Trying to Abolish the Convention’s One-State/One-Vote Rule Not Only Would Be Unconstitutional—It Wouldn’t Be Worth Trying
One of the far-fetched arguments used to persuade conservatives to oppose an amendments convention is that if 34 states apply, a left-wing Congress might try to dictate that commissioners (delegates) be allocated by population rather than by one state/one vote. For reasons explained in earlier posts, such a move would be unconstitutional: A “convention for […]
New U.S. House Rule: A Hopeful Sign for an Amendments Convention
As the likelihood of a Convention for Proposing Amendments increases, people are beginning to adjust to the idea. A recent example is adoption of a new rule by the U.S. House of Representatives providing for the recording and public availability of state legislative applications for a convention. The rule change, sponsored by Rep. Steve Stivers […]
Article V Opponents Now Peddling Article 23 Years Out of Date
The latest tactic in Article V opponents’ game of “Whac-A-Mole”* is the circulation of an article 23 years out of date. The article was published in 1992 and is entitled A New Constitutional Convention? Critical Look at Questions Answered, and Not Answered, by Article Five of the United States Constitution. It was authored by John […]
Update on Article V and the Necessary and Proper Clause
Some people have asked for further clarification on why the Constitution’s Necessary and Proper Clause does not grant Congress power to use its convention call to regulate a Convention for Proposing Amendments. This is a technical area and can be difficult to grasp (or explain, for that matter). You have to understand the nature of […]
New II Backgrounder Explains the “Convention of States” Constitutional Amendment Process
A new II Backgrounder contains a brief and clear explanation of how the people, through their state legislatures, can address federal dysfunction while bypassing Congress. The Backgrounder is the first publication of II’s new “Article V Information Center.” You can read it here.
Principles for Drafting A Balanced Budget Amendment
This article originally appeared at The American Thinker. The Article V Handbook, which I authored for the American Legislative Exchange Council, emphasizes that citizens pressing for constitutional amendments should avoid fringe or unpopular proposals. The Handbook distills four guiding principles for selecting amendments worthy of support: (1) An amendment should move America back toward Founding […]
Treatise on Amendments Conventions Updated to Include Rules for Congress’s “Call”
Some people claim the rules pertaining to the Constitution’s “Convention for Proposing Amendments” are largely unknown, but there actually is quite a lot of law on the subject. Earlier this year, I pulled together that body of law in a legal treatise entitled “State Initiation of Constitutional Amendments: A Guide for Lawyers and Legislative Drafters.” […]
The Washington Post Picks Up the Flag from the Convention Alarmists
The past week saw yet another assault on those reformers who seek to cure federal dysfunction by promoting a “Convention for proposing Amendments.” The latest attack took the form of an opinion column that in content offered nothing new. It featured many of the usual errors of commission and omission: The author confused a “Convention […]
No, the Necessary and Proper Clause Does NOT Empower Congress to Control an Amendments Convention
A few days ago I heard a presentation by a spokesman for a group that claims to defend the Constitution and revere the Founders. Yet the spokesman trashed the Constitution’s framers for allegedly exceeding their authority and claimed they added a provision that largely rendered another provision useless. In other words, the spokesman charged the […]
Failure to Call Amendments Conventions Helps Explain Modern Federal Overreaching
This Article is a modified version of one appearing in the American Thinker. If President after President failed to veto bills, would it surprise you if congressional power grew at the expense of the presidency? If the Senate never blocked the President’s appointments, would it surprise you if presidential power expanded at the expense of […]
Momentum for an Amendments Convention Accelerates Even More
Well over a hundred state lawmakers from 33 states met this past week to plan for an Article V “Convention for Proposing Amendments.” Most attendees had been appointed officially as delegates by the leaders of their respective state legislatures. The highly successful meeting dealt with such issues as convention rules and procedures, how to involve […]
Momentum for Amendments Convention Accelerates
It increasingly looks like a “convention for proposing amendments” is really going to happen. The last 18 months have witnessed a flood of new state legislative applications for such a convention. New Hampshire re-booted the process in 2012 with an application for a convention limited to considering a balanced budget amendment. Late last year, the […]
