Posted by
"Happy" Jake Greene on Thursday, July 10, 2008 1:27:47 PM
If I had anything to say about it, I'd propose a few amendments to the Constitution. The goal would be to further limit government power, limit the authority and influence of kritocratic judges, and reassert certain rights already enumerated by the Constitution while limiting the faddish rights imposed by those same judges. Not being a legal scholar, I will readily admit that the wording on some of these might need some work, and I'm sure I forgot something. (I've even made some edits based on comments I've received, and some new ideas.) But in the interests of entertainment, here are a few amendments I would propose:
28th Amendment
Section 1.
The fourteenth article of amendment to this Constitution is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
All persons born in the United States for whom one natural parent is a citizen or legal resident thereof, and all persons naturalized therein, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 3.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed and those non-citizens currently residing in that state. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the inhabitants of such State, being eighteen years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such citizens shall bear to the whole number of citizens eighteen years of age in such State. No state shall have fewer than one representative for each one hundred thousand residents.
Section 4.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 5.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 6.
This article shall not in any way affect the citizenship of any person who is a born or naturalized citizen of the United States upon the ratification of this article.
Section 7.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
29th Amendment
Section 1.
The sixteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
Congress shall not levy taxes on the income of individual persons for any purpose.
Section 3.
Congress shall have the power to lay and collect taxes on the sale of goods and services within the United States. The establishment and increase of those taxes must be approved by a two-thirds vote in both Houses of Congress and signed by the President. If the President should return the establishment or increase legislation to Congress unsigned, a unanimous vote in both Houses shall enact the legislation.
30th Amendment
Section 1.
No provision of either this Constitution or of the Constitutions of the Several States shall, without expressed and specific language to the contrary, be construed or interpreted by any court as requiring that marriage be of any configuration of persons other than one man and one woman.
Section 2.
Congress shall pass no law defining as marriage any configuration of persons except one man and one woman.
Section 3.
The several states may choose not to recognize as valid any marriage that violates that state's laws whether that marriage is performed in that state or another state.
31st Amendment
No provision of either this Constitution or of the Constitutions of the Several States shall, without expressed and specific language to the contrary, be construed or interpreted by any court as requiring access to or availability of such procedures – commonly called "abortion" or "termination of pregnancy" – intended to terminate pregnancy through the induced death of the embryo or fetus at any stage of development.
32nd Amendment
Section 1.
The first article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is to be clarified as follows:
1. The term "establishment of religion" shall not be construed as to include:
a. The acknowledgement of God by public officials in the performance of their official duties;
b. The encouragement to use religious charities instead of government for assistance of those in need;
c. The existence or placement of art, artifacts, decorations, displays, or other accoutrements that have a religious theme in public areas, especially when the theme expressed applies to several religions or when the display reflects a current religious holiday or other celebration;
d. The existence of such religious personnel – i.e. chaplains and their aides – as are necessary to protect the freedom of exercise of religion by those in the care or employ of the United States;
e. The recognition, officially or unofficially, of certain holidays of a religious nature;
f. The inclusion of God in national, state, or local emblems such as songs, poems, mottoes, currency, logos, seals, or other such symbols.
2. The terms "Freedom of Speech" and "Freedom of the Press" shall not be construed to include:
a. Speech with the intent to communicate a threat, incite a crowd to violence, conspire to commit a high crime under the laws of the United States or the Several States, or commit perjury, slander, libel, or any other offense involving intentional false statements made in a public setting.
b. The dissemination, by print or spoken word, of information classified as essential to protecting National Security or the privacy of individuals without approval from the President or the Congress, or the just requirement by the Judiciary;
c. The dissemination of words or images of a sexual nature that are obscene or patently offensive to the moral standards of the community as set by the laws and ordinances of the Several States or their local jurisdictions, particularly those that depict an act that would normally be in violation of those laws;
d. The dissemination of words or images intended to encourage war or rebellion against the United States, or intended to give the enemies of the United States aid or comfort, whether those enemies be foreign or domestic.
e. The violation of certain military provisions regarding the need for discipline, morale, and command effectiveness within the uniformed services.
Section 2.
No provision of this article shall be construed to require or prohibit any action listed in this article by the People of the United States except as provided by the laws of the Several States. Notwithstanding any other part of this article, speech or printed matter regarding the policy, officials, laws, and conduct of the government of the United States or the Several States shall be protected presuming it is not libelous, slanderous, directly threatening, or in direct violation of specific military laws and regulations. Speech regarded as merely discriminatory shall also be protected, presuming it is not libelous, slanderous, or directly threatening.
33rd Amendment
Section 1.
The seventeenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State chosen in accordance with Article 1, Section 3 of this Constitution.
34th Amendment
Section 1.
No person shall be elected a Representative in the House of Representatives having already served twelve eleven years as a Representative at the time of the next inauguration of Representatives the election.
Section 2.
No person shall be elected to the Senate of the United States more than twice, and no person who has held the office of Senator for more than three years of a term to which some other person was elected Senator shall be elected to the Senate of the United States more than once.
Section 3.
No person shall hold the office of Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States – whether as Associate Justice, Chief Justice, or some combination of the two – for more than 15 17 years. Except in the case of the death or removal from office of a justice, the President shall not make more than one appointment to the Supreme Court every two years.
Section 4.
In the case of the death or removal of a Justice of the Supreme Court, a person may be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate to complete the 15-year term of the deceased or removed Justice. Such person, provided that person has not served more than 5 years as a Justice, may, at the expiration of the term of the deceased or removed Justice, be appointed to a 15 17-year term.
35th Amendment
Section 1.
In exercising the power of Judicial Review, when the constitutionality of any law is called into question, members of the judiciary shall indicate the specific provision of the Constitution or other law violated by the law in question; shall not consider the laws of governmental entities outside the United States; shall not include intangible concepts such as personal preference, evolving standards of decency, or other such concepts not codified in law; and shall base all decisions solely on the laws and Constitutional provisions applicable to the case in question.
Section 2.
No decision by any court, whether a court of the United States or a court of one of the Several States, shall be construed as to require that any legislature, whether the Congress or the legislature of one of the Several States, enact some provision of law.
36th Amendment
Section 1.
The eighth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall be clarified as follows:
1. Punishment by death is not, in and of itself, cruel or unusual when applied to crimes that result in the death of a person, or that include violation of military discipline in time of war, treason, or espionage.
2. While it is understood that violent death is always painful and unpleasant, the means of execution of a sentence of death is not considered cruel and unusual unless such means normally result in a prolonged, and obviously painful death.
3. The absence of recreational facilities, equipment, and opportunities in a facility intended to incarcerate those convicted of a crime shall not be considered cruel and unusual.
4. The absence of specific meals, except on demonstrated medical necessity, shall not be considered cruel and unusual punishment.
Section 2.
The fifth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States shall be clarified to state that the failure of law enforcement officials to inform an accused person of the rights enumerated therein shall not be construed to violate that article.
37th Amendment
Section 1.
The official language of the government of the United States is English. All official business conducted with residents of the United States shall be conducted in English.
Section 2.
The Several States and other territorial jurisdictions in the United States may choose additional languages to serve their own residents, but English shall be the primary language of all government business.
38th Amendment
Section 1.
The United States does not recognize the executive, legislative, or judicial authority of any multinational organization as being superior to that of the United States or of the Several States.
Section 2.
Any treaties or agreements with such multinational organizations, whether formal or informal, must not violate provisions set forth in this Constitution.