope.
Drafting a Balanced Budget Amendment: It’s tougher than you might think
Of course, it is one thing to criticize, but another to try to craft something better.
The last convention of states ever held? It Centered on the Upper Colorado River
“This latest convention of states operated according to standard convention of states protocols.”
Fake News: How Leading Liberal Newspapers Spread the “Runaway Convention” Story
Although there were scattered antecedents, “runaway convention” claims and certain associated myths were first distributed widely during the 1960s and 1970s. In a previous Article V Information Center study, I documented how those stories were publicized by leading opinion-molders in the national liberal establishment. Their goal was to disable the Article V convention process to […]
The Convention of States in American History
In this short essay, constitutional historian Rob Natelson thumbnails the three-centuries long history of “conventions of the states.” When delegations from the states assemble in Phoenix, Arizona later this year, they will be basking in a long and rich American tradition. As far back as 1677, British colonies in North America sent “commissioners” (delegates) to […]
Convention Rules for a Convention of the States
The convention of the states meeting in Phoenix, Arizona in September will need a set of rules. Moreover, that convention will be engaged in further rule-writing because the Arizona Legislature called it partly to suggest rules for a prospective Article V Convention for Proposing Amendments. I suggest the planners start with the Model Rules provided […]
