Compiled by Ken Wear and posted July 4, 2005
Reorganized for Memorial Day, 2006
Our Constitution, including its Bill of Rights, is the pillar of our society, the foundation
for our national character. Political power struggles have cost us much of the original
intent, so we must from time to time reappraise how well our governments reaffirm our
character and make our will known through collective action. To that end I propose this
set of Constitutional Amendments.
Our Founding Fathers visualized a government where legislative bodies proposed and
passed laws, courts interpreted the laws thus passed, and the executive branch served
to carry out the will of the people thus expressed. The underlying principles
were
Provision for new or unforeseen conditions not anticipated by the framers of
our original Constitution were left to the legislative branch in expressing the
consent of the governed. Perhaps the wandering from original principles has
resulted from failures of our national and local legislative bodies, or aggressiveness on
the part of our Federal executive branch in usurping local authority, or even the vanity
of judges appointed for life and therefore immune to citizen criticism. Whatever the
cause, it now seems appropriate for citizens to reaffirm those underlying principles and
instruct our government anew.
Our governments should hear us on language,
citizenship, sex-related practices, education, drugs, judicial abuse, . . . Much of
what I propose should be the province of law, with the Constitution serving to present
the principles on which law is based. But, since we have no mechanism for citizen
initiative, . . .
(1) the consent of the governed shall be supreme,
(2) government shall be
as close to the people as possible.
To that end:
1) the
Legislative, Executive and Judicial branches of our Federal establishment are co-equal;
2) one must not usurp the powers of another and
3) the Federal establishment
must not usurp the powers of the States.
While it is true that emergencies may require temporary abandonment of these principles, it is also anticipated that adequately responding to the emergency will be followed by return to the normalcy that existed prior to the emergency.
To go directly to a specific topic, click on it:
COMMENT: A common language is necessary to amalgamation of our "melting pot" into a cohesive society. English was and is our dominant language although it, like everything else, changes with time and should now be more appropriately known as American English (or simply American). Moreover, there should be no federal requirement for bilingual publications or announcements since these undermine the cohesiveness produced by a common language. (Cohesion is necessary to defense; the American Indians would not have been so readily defeated had they had a common language.)
An elected member of the Senate may be reelected only twice and may serve no more than
four partial or full terms.
These provisions shall go into effect immediately upon ratification.
COMMENT: The public is disgusted with career senators
and representatives commencing to campaign for reelection immediately after election and
angry at the influence of lobbyists, and consequent distortions in law and Federal
regulations, because of campaign contributions and other financial considerations.
Granted there is value in acquired knowledge and continuity in specialized areas such as
structure of our armed forces and their provisioning, but each Congressman has staff and
both needs can be adequately provided by staff members (which is largely the case anyway).
Immigration and Citizenship
COMMENT: Immigration is a multi-faceted concern and may require more than one
amendment to adequately address the various issues. It will also require our Congress to
adequately fund -- and examine for the sake of industriousness and efficiency -- the
departments of government involved in enforcement.
1. After ratification of this Amendment U.S. citizenship shall be denied to anyone
born to a person not legally entitled to be within the national boundaries of these United
States until they satisfy such other requirements established by Congress.
COMMENT: Who shall be regarded as a citizen is fundamental.
2. Non-citizens shall not vote, hold elected office or receive benefits that are
supported by taxation. COMMENT: There must be reason for
non-citizens to pursue citizenship.
4. Emergency services rendered to a person not legally entitled to be within the
national boundaries of these United States shall be the responsibility of the nation in
which he holds citizenship. COMMENT: It may not be possible
to enforce collections from foreign nations. Therefore, costs associated with emergency
services performed for citizens should be the responsibility of his locale while costs
associated with non-citizens should be the responsibility of the federal government.
5. There shall be no expansion of these United States beyond the present
fifty States. COMMENT: All territories presently under the
control of the U.S. should be offered the choice of political independence or transfer to
the United Nations. Of course, the United Nations may request we continue our oversight,
but this provision would shift the political atmosphere to the same sort of self-rule we
enjoy within our country.
6. Citizen support is solicited in securing the borders and shores of these
United States against entry by non-citizens not in possession of proper papers showing
official approval for their entry. COMMENT: This speaks for
itself.
7. Citizens who, in acting as agents of foreign powers or organizations,
wilfully act to compromise the security of these United States shall, upon being
duly recognized as such under rules prescribed by Congress, forfeit their citizenship.
COMMENT: If this results in a person having no citizenship
at all, that is a consequence of his willful acts.
COMMENT: The current furor over illegal immigrants
within our borders should impel action, although the sum-total of what I have heard
discussed is not nearly adequate to correct the situation as it exists today (May 2006).
While we are a nation of immigrants, recent immigration by Spanish-speaking peoples has
become nothing short of an invasion, albeit friendly from the standpoint of the immigrants
themselves. (You may recall that Cuba's Castro emptied his prisons and sent his
inmates to the U.S. -- a weapon against us; to all appearances Mexico finds it more
acceptable to encourage its citizens to come here in preference to correcting abuses
and corruption at home.) Citizenship by birth has outlived its usefulness. Foreign
nationals are expected to be here with the consent of both their government and ours. The
burden imposed on our hospitals and law enforcement cannot be sustained. The illegals
should be encouraged to create in their homeland political systems that allow creation of
wealth and strength so there is less incentive to come here. (There are a number of
comments on specific concerns regarding immigration in my opinion essay; click here.
a. A period of two years after ratification of this Amendment shall
be allowed for categorization by Federal authorities; afterward State definitions
will apply in each State unless Federal authorities and authorities in that State
concur in altering the list of affected drugs and their categories.
2. Medicinal drugs shall be categorized as freely available, available by
prescription only, or available only through a strict control system. Drugs, herbs,
compounds and formulations advocated or consumed for improvement of health,
and not deemed poisonous or highly addictive, are here regarded as medicinal.
3. Drugs for medical research purposes, and other chemical compounds
and formulations whose use is neither recreational nor medicinal, are excluded from
this provision.
COMMENT: Enforcement activity ranking marijuana and
crack cocaine or methamphetamines as equally dangerous is insane. I will admit that
arresting "pot heads" is less risky than going after drug cartels, and confiscations
increase revenue without tinkering with the tax system. But is that our purpose in taxing
ourselves to support law enforcement networks? Until there is a ranking of severity, the
merely nuisance drugs continue to be rated as dangerous as the deadly. Moreover, there
have been recent reports of police actions reminiscent of vigilante tradition in the middle
of the night posing unnecessary risk to life and limb of innocent persons; where the drug
is no more dangerous than marijuana, such drastic police actions are unwarranted.
COMMENT on War on Drugs: Should you feel execution too extreme a
penalty, remember that these criminals are fully aware of the destruction of persons,
tantamount to the dealth penalty, caused by consumption of their wares. Tit-for-tat
demands a severe penalty. If we are serious about removing this scourge from our society,
stern measures are necessary and public execution is the most effective deterent I
can imagine. Moreover, I am opposed to supporting such heinous persons for life in our
prisons; they pursue their trade for financial gain; let us impose a penalty that limits our
cost.
COMMENT: Admittedly, a constitutional amendment may seem 'over-kill'
and such a severe misalignment of priorities in pursuing relatively harmless drugs that
remedial action is long overdue. I include it here because -- somehow -- attention must
be drawn to legislative correction of the problem.
Descriptions of several drugs and their consequences will be found by clicking here.
2. Recognition of a pledge of mutual commitment by two people, following
rules prescribed by a political subdivision, is a civil union; marriage is such a union
recognized by an institution of religion. In all Federal laws, rules and regulations the
word “marriage” to describe a civil union and its consequences is hereby stricken
and replaced by the term “civil union.” Other related terminology may be changed as
deemed appropriate, such as “unite” in place of “marry” and "spouse" in place of
“husband” or “wife” except where recognition of sex is necessary due to
natural functions.
3. Article IV Section 1 is hereby amended to allow each State to establish
whether or how to recognize a civil union consummated in another State and to allow
each State to establish its practices regarding marriage, child custody, adoption,
parenting and inheritance.
4. Pornography is a matter of local definition and concern. States are
encouraged to assist registered voters in the precinct (or smallest geographical
sub-division for voting purposes) to determine what real estate use or forms of
commercial activities shall be allowed there, except that redistricting following the
census should not impose excessive financial burdens on any citizen.
5. The role of the Federal government shall be limited to facilitating
cooperation between States, crafting model legislation for State consideration and
establishing minimal codes for public hygiene or safety.
COMMENT: Get the Feds out of our bedrooms! The
intrusion of the Federal government into matters that are and should remain of local
concern must end. (Practical aspects of the public debate on abortion are presented by
clicking here),
COMMENT: While pornography is of nationwide interest, there must be a
sorting out of degree so local communities can assert their parochial interests. "One
sizes fits all" is inadequate.
COMMENT: The time required for public defenders to
respond to activities by criminal elements requires that the individual be responsible for
his own health and safety.
a. Federal authorities may enter into compacts with States to assist in
enforcement of State or Federal laws.
b. Limitations on Federal police power may be temporarily suspended in
the event of natural calamity, insurrection, or gross incompetence or corruption on
the part of State or local authorities.
COMMENT: Admittedly, this suggestion appears radical; but it is intended
to clearly enunciate the boundaries of law enforcement activity. The totality of law
enforcement activity has grown haphazardly and is in need of redefined responsibilities.
2. The role of the Federal government in academic practices and
programs shall be limited to developing texts and crafting model legislation for
recommendation to States for the sake of uniformity in academic performance.
Assistance to individuals in pursuit of their formal education is not addressed by
this provision.
COMMENT: Intrusion by the Federal establishment
into local schools has resulted in loss of disciplinary control, disregard for individual
abilities, poor educational performance, distortion of educational principles, loss of
esteem for teachers, . . . If we want to educate our children, we must extricate the
Federal government from local public schools. Reforms needed in our schools are
discussed separately; to access that, click here. For a
discussion of intellectual giftedness, click here.
1. Appointment to the Supreme Court shall be limited to a single term of
twenty (20) or twenty-five (25) or thirty (30) years, to be specified at the time of
nomination, with no judge serving in a voting capacity beyond 85 years of age.
COMMENT: (1) Appointments for good behavior have
not served the people well since appointments for life provide no penalties for overstepping
the bounds of reason or the Constitution (as amended). Term limits for judges
should also reduce the possibility of senility entering judicial decisions. (2) Fundamentally
we must choose between (a) a system of laws which can, by building precedent upon
precedent, compound unintended consequences to the point of absurdity, and (b) a system
which is more flexible and responsive to the consent of the governed yet immune to
transient public interests or fads.
a. Age of judges nominated for the Supreme Court shall be no more than 65
years at the time of nomination.
b. The number of judges on the Supreme Court entitled to vote on cases
before the Court is limited to nine (9); the vote of a judge temporarily incapacitated (as
acknowledged by that judge or due to obvious medical emergency) may be, for the
duration of that incapacitation, exercised by an appellate court judge appointed to serve
in his place, except that the age limit of 85 for a voting judge may not be exceeded.
2. Term of appointment for Appeals Court judges shall be twelve (12) years
plus time remaining until the day of the next nation-wide election; the term of office
may be extended once or twice, so long as age at retirement does not exceed 85 years,
for ten years by a majority vote determined in this fashion: Each district served by the
Court and from which a member of the lower house of the State Legislature is elected
shall have one vote determined by a majority of qualified voters voting there.
a. Campaigning for extension of a judge's term by the judge, his
supporters or his detractors, shall be limited to discourses on law and its
consequences as influenced by that judge's performance in office.
b. Age of judges nominated for Appeals Court shall be no more than 65
years at the time of nomination.
c. Any judge may be removed from office by a super-majority of three-
quarters of State Legislatures in the area served by the Court except that votes may
not be accumulated for more than three years.
d. This Amendment shall not prejudice a second or third appointment to
the same or another Appeals Court, nor to appointment to the Supreme Court.
3. Term of appointment of other Federal judges shall be as Appeals Court judges
except the majority vote shall be determined in this fashion: Each voting precinct in
the area served by the Court shall have one vote determined by a majority of
qualified voters voting there. Age, limitation on campaigning and removal from
office shall be as for Appeals Court judges.
2. Citizen jurors shall be informed that their findings may be contrary to the
judge's interpretation of the law if, in their united opinion, enforcement of that law will
result in extreme injustice to the person(s) involved in the case.
3. Deliberations in the jury room regarding the case in hand shall be
privileged, except for unlawful efforts to persuade a jury member, and not subject to
review by any competent authority nor subject to civil or criminal penalties.
COMMENT: Too often we hear of judges refusing to
allow testimony the jurors may request in their pursuit of justice, or instructing the jury
that they cannot interpret the law but must adhere to the judge's standards of justice.
Moreover, jurors should not be subjected to criminal or civil penalties, nor costs of
defending themselves from violation of that privilege, for performing their civic duty. I
sometimes wonder if the judge's vanity, or the prosecutor's wish to protect his budget,
become more important than the quest for justice.
4. Citizen jurors are discouraged from revealing either the content of
deliberations in the jury room regarding the case in hand or their vote on the outcome
of the case.
COMMENT: This to protect jurors from later public
harrassment should they disagree with prevailing public sentiment as well as discouraging
pursuit of personal profit resulting from their knowledge of jury room deliberations.
COMMENT: A minority of voters should not be allowed to
dictate the usage of public facilities, although space allocated to religious displays, etc.,
should allow proportionate space for displays by all religious and non-religious
organizations.
COMMENT: The Muslim religion teaches that the church and
state are one, and that all laws must conform to the teachings of that religion, which
requires that non-Muslims pay a head tax or face execution. Acceptance of the principle
of separation of church and state should be required of all citizens, and those acquiring
citizenship must specifically affirm this priniciple. Refer to
http://www.rationallink.org/churchstate.htm, which reminds us of prevailing Muslim
attitudes as well as the widely publicized court ruling in Afghanistan in 2007 sentencing
a man to death for choosing to convert from the Muslim religion.
COMMENT: Intrusion of the Federal Courts into determination
of proper usage of properties developed entirely with local funds is unconscionable. Local
schools, court houses, parks, etc., not funded or operated with Federal money should be
immune from intrusion by the Federal establishment except for the purpose of enforcing
Federal criminal laws. (While it may seem unbalanced to allow the 14% to determine what
the 86% can do, some arbitrary standard must be set and even 20%, for practical reasons,
seems too high a bar.)
COMMENT: Ownership and control of private property, is a foundation
of "The American Dream." However, there should be a uniform requirement such as:
2. Excessive valuation and condemnation of property for reasons of
personal or group animosity or vendetta, creation of jobs, increase in tax revenue or
creation of tourist attractions are prohibited, except that a petition signed during a
three month period by three-fourths of property owners who are also registered
voters in the affected area, and reaffirmed not less than six months nor more than
one year later by a similar petition, may overturn an owner's resistance to accepting
reasonable compensation for his property.
2. Use of the Interstate Commerce clause (in Article I Section 8 ) to
cloak Federal intrusion in order to thwart limitations placed on the Federal
government shall cease. Other Federal activities and controls may be added by
Amendment to this Constitution (to be in effect in each State upon national
ratification of that Amendment) or by Congress (to become effective in each
State upon concurrence by the highest legislative body of that State).
3. Inasmuch as the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in the aftermath of
the War of Separation (commonly referred to as the Civil War) with the specific purposes
to (1) guarantee to former slaves the rights of citizenship, (2) guarantee all males
21 years and older the right to vote, (3) prevent officials of the Confederate States
from holding public office, and (4) invalidate debt of the Confederate States, the
provisions of that Amendment have served their purpose, the Amendment is hereby
abandoned, court decisions based on the Fourteenth Amendment are hereby vacated
and further decisions based on those court decisions are to be revisited.
4. It is anticipated that there will be no wholesale abandonment of existing
law, regulations, precedent and/or rulings, but that, as lawsuits arise and must be
adjudicated, case law in accord with the most recent Amendments will prevail
and contrary laws, rules and regulations will become null and void.
COMMENT: Where further Constitutional Amendments may
be necessary to allow the orderly conduct of business, that route is much preferred to
Congress arrogating to itself powers not specifically granted by the people. If,
over the years, there comes into being significant differences between States in
their relationship to the Federal government and with each other, that is the product
of the two founding principles of our republic to (1) have government as close to the
people as possible and (2) ensure that the consent of the governed is supreme.
Continued Federal intrusion into states rights is unconscionable.
While I have no idea how many people agree with me, I am infuriated at the queasiness
with which later opinions are based on unintended consequences of earlier opinions.
Specifically, if local people want religious documents and displays in public buildings
that have been funded, built, maintained and staffed entirely with local money, the
Federal establishment has no legitimate interest.
COMMENT: The purpose is two-fold: 1) To be fair to domestic producers
who must presently bear the costs of security created by their foreign competitors; and
2) To require companies moving off-shore for cheap labor to pay costs of distribution
of their products, security requirements at our borders being a part of the cost of
distribution.
a. We expect our Courts to weigh the values expressed in our Bill of Rights,
as amended, in resolving conflicts properly brought before them.
b. We expect our Congress to weigh the values expressed in our Bill of
Rights, as amended, in resolving conflicts created by present and proposed treaties.
Your BACK button should return you to the point from which you l
inked here.
If you agree that local citizen consent is the foundation upon which
government and all of its branches and activities are built and should ultimately govern law
and judicial opinion, you should forward this to media, politicians, friends, or whomever
may be upset at one or more acts of judicial initiative (some say tyranny), or usurpation by
Congress of local interests and concerns, or lack of Congressional attention to citizen
concerns. If it takes local action to arouse the State or State action to arouse the Federal
establishment, then let's be about it. I pledge to do what I can and hope to enlist you.
The time frame suggested for judicial appointments should be adequate to avoid what
people fear most, that the judiciary will respond to current fads and thereby become
another instrument of politics. It should be evident, from the current (Dec 2005)
wrangling over a nominee to the Supreme Court (because of his possible history of
comment on abortion, which should not be a Federal concern) that intrusion of that
Court into what ought to remain a State concern can render Federal Government
almost helpless or useless at best and an instrument of suppression and destruction at
worst.
I accept that these Amendments will produce some degree of loss of
uniformity between the several States, but I submit that citizen consent and the notion of
local governance, considering the diversity of peoples and backgrounds that cohere in our
country, requires recognition of differences in sex- and drug-related practices, in schools,
in local exploitation of the natural environment, in end-of-life issues, . . . , while
region-wide concerns such as water and air must be considered on a regional or national
(or international) basis.
Many who read this will wish to become involved in the needed remedies. Discourse
should be in the public arena. I feel it not in the public interest for me to be the focus of
disagreements, attacks or counter suggestions, but I will gladly assist as I can in
securing names and addresses of national, state or local political figures to whom these
concerns should be addressed. For the e-mail form
click here.
My printer takes 10 pages or 5 sheets of paper to print this document.
Term Limits of Congressmen and Senators
A member of the House of Representatives may be reelected only four consecutive times,
and may serve no more than seven full or partial terms.
Non-citizens who are legally entitled to be within the national boundaries of
these United States may receive such benefits and courtesies as specifically described by
law or regulation. Information on their whereabouts and activities shall be, for reasons
of national security, maintained in data base(s) accessible under rules prescribed by
Congress. COMMENT: It should not be necessary to spell out
that there are time limits on the presence of any non-citizen. The same computers that
contain data can spit out names and locations of persons whose time has expired. There
is an expectation that each person will either take steps to retain approval to remain or
return to his own country; and our government agencies must enforce time limits.
Drug Policy
1. To maintain the public order and assist local law enforcement,
recreational drugs shall be categorized by degree of harm to the user as
1) freely
available and taxed as tobacco and alcohol,
2) available by prescription,
3)
dangerous, or
4) prohibited
and priority in enforcement shall be directed
first to those drugs most debilitating to citizens. The penalty for illicit trafficking in
substantial quantities of prohibited drugs shall be, upon conviction and after priority
appellate review, immediate death by public execution.
Sex and its Consequences
1. Sexual practices and their consequences (such as abortion,
sodomy, fertility, homosexuality, reproduction, prostitution, . . .), so long as no Federal
criminal law is violated, are not properly a concern of the Federal government or its
Court system. Federal Court rulings contrary to this provision shall be null and void
three years after ratification of this Amendment.
Personal Safety and guns
Owners of hand guns, hunting equipment and other firearms and weapons of self-defense
shall demonstrate proficiency in their use.
Police Power
Federal law enforcement activities shall be limited to areas of concern
to national defense, national security, and solvency of the Federal government.
Maintenance of facilities and personnel to assist local and State efforts is welcome,
but law enforcement is otherwise of State and local interest and concern, except
that activities such as kidnapping, crossing State or National boundaries with
criminal intent, or violation of Federal criminal law by multi-State organizations or
persons actively controlling such organizations are specifically exempted from this
Amendment. A period of five years from ratification of this Amendment is allowed
for these provisions to become fully in effect.
Schools
1. Schools operated by the Federal government for its employees shall
follow the practices of the community in which the school is located or, if outside
the United States, shall follow the practices of the region from which the affected
U.S. citizens hail. Schools on Indian reservations excepted, all other schools are
a State, local, or private responsibility. Programs within the schools, even if
funded by Congressional appropriation, are subject to approval and adoption by the
local school board or by competent authority within the State or within the schools.
Judiciary and Juries
Juries
1. Citizen jurors shall be permitted to seek and receive facts or opinions they
consider germane to the case at hand even though not presented by the prosecution,
defense, or court.
Church and State
Reaffirm Separation of Church and State
Religious teachings requiring union of church and state
Property Rights
1. Use of buildings and common areas not built, developed or maintained
with Federal money is specifically exempted from intervention by the Federal Courts.
However, a petition signed by 15% of registered voters in the affected district may
deny, for the period (not to exceed six years) specified in the petition, use of a
publicly-funded building or common area for any religious or religiously-oriented
structure or activity.
Reaffirmation of Ninth and Tenth Amendments
1. We hereby reaffirm that failure to enumerate certain rights shall not be
construed to deny or disparage those rights to the people. We also reaffirm that
the powers not specifically delegated to the United States by the Constitution, as
amended, nor specifically prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively or to the people. Any Federal legislation assuming powers not clearly
enumerated by the Constitution, as amended, shall become null and void. Appellate
judgments in conflict with this Amendment shall be vacated and conflicts over the
intent of this Constitution (with its Amendments) shall be subordinated to State
legislative bodies acting in concert.
International Practices
We endorse, in international practices, the twin concepts of government by
the consent of the governed and government authority retained at the lowest level that
can effectively serve the people. We endorse an international republic whose leaders
are elected for a fixed term by a majority vote of legislative bodies of member nations.
We endorse international efforts at promoting economic growth, stability and harmony,
as well as suppression of crime and violence. We endorse physical and intellectual
property rights secured to an individual owner. We endorse minimal restrictions on
international trade except that the owner of goods must bear all costs, including security,
of crossing national boundaries. We oppose rules that rank the worth of individual adults.
We oppose interference with individual exercise of religious faith or conscience. We
oppose an international police power but support cooperation between nations. We
recognize that use of slavery or child labor, or working under inhumane conditions,
creates unfair cost advantages in trade and suggest labeling of goods (including foods)
so produced. We recommend our Bill of Rights as a model for conduct by each nation.
The Table of Contents of this web site is available by clicking
here.