Answering Questions About the Voting Rules at a Convention for Proposing Amendments
Note: This column appeared originally at the American Thinker. In a recent post, I examined suggestions that a convention of the states for proposing amendments adopt a supermajority rule for proposing any amendment. Most commonly suggested is that the convention replace the traditional “majority of states decides” standard with a two thirds requirement. I explained […]
Trying to Alter the Traditional Amendments Convention Voting Rule Is a Mistake
Note: This article first appeared in The American Thinker. Advocates of a federal balanced budget amendment are closing in on the 34 states necessary to require Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments. Other groups, such as the Convention of States project, are working assiduously toward the same goal. If they succeed, it will […]
How A Famous English Convention Clarifies the Role of a Convention of States
Note: This article first appeared on the American Thinker website. In the Anglo-American constitutional tradition, a “convention” can mean a contract, but the word is more often applied to an assembly, other than a legislature, convened to address ad hoc political problems. The “Convention for proposing Amendments” authorized by Article V of the Constitution is […]
Proposed Rules for An Article V Convention!
If 34 state legislatures forced Congress to call a convention for proposing amendments, what would the rules look like? The Convention of States movement (CoS) wanted an answer to this question. So its president asked me to take the lead in drafting sample rules. Then CoS would present them to state legislators for comment. This […]
A Convention of States in “Gone With the Wind”
Margaret Mitchell, the author of the hugely popular novel Gone With the Wind, was a newspaper reporter and the child of a family steeped in history. Her father, a prominent Georgia attorney, was one of the leading lights in the state historical society. That her book has a plethora of references to historical events occurring […]
Whither the Article V Convention Movement? David Guldenschuh Reports
The movement for a “convention for proposing amendments” won some stunning successes in the 2014 state legislative sessions. There was more progress during the 2015 sessions—several applications were passed and none was repealed—but the rate of progress slowed. So where are we now? Georgia lawyer and Article V expert David Guldenschuh has issued a detailed […]
Wisdom From A Framer on Federalism, Guns, and the Amendment Process
This article was first published on CNS News. A newly published speech by one of our Framers offers important clues to the constitutional role of the states, of the right to keep and bear arms, and of the amendment process. Charles Carroll of Carrollton represented Maryland at the Constitutional Convention. After the convention was over, […]
Now Available: Regular Updates on Progress Toward An Amendments Convention
The drives for one or more convention of states to reform the dysfunctional federal government are proceeding apace, and Georgia lawyer David Guldenschuh is providing a newsletter with regular updates. His summaries contain information on the progress of every major application campaign—balanced budget, “convention of states,” campaign finance, and more. The latest version is here. […]
How Liberal Propagandists Fooled Conservatives into Opposing an Amendments Convention
This article originally appeared at CNS News. Some conservative groups have become known for uncompromising opposition to the Constitution’s convention method of proposing constitutional amendments. They may think they are protecting the republic. But it turns out that they are mostly carrying water for the liberal establishment. New research shows that nearly all the arguments […]
Where Chief Justice Burger Likely Got His Anti-Amendment Convention Views
This article originally appeared in the American Thinker. Opponents of the Constitution’s Article V convention method of proposing amendments tout three letters written in the 1980s by former Chief Justice Warren Burger. In those letters, Burger took a very hard line against any convention of states that might bypass Congress and propose corrective constitutional amendments. […]
Yet Another Multi-State Convention Uncovered
For many years, opponents of a convention for proposing amendments argued that the law governing such a convention was unknowable because the only precedent for such a gathering was the Constitutional Convention of 1787. This was always an ignorant claim, since even high schoolers learn that Annapolis, Maryland hosted a “convention of states” the previous […]
Mike Stern Rebuts Claim that "Congress Would Control an Amendments Convention"
Article V scholar and former House of Representatives legal counsel Mike Stern has just written a response to the irresponsible claim that Congress could control a Convention for Proposing Amendments, either by specifying how commissioners are allocated or in other ways. His response is worth wide publicity. Here it is: RESPONSE TO FEBRUARY 24, 2015 […]
