What Connecticut’s Authorizing Documents Tell Us About the Constitutional Convention—and About Modern Misinterpretations
On May 11, 1787, the Samuel Huntington, the governor of Connecticut, addressed his state legislature about the pending Constitutional Convention. Shortly thereafter the legislature adopted a law governing Connecticut’s participation in the gathering—the eleventh state to do so. (Only Maryland acted later.) The governor’s remarks, and the ensuing legislative resolution, illustrate the following: * The […]
Could Congress Control an Amendments Convention? Not According to the Founders!
As we move closer to holding a “convention for proposing amendments” to restrain federal overreach, naysayers have not been silent. One of their claims is an amendments convention would be fruitless or dangerous because it could be controlled by Congress. The Constitution directs Congress to “call” an amendments convention when two thirds of the state […]
Simulation Shows What An Amendments Convention Would Be Like
This article was first published by CNSNews. How would an Article V “convention for proposing amendments” work? What would be its agenda? What about its procedures? How would voting be conducted? History and constitutional law provide the answer to most of those questions, but it also helps to have a specific modern example. That is […]
When We Amend the Constitution, Make Sure We Follow the U.S. Procedure, not the “Confederate States” Procedure
People who claim that states may, through state law, dictate the wording of amendments to the interstate “convention for proposing amendments” are not accurately representing the system laid out in Article V of the U.S. Constitution. Rather, they are unwittingly advocating a system similar to the one adopted by the defunct “Confederate States of America.” […]
Phyllis Schlafly, RIP
I extend my sincere condolences for the death of Phyllis Schlafly to her family and followers. Mrs. Schlafly could rise to greatness. Her book, A Choice Not An Echo, became a standard of the conservative movement. Her successful campaign against the poorly drafted “Equal Rights Amendment” was a classic instance of how a single individual […]
The 37th “Convention of States” Discovered!
Recently a professor teaching constitutional law at a prestigious university wrote in one of the nation’s top newspapers that we should oppose an Article V convention of states in part because the 1787 Constitutional Convention is “the only precedent we have.” As occurs too often among law professors, he obviously had not researched the subject […]
New Edition of the Article V Handbook Now Available!
In 2011 a national trade group of state lawmakers asked me to summarize Article V research for state legislators around the country. The group, the non-partisan American Legislative Exchange Council, wanted a practical guide for how state decision makers could begin the task of curing our dysfunctional federal government. The result was the Article V […]
Report on the Constitutionality of the “Compact for America” Plan Expanded
The Article V Information Center has updated and expanded Rob Natelson’s report on the constitutionality of the “Compact for America” (CFA) plan to amend the Constitution. The original report found that the CFA plan suffered from serious constitutional defects, and that it was unlikely to survive judicial challenge. After it was issued, Rob received […]
What the 1777 Georgia Constitution Tells Us About the Article V Convention Process
When interpreting a legal document, you often can get clues from looking at any predecessors to the document. For example, what did earlier drafts say? What did previous documents that served as models provide? Did the framers of the final version mirror earlier wording, or did they change it? If a phrase in an earlier […]
The 4th Edition of Prof. Natelson’s Article V Treatise Is Now Here!!
In 2014 the first legal treatise ever on the Constitution’s amendment process was published: Prof. Rob Natelson’s work, State Initiation of Constitutional Amendments: A Guide for Lawyers and Legislative Drafters. The work was commissioned by the Convention of States Project of Citizens for Self Governance. Over the past two years, the treatise has undergone updating and expansion. […]
Cruz Withdrawal Postpones “Natural Born” Issue
This article first appeared in the Forth Worth Star Telegram. A silver lining to the withdrawal of Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, from the presidential race is that we will be spared a battle over whether he met the Constitution’s requirement the president be a “natural born citizen.” The evidence is not all one way, but […]
Is the “Compact for America” Procedure to Amend the Constitution Constitutional?—An Update
Because of widespread interest in the Article V Information Center’s report on the legality of the “Compact for America” approach to amending the Constitution, we are reprinting it here. Distilled to its essence, the “Compact” approach is unconstitutional because it seeks to change, through state legislative action (statutes and interstate compacts), the amendment procedure specified in […]
