The Impending "Convention for Proposing Amendments" — Part II
Note: This series of six articles originally appeared in the Washington Post’s “Volokh Conspiracy,” a leading constitutional law website. Part I appears below, and Parts III-VI will be posted in the coming weeks. How Article V was Drafted and Ratified The commissioners who met in Philadelphia to propose a plan to render the American […]
The Impending “Convention for Proposing Amendments” — Part II
Note: This series of six articles originally appeared in the Washington Post’s “Volokh Conspiracy,” a leading constitutional law website. Part I appears below, and Parts III-VI will be posted in the coming weeks. How Article V was Drafted and Ratified The commissioners who met in Philadelphia to propose a plan to render the American political […]
The Constitution’s Article V, Not the 10th Amendment, Gives State Legislatures Their Power in the Amendment Process
Note: An earlier version of this article appeared in The American Thinker. Some advocates of a convention for proposing amendments are endangering the Article V movement by claiming the states can use the Tenth Amendment to control the convention process. They are doing so even though the judiciary, including the U.S. Supreme Court, has held […]
The Impending “Convention for Proposing Amendments” – Part I
Note: This is Part I of a six-part series I wrote on Amendment Conventions for the Washington Post’s “Volokh Conspiracy,” a leading constitutional law website. Links have not been reproduced, because all supporting information is on this website and can be found with by word search. * * * * How Past Conventions Inspired the […]
Rob Explains Why We Need a Convention of States
Soros-Funded Groups Attack the Article V Movement
Article V activists have had to deal with the defamatory, and potentially actionable, charge that they are supported by socialist billionaire George Soros. As far as I can determine, however, no one in the movement has been able to identify any pro-Article V Soros money at all. On the contrary, Soros-funded groups have repeatedly assailed […]
Jon Caldara Interviews Rob Natelson on "Where the Columbines Grow"
The Silver Lining in the Mistakes at the Assembly of State Legislatures
Note: This article was first published in the American Thinker. The Assembly of State Legislatures (ASL) has adjourned from its latest meeting, still without having produced a set of rules for an Article V amendments convention. I have been an enthusiastic supporter of ASL. I have to acknowledge, however, that missteps have impeded its progress. […]
When Government Corrupts an Election . . .
Note: Government spending to promote a specific political candidate is usually illegal, but we all know it happens. A recent example is the incident described below, which occurred in Lakewood, Colorado, a city of about 150,000 people located just west of Denver. This short article first appeared as a letter to the editor of the […]
The Materials You Need for Researching the Original Constitution
Note: This article originally appeared at The American Thinker. When lawyers and judges interpret legal documents, they usually try to ascertain the understanding of the parties to the document—or, more precisely, something they call the “intent” behind the document. The Founding Era phrase was “intent of the makers.” The “intent of the makers” is what […]
A Woman as President? The Gender-Neutral Constitution.
Note: This article was originally published at the leading constitutional law website, The Volokh Conspiracy, which is affiliated with the Washington Post. Consider these two quotations: “Indeed, the argument is made that under originalism it would be unconstitutional to elect a woman as president or vice president because the Constitution refers to these officeholders as […]
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 […]
