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MODIFIES THE U.S. CONSTITUTION
Before getting into the subject, I am interested in establishing a national association of Alexander Hamilton admirers, eventually with chapters around the country. I cannot find a hint of anything like it, so if you are interested in joining in founding such an association, let me know.
Onward!!!
Our Presidency carries too much weight; our founders gave the president the office of Commander-in-Chief, in addition to Chief Magistrate. They had not considered that their decision to give the nation a foundation of Checks and Balances should include the threat of the Chief Magistrate also being Chief Military Honcho. I wish I had been there to direct them. It was a bad mistake.
I propose an amendment to the constitution establishing another position at the top of our organization: “Commander of the Military.” (COM). The COM is to replace the position of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and will command his own structure of organization.
The Secretary of Defense would deal with defense *policy,* and be the President‘s conduit to the COM, but would not command, or relate directly with military personnel except in the company of the COM, and to, in no way, conduct military actions, or relate with troops.
The COM is to be subject to Orders To Action by two-thirds vote of each house, *only* at the behest of the President, which, once received, will be in sole command of the war until the assigned goal is achieved, or ordered by the President, with agreement by both house-leaders, to stand down.
The President should have authority over the military to declare war only in conjunction with the legislature, and, in the event of a run-a-way COM, would have the authority, with leaders of both houses, to recall him, and ask the full Senate, alone, to appoint another, by over fifty-percent vote.
We all know of the threat of a sitting President, in reaction to pressures, starting a war in order to place us all in the position of having to support him; Nixon comes to mind-Bush Jr. as well. Even if a President righteously takes us to war while his opposition is attacking him for doing a no-no, the idea that it may be, to a degree, to place himself in a position in which he should not be diverted, should give us pause. Experience has taught us that our founders made a mistake, we can keep it that way, or we can update it.
The President, with the leaders of both houses of Congress, should be permitted to order a military action, pending a vote of the full membership of both houses, and to immediately, without delay, withdraw if the vote fails.
The COM is to serve concurrently with the President, plus thirty days, to be re-considered in the event of an unscheduled removal of the President.
The COM is to have no authority to order military action without orders, in writing, from the President, the Speaker of the House, and the Senate Majority leader, after which he would be free to conduct the war.
When time is of the essence, as in the event of an attack, the leaders of both houses, and the President, could order an immediate response, if the attacker is known, to be confirmed by a full vote of both houses within 48 hours. When an attacker is not known - for certain, let that be the assignment, before military action is taken against any suspected enemy.
The COM *must* be a member of a party other than the President’s, or no party at all, and not to concurrently hold any other government civilian post in the U.S. or been a member of the in-coming President‘s party within the past five years. He should also have served, or is serving, in the military as General.
COM candidates are to be voted into *nomination* by fifty percent of the Senate, and the post to go to the recipient of two-thirds vote of the Senate.
The appointment of the COM should take place within the first thirty days following the election of a President, and the transition to take place on, or before, February 20th. The out-going COM should be required to hold the post until relieved.
In the event the outgoing COM had been a member of the same party as the incoming president within the past five years, (s)he is to surrender the post to the highest position in the legislature not a member of the incoming president‘s party at the moment the new president takes the oath of office.
Now *that* is check, balance, and mate!!!!
Let’s hear from the gallery, what do you have to say?
( A Hoo-rah! or two would be nice! )
© 1997 burtonridgeway
@yahoo. com
I think it is necessary for us to clarify certain terms within the
Constitution, and to establish interpretations of certain articles from the perspective of over two hundred years of living under that document’s wisdom, and changes in realities.
This brief renders my personal judgment. I offer it to you as a
basis on which to consider the foundation of our nation, in the
light of your own values; to accept them as rendered, modify
them, or ignore them. You should at the least understand what
the document actually says, and to what degree it may need
modification - if at all, in your opinion.
When in a furniture-filled room which lets in no light at all, you would see absolutely nothing. It is the reflection of light on an object that we see, not the object itself, even if it is one inch from your face.
We are a nation of laws that are permitted by our Constitution. That is what we believe; that is what we say, but it’s not true. Our laws are based on interpretations of the Constitution, because without interpretation, the Constitution says nothing; it is its reflection ( opinions ) that we deal with.
Even when we have personally written documentation of what our founders had in mind when they chose certain verbiage, the words themselves have been, and still are, interpreted. “Experts” visiting an art museum always seem to know what the Old Master had in mind. Sure!
Argument is what our courts hear, and it is on argument that decisions are based. Argument is always self-serving, and is, in itself, a product of education: arguers learn the art, and use it to their own ends. There can be nothing else.
What follows is argument. My basic stand is that, just as there is good cholesterol, and bad, there are good and bad interpretations of law, and we need to design quality, as a weapon to eliminate the chaotic, and, in my opinion, destructive, interpretations that stand in the way of stable growth, without the “fat” of self-serving ends.
“Justice,” is what we get when we get what we want. It’s a miscarriage when we don’t.”
First, let’s get into the activities in San Francisco, where the Mayor had assumed the authority to marry homosexuals, and lesbians. As proof of a discombobulated judiciary, the state court let it be.
To me it’s very simple: cities and counties serve at the pleasure of the state government; the state government is the basic unit of the nation; states constitute the nation; cities and counties constitute nothing, serving as sub-units of the state.
What the %()*&%#@# is this when a city mayor tells the state to stuff it, and judges let it slide?
Cheessssss!!!!!!!
Fighters for first amendment rights in connection with free speech
fail to differentiate between government and the people; the Bill of
Rights stipulated a list of freedoms from government, not us from each other.
Some people had raved about the deprivation of free speech when an injured party sues a publisher for marketing a book on how to
become a professional killer (Vivian Rice vs. Paladin Ent.), and
wins a settlement.
The lawsuit did not challenge a right under the first amendment, it
was a dispute among citizens, which is not addressed by our
constitution. A person cannot be coerced by government to
withhold, or cease printing, one’s thoughts, but the author of the
book on how to become a professional killer can, and should, be
held to answer for it by her fellow citizens when her book, which
government cannot forbid, is proved to have directly caused a
loss. Rice could continue to print, and I hope will be held
responsible for it by those injured by her idiocy, and the need to
produce books on how to kill, bomb, rape, and pillage, so she “can
make my mortgage payments.” The constitutional right to publish
should not have been in question in that lawsuit.
This includes those who write, publish, and distribute for sale, or
promote
by any other media, instructions on the making of bombs, or how
to
effectively kill people, or destroy property.
Additionally; publishing itself is a private enterprise, members of which have the right to refuse to publish an offering, for whatever reason they wish. They should also be held to answer for actions the publication causes, and not accept their defense that they were respecting the constitutional right of free speech. It simply does not apply; which I am convinced they know!
Article 19; The “Necessary and Proper” clause needs to be
clarified. The Federal Government should oversee and facilitate
the common business and welfare of all states, allowing each to
provide for the welfare of its citizens, according to the expressed
will of those citizens within the parameters of this national constitution.
The federal government should not involve itself in the
administration of life within any state, unless the government of
that state breaches national law. All states must function as parts of a single nation. ( The specified responsibilities of the national government must be clarified.)
The basis for this interpretation is the stipulation in Section 8,
article 1, where-in, “. . .The Federal Government is to provide for
the common defense and the general welfare of the United
States. . . “
NOT the people, but the nation. I say that the people of
the time considered themselves to constitute states, and
allowed that the collective welfare of the individual states would
be protected by the national government, while their personal
welfare would be protected, where necessary, by their state
government and its own constitution.
This article's intention is to establish with certainty a dictionary of
important terms used within the document, thereby eliminating
the need for periodic judicial interpretation that serves only to
enrich Attorneys.
* “THE PEOPLE:”
It was the purpose of the constitution that all references to, “the
people,” are to the people collectively; it could not be in the minds
of our founders to refer to individuals in our basic by-laws. No one
in his/her right mind would create a democratic republic that
would permit individuals to act against general welfare outside
the means provided.
It is the right “of the people” to rise up against an unfair
government that is functioning in bad faith, the “people” being a
collective, not any individual with the right to exercise
a neurotic demand any way (s)he wishes. Only a consensus,
specifically stated, is to be considered an expression of the
“people’s will“, and only in the form of legal, civilized, demand for
change; we have a legislature, and the courts; there is no provision for guerrilla action by the dissatisfied, and the founders could not have had any such thing in mind. To think of such a right is an absurdity!
Our prime document addresses the people, within states, and
authorizes them to change the direction of their government; the people constitute the state, and the states constitute the nation. There really is no individual right expressed in the constitution apart from the right of individuals when being treated by any government.
The Boston Tea Party, as an example, would have been an illegal act, if it had taken place post-constitution, and the participants, if found out, would have been successfully prosecuted for failing to use the laws provided with which to petition for redress. As it was, it was an act against an occupying government, not our own.
Individual acts of aggression are not protected by the constitution.
Therefore, in the tenth amendment:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
“. . . or to the people,” means that, if dissatisfied with a state law, or the absence of one, we can petition, by legal means, our state legislatures to facilitate change.
It is always within legal means that we are allowed by the constitution to make changes, not by individual initiative outside the means provided, and certainly not militarily.
* CRUEL AND ( OR ) UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT:
Punishment by government may not be inflicted on anyone until
so ordered by a judicial authority.
1. "CRUEL":
a. Any act that can reasonably be considered torture, with
punishment, or intent to elicit information, or certain behavior, as
it's purpose, or for the personal satisfaction of the person(s) in
authority.
b. Intentionally abusive physical or mental treatment of a
person during incarceration, or execution.
Nothing else should fall within this provision.
2. "UNUSUAL": Punishment in a manor that is different than
customarily administered to others for the same or similar crime,
or out of proportion to the severity of the crime.
No other reasons should fall within this provision. ( Actually, if it’s
cruel, it better be unusual.)
There should be no other definition given to these terms, and no
article in the Constitution or its amendments, to this date, should
be interpreted with intent to modify their meaning.
THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY:
A. No law, public policy, or act, by any civil authority may intrude
on the personal and private behavior of any individual, alone or in
concert with others voluntarily involved, that does not directly
intrude on the physical safety, or privacy, of any others not so
involved, and is not specifically prohibited by legislation, the constitution, or
this amendment."
B. An adult, not legally proved to be of unsound mind is the sole
custodian of his or her own life and body, with the unhindered
right to make decisions concerning the safety, treatment or
disposition of it, or it’s products, so long as it is done in private, on or in, private property, with the consent of the owner of that property, and not in view, or hearing, of people not on the property.
No prevailing public consensus on religion or morality shall stand
in judgment of private behavior.
C. The right to the voluntary termination of one's own life, for
any reason whatsoever, shall include the right to legally appoint,
in writing, in one’s own hand, and witnessed by three (3) non-related persons, a willing helper who's qualification shall not be questioned by others, and who shall not be held liable
for any results there-from.
D. All persons shall have the right to protection of their
sensitivities. No one shall be compelled to see or experience what
is generally considered to have a morally or socially objectionable
caste to a considerable portion of
society. The Judiciary of each state shall be the authority, as long
as the act is restricted intra-state; recourse through federal court
can be sought when the act takes place in more than one
state.
E. Printing, and distribution of any material, or personal
behavior of any kind, produced, performed, or used by consenting
adults, in privacy, or for an audience entirely willing, shall not be
restrained.
RACISM:
The right to live free from harassment through racial or religious
intolerance, from both government and individuals, is an inherent
part of this nation’s by-laws. The right to private thoughts
regarding the same shall be a right of every citizen, as long as
those thoughts are not converted to a physical act that
intrudes on the right of others to be free from physical, and
mental harassment.
It shall not be government's responsibility to
eradicate racial and religious intolerance. Government shall make
no law, or establish or support organizations for the purpose of
promoting tolerance, self-esteem, or anything else in
the way of personal living, values, and relationships. Government
is only to protect the people's rights, and ability to care for their personal and collective common needs, at their own initiative.
ABORTION:
1. A child shall be considered a human life if it is functioning on it’s own outside its mother's body. Until that time, it is not within the jurisdiction of society to intrude on the privacy of the mother; the right of a women to voluntarily terminate a pregnancy shall not be constrained. No person or organization shall have the right to intrude on a women's decision to reject her fetus, regardless of its age. Any federal or state laws to the contrary are hereby rescinded.
2. The father of a fetus that has been aborted against his
expressed wishes shall have legal recourse against the mother,
provided there was a legal contract between them to produce a
child. A Marriage license is presumed to be such a contract,
unless amended.
2. Minors shall have no rights that fail to recognize those of
their parents, as such, unless such parents had been relieved of
responsibility by judicial order.
3. Any legislation: state or federal, that effectively absolves
all parents from responsibility for decisions regarding their
children's physical or mental being in any particular circumstance,
shall automatically absolve all parents from responsibility for their
children in such circumstances, and the state, or nation's children
shall then be wards of the government that passed such
legislation.
Such legislation, immediately after formation and presentation
to a legislative body, shall be made public, daily, throughout the
realm of that body's authority, through all public media then in
existence, for a period of not less than ninety (90) full days,
before that legislation may be voted on. Such legislation shall be a
separate bill, rather than a part of a multi-subject proposal.
H. RELIGION:
1. No bible of any religion shall be the basis for official
governmental discussion, or the establishment of any law to
prevent or compel conduct. No prayer or benediction shall take
place in an official government meeting; any such needs shall be
addressed prior to entry to the meeting place. No bible shall be
used to swear truth; “I promise to be truthful.” shall be the only
accepted oath for legal testimony.
2. The constitution properly dictates the separation of Church
and State as a part of our system. The freedom to practice
religion, as afforded by the Constitution, shall not be construed in
this clause to be mitigated, except to establish definition of
terms.
To be defined are three major terms, to eliminate doubt and
abuse. The terms to be defined are: Religion, Practice, and,
Church.
"Religion", is a belief relative to the nature of existence, that is based on pure faith, without the need for a scientific basis. All religious practices shall be limited to the parameters of nationally accepted rules of civilized conduct.
"Practice" is the life style, and the means used by religious
adherents to demonstrate and share with each other their common beliefs.
"Church", is an organized collective of those sharing a religion.
This includes broadcast evangelism, except that a church can own
property on which the practice, and teaching, of religion takes
place, and shall not own property for income purposes.
3. For purposes of taxation, property rights, and government
access to public property only, Churches and Clergy must be
legally declared by each state qualified as such, based
on the following:
a. The Church was officially established by the adherents of
the religion; not the spiritual leader, or anyone related by blood,
marriage or cohabitation with that leader. It must have a fixed
location for its headquarters, and in the case of branches, a fixed
location for each branch, and must be in use at least once weekly
for the purpose of worship.
b. All funds raised by, or for, the church, and its branches, is
accounted for in trust accounts with a financial institution - none
of who's owner(s) or officers are related in any way with the
church - and administered by a bonded fiduciary on the church's
board, who is unrelated by blood, marriage or cohabitation to the
spiritual leader, or any other member of that board.
All church accounts have been audited by a licensed auditor,
unrelated in any way with the church or any members; shown to
be in order, audited annually - within 30 days of the end of the
fiscal year, and open to inspection by a committee of members -
not on the board; such a committee must have been appointed by
a vote of 25% of the registered members - not counting board
members - as of the first of the month immediately prior to the
vote.
c. No more than 300% of a current annual budget is in trust
accounts for the church's total operating fund, and all funds for
charitable giving can be shown to be accounted for monthly, and
does not accumulate for undue lengths of time, relative to the
purpose for which such funds were
contributed.
d. No funds of the church are in risk investments of any
kind. Only interest-bearing savings, and checking accounts, and
short-term certificates of deposit are acceptable. No loans are, or
have ever been, made to anyone, for any reason.
e. The spiritual leader is a paid employee of the church,
with stipulated salary and benefits, as reportable personal income,
which had been voted on by the general membership, and had
been published in the
church bulletin, or other means of communication with
membership, and re-published with each change made; that such
leader is not a voting member of the board of trustees, or a signer
on any of the church's bank accounts.
The economic value of all food, clothing and shelter provided by
the church, to any and all who serve as directors and spiritual
leaders, is "other compensation" for tax purposes, unless being
served during an occasion attended by the general
membership.
The religious leader shall be held to answer in the courts in
connection with any psychological damage done to a follower as a
result of any personal counseling. The church funds shall be
exposed to such lawsuits only if it is proved that it's board of
trustees was negligent in their selection, or retention, of the
leader.
f. Not more than 10 % of the trustees are related by blood,
marriage, or cohabitation to the spiritual leader, or to each
other.
g. The Board of Trustees has experienced a turnover of members during
no longer than six years, of at least 10% each year, with
any repeat service by any member at least two years after the
previous year of service.
Those failing to meet the above requirements shall not be
restrained as a religion, but they shall not be granted any tax
benefits and property rights afforded by governments to churches
in recognition of the constitution's provisions concerning religious
freedom. Property rights under any other
provision is not effected by this article.
4. The right to practice a religion of one's choice is also the
right of a person to have no religion at all, and is therefore not
required to follow the rules of any.
5(a). No department of any government, or employee of any
government, shall be directly involved, in any way, with religious
practices on public property in their capacity as government
employees. The right to religious practice on or in public property
shall be no more than any other person, or organization; and
where appropriate, those who use government property for any
religious practice, as should be the case with other uses, must be
required to cover expenses.
Religion is recognized as a private thing, and not to be forced
on, or financed by, non-practitioners - individually or collectively,
or to have any advantages over the non - religious.
b. A government is permitted, but not required, to set aside
a public place for religious celebration - such as a park, or facilities
for public administration, but only if the park, or other such
property is large enough to accommodate the activity of any particular group, on less than
1% of it's size, and that the portion set aside for such activities
can serve all legally recognized religious groups, as noted in article
3 of this section, that apply for access, and that it would not
intrude on other visitors who may not wish to be involved
or exposed, by sight or sound, to the activity - within
reason.
The right to practice one's religion does not include the right to
proselytize. Religion being a private thing, any proselytizing
activity may be answerable to civil authorities to the same degree
as any other public activity judged
to be a public nuisance.
Public administrators shall be relied on to use their judgment,
permitting each religion use during their particular holidays.
Public administrators may place at the disposal of religious
groups as well as others, the use of public facilities, such as
school buildings, after hours, provided such groups cover the
expenses of doing so, and that such uses by religious groups are
not facilitated by a
government employee in a position of authority.
Example: A teacher may not introduce, or in any way provoke,
the idea of such meetings in a public school after hours for
religious purposes, but may attend the activity without any
involvement in supervision. Any government employee assigned to
supervise the activity may not be involved in that activity.
c. Practitioners of religions not legally recognized as such, or
individuals who perform in public in the name of such a religion,
shall not be afforded any rights not afforded other citizens in
non-religious circumstances.
Religious activities and proselytizing at places, while available to
the general public, must be governed the same as any other
activity, whether a religion is approved as such, or not.
Broadcast evangelists, and their organizations shall be required to
meet the same rules as churches to be recognized for tax
purposes.
d. No guilty verdict shall be set aside as a result of technicalities
that do not mitigate the defendant's guilt of the crime of which he
was accused. Any evidence provided by authorities and used to
convict, that is subsequently proved to have been untrue, and that
an officer
of the law had provided that information knowing it to be untrue,
the officer's further association with law shall be immediately
terminated, and he shall be tried for perjury, and if convicted, shall
be given the same sentence as was given the victim of his
act.
This same provision shall apply to an officer of the law, or the
court, who fails to provide the accused with information that he
knows may help the defense.
e. That any Chief Prosecutor, elected or appointed, who shall
have lost three trials within five years, where the juries found his
cases to include actions with probable entrapment as an intent, or
irresponsible prosecution, shall be permanently separated from any
and all government office, along with all officials who personally
participated in the wrongful act, and that he
be personally liable for the costs of those trials, limited only by his
reasonable ability to pay over a period of ten years.
J. MEDIA:
1. The freedom of "the press" afforded by the Constitution shall
be changed to read "The media": in reference to all means of
communication that informs the public of current events,
comments and criticism.
Freedom of the media is in regard to controls by Government, and
not the people. The people shall have the right to legal recourse in
the event of a media employee’s invasion of privacy. Those not
having voluntarily
entered into the political arena, or in circumstance where he is not
answerable to the public, have a right to privacy.
No member of the media shall have the right to invade the privacy
of an individual, or make public any statement or behavior without
the explicit consent of all private individuals involved.
No photographer has the right to photograph on private property,
or aim a camera through the airspace over private property
without the consent of all occupants.
2. After the arrest of a person, whether he has been determined
to be the criminal or not, and until such time as a jury has been
formed and the trial is begun, either adversary may seek
judicial restraint upon the media as to revelations of substance
pertaining to the case in its entirety; this
shall not be in contradiction to the Constitutional restriction by
government on the media.
THE LEGISLATURE: 1. There shall be offices of "Legislative
Semanticist", and "Legislative Constitutionalists" both of which
shall approve all proposed legislation as to accuracy in expressing
the intent of the sponsors, and probable constitutionality, before
being put to a vote in either house. No bill may be passed without
the approval of both officers in their respective authorities.
These offices shall not be terminated or remain unfilled for a
period longer than one calendar week.
Each political party represented in each house, regardless of
number, shall, at an appropriate time, send a member to a joint
committee to recommend appointments to both offices for a term
of four years, running concurrently with the President of the
United States. Such appointments shall take into consideration
each candidate's technical and legal qualifications for the position,
and shall be approved for
recommendation to the houses on the basis of at least 100%, less
one vote, of the committee.
2. All bills to be voted on, from this date, may not cover more
than one subject.
3. Legislators shall be expected to know, and understand,
exactly what each bill seeks to accomplish before he or she votes
on it. No legislator should vote on a bill that he or she cannot fully
explain, and support with conviction. It shall be considered heroic
for a legislator to abstain from voting on a bill he or she fails to
understand in its entirety.
K. STATE'S RIGHTS:
It shall be the right of each state to hold an election, at any
time, to decide the question of what economic system it shall
adopt.
If two thirds of the electorate should vote to change its
economic system, while remaining a Democratic political system,
and a state of The United States; then it shall be permitted to do
so, providing agreement has been made with the
national government as to the payment of any taxes.
BUDGET:
Immediately upon approval of this amendment, plans shall be
drawn and instituted which places the entire United States
government on a budget for the following fiscal year, immediately
following approval, based on 80% of the current fiscal year's
income.
Each year thereafter, the government shall operate on the basis
of 80% of all cash receipts, regardless of the sources, during the
previous fiscal year:
* It shall not increase the deficit, and 20% of each year's receipts
shall be directed toward reducing its debts.
* It shall not borrow money unless in a national emergency
resulting from outside influence.
The reduction of tax income in one year shall effect the budget
of the following fiscal year. All permanent expenditures shall have
first claim and shall not exceed 50 % of the national
budget.
Should any department of the government deplete its funds
before the end of the fiscal year, that department shall be closed
down for the balance of that year, with all its personnel laid off
rather than shifted to other departments.
The Director of any department in the government with its own
budget, who delivers a surplus to a year's end, without having
failed to meet the department's objectives, shall have earned a
contribution to his pension account equal to one-tenth of one
percent of the savings.
All commitments that congress declares to be fixed, shall be
removed from the general budget, and as separate accounts, shall
have their individual budgets and sources of revenue, such as
fee-for-service. There shall be no co-mingling of such funds.
GOVERNMENT GRANTS:
1. THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS shall be
turned over to private administration. The government shall
hereafter refrain from directing tax funds in support of the arts, or
artists.
Any and all decorative art in, and on public property shall be
entirely financed with voluntary contributions. The only art that
may be tax supported is the building facade, as dictated by
standard engineering. Any additional style shall be paid for with
private contributions.
2. All requests by the government for bids on scientific and
other research shall be made available to the media for publication
at least sixty days prior to awarding the grants.
3. All requests for public funding shall be immediately made
available to the media for publication, whether they be entertained
or not. All information regarding the stated need for the funds,
those who made the request, and all pertinent data in connection
with the request shall be
included.
4. All budgeted grants to private researchers, scientific and
otherwise, shall be made available to the media. None of such
grants shall be made until sixty days shall have passed since that
date.
This article refers to grants included in the formal budget as
proposed to congress, and any that may be subsequently
approved.
It is the intent of this article to reduce the national budget by the considerable sums that are expended for non- essential research by giving taxpayers the opportunity to object, and prevent such awards.
I have proposed an amendment to eliminate our election circus. It is in my book, on which it’s fictional political intrigue is based. See my “Campaign financing” brief.
( I have lifted this explanatory lay-out from “Miracle On Main
Street.” A book by F. Tupper Saussy, in which he promotes the
return of intrinsic value to our currency.) [ Lots of luck! ]
We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more
perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic
tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this
Constitution of the United States.
SECTION 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be
vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall
consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.
SECTION 2.
1. The House of Representatives shall be composed of
members chosen every second year by the people of the several
states, and the electors of each state shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous
branch of the State Legislature.
2. No person shall be a Representative who shall not have
attained the age of twenty five years, and been seven years a
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of the state in which he shall be
chosen.
3. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned
among the several states which may be included within this
union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be
determined by adding to the whole number of free persons,
including those bound to service for a term of
years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifth of all
other persons. The actual enumeration shall be made within
three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the
United States, and within every subsequent terms of ten
years, in such manor as they shall by law direct. The number
of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty
thousand, but each state shall have at least one
Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the
state of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three;
Massachusetts, eight; Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations, one; Connecticut, five; New York, six; New
Jersey, four; Pennsylvania, eight; Delaware, one; Maryland,
six; Virginia, ten; North Carolina, five; South Carolina,
five; and Georgia, three.
4. When vacancies happen in the representation from any
state the Executive Authority thereof shall issue writs of
election to fill such vacancies.
5. The House of Representatives shall choose their speaker
and other officers, and shall have the sole power of
impeachment.
SECTION 3.
1. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of
two Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature
thereof for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote.
(Amended in 1913 to have Senators elected by the
people.)
2. Immediately after they shall be assembled in
consequence of the first election, they shall be divided as
equally as may be into three classes. The seats of the
Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the
expiration of the second year; of the second class at the
expiration of the fourth year; and of the third class at the
expiration of the sixth year, so that one-third may be chosen
every second year, and if vacancies happen by resignation, or
otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any state,
the Executive thereof may make temporary appointments until
the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill
such vacancies.
3. No person shall be a Senator who shall not have
attained the age of thirty years, and been nine years a
citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when
elected, be an inhabitant of the state for which he shall be
chosen.
4. The Vice President of the United States shall be
President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they
may be equally divided.
5. The Senate shall chose their other officers and
also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice-
President, or when he shall exercise the office of the
President of the United States.
6. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all
impeachment. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on
oath or affirmation. When the President of the United
States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside; and no
person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two
thirds of the members present.
7. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend
further than to removal from office, and disqualification to
hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust
or profit under the United States; but the party convicted
shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment,
trial, judgment, and punishment, according to law.
SECTION 4.
1. The time, places and manor of holding elections for
Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each
state by the Legislature thereof, but the Congress may at any
time by law make or alter such regulations, except as to the
places of choosing Senators.
2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every
year, and such meeting shall be the first Monday in December,
unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
SECTION 5.
1. Each house shall be the judge of the elections,
returns and qualifications of its own members, and the
majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business;
but a small number may adjourn from day to day, and may be
authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, in
such manor and under such penalties as each house may
provide.
2. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings,
punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the
concurrence of two thirds, expel a member.
3. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and
from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as
may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays
of the members of either house on any question shall, at the
desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the
journal.
4. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall,
without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three
days, nor to any other place than that in which the two
houses shall be sitting.
SECTION 6.
1. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a
compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law,
and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall
in all cases, except for treason, felony, and breach of the
peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at
the session of their respective houses, and in going to and
returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in
either house they shall not be questioned in any other
place.
2. No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for
which he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under
the authority of the United States which shall have been
created, or the emoluments whereof shall have been increased
during such time; and no person holding any office under the
United States shall be a member of either house during his
continuance in office.
SECTION 7.
1. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the
House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or
concur with the amendments, as on other bills.
2. Every bill which shall have passed the House of
Representatives and the Senate shall, before it becomes law,
be presented to the President of the United States; if he
approves, he shall sign it, but if not, he shall return it,
with his objections, to that house in which it had
originated, who shall enter the objections at large on the
journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such
reconsideration two thirds of that house shall agree to pass
the bill, it shall be sent together with the objections to
the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered,
and if approved by two thirds of that house, it shall become
law. But in all such cases the votes of both houses shall be
determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons
voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the
journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be
returned by the President within ten days ) Sundays excepted
) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall
be law, in like manner as if he had signed it, unless the
Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which
case it shall not be a law.
3. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the
concurrence of the Senate and the House of Representatives
may be necessary ( Except on the question of adjournment )
shall be presented to the President of the United States; and
before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him,
or being disapproved by him, shall be re-passed by two-thirds
of the Senate and the House of Representatives, according to
the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
SECTION 8. The Congress shall have the power:
1. to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises,
to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and
general welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts
and excises shall be uniform though-out the United States;
2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among
the several states, and with the Indian tribes;
4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and
uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the
United states;
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of
foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the
securities and current coin of the United States;
7. To establish post offices and post roads;
8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by
securing, for limited times, to authors and inventors, the
exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
In no way does this clause authorize the government to
*finance* the arts. It merely mandates the establishment of a
copyright registry.
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed
on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
11. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal,
and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of
money to that use shall be for a longer term than two
years;
13. To provide and maintain a navy;
14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the
land and naval forces;
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute
the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel
invasions;
16. To provide for organizing, arming and disciplining the
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be
employed in the service of the United States, reserving to
the states respectively the appointment of the officers and
the authority of training the militia according to the
discipline prescribed by Congress;
This makes it clear that militia units must be organized and
under the direct control, of the state government. No ungoverned
militia is constitutional.
17. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases
whatsoever over such district ( not exceeding ten miles
square ) as may by cession of particular states and the
acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the
United States, and to exercise like authority over all
places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the
State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts,
magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful
buildings;
18. To make all laws that shall be necessary and proper
for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all
other powers vested by this Constitution of the Government
of the United States, or any department or officer thereof.
SECTION 9.
1. The migration or importation of such persons as any of
the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall
not be prohibited by Congress prior to the year 1808, but a
tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding
ten dollars for each person.
2. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the
public safety may require it.
3. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be
passed.
4. No capitation or other direct tax shall be laid, unless
in proportion to the census or enumeration herein before
directed to be taken.
5. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from
any State.
6. No preference shall be given to any regulation of
commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of
another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State be
obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
7. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury but in
consequence of appropriations made by law; and a regular
statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all
public money shall be published from time to time.
8. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United
States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust
under them, shall, without the consent of Congress, accept
any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind
whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state.
SECTION 10.
1. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or
confederation; grant letters of marquee and reprisal; coin
money; emit bills of credit; make anything but gold and
silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bills of
attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation
of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.
2. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay
any imposts or duties on imports or exports except what may
be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws;
and the net produce of any duties or imposts, laid by any
State on imports or exports, shall be for the use of the
Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be
subject to revision and control of the Congress.
3. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay
any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of
peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another
State,
or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually
invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit delay.
SECTION 1.
1. The executive power shall be vested in a President of
the United States of America. He shall hold his office during
the term of four years, and, together with the Vice-
President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows:
2. Each State shall appoint, in such manor as the
Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal
to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which
the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or
Representative or any person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States shall be appointed an
elector.
3. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and
vote by ballot for two persons, of whom one at least shall
not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves. And
they shall make a list of all persons voted for, and of the
number of votes for each; which list they shall sign and
certify, and transmit, sealed, to the seat of the Government
of the United States, directed to the President of the
Senate.
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of
the Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the
certificates, and the votes shall be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes shall be President, if
such number be the majority of the whole number of the
electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have
such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the
House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot
one of them for President; and if no person have the
majority, then from the five highest on the list the said
House shall in like manor choose the President.
But in choosing the President, the vote shall be taken by the
States, the representation from each State having one vote; a
quorum, for this purpose, shall consists of a member or
members from two thirds of the States, and a majority of all
the States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case,
after the choice of the President, the person having the
greatest number of votes from of electors shall be the Vice-
President. But if there shall remain two or more who have
equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by ballot the
Vice-president.
4. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the
electors and the day on which they should give their vote,
which day shall be the same throughout the United States.
5. No person accept natural born citizen, or a citizen of
the United States, at the time of adoption of this
Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President;
neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall
not have attained the age of thirty-five years and been
fourteen years a resident within the United States.
6. In case of the removal of the President from office, or
of his death, resignation or inability to discharge the
powers and duties of said office, the same shall devolve on
the Vice-president, and the Congress may by law provide for
the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of
the President and Vice-president, declaring what officer
shall then act as President, and such officer shall act
accordingly until the disability be removed, or a President
shall be elected.
7. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his
services a compensation which shall neither be increased or
diminished during the period for which he shall have been
elected, and he shall not receive within that period any
other emolument from the United States or any of them.
8. Before he enters on execution of his office, he shall
take the following oath or affirmation:
"I do solemnly swear ( or affirm ) that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States, and
will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend
the Constitution of the United States."
SECTION 2.
1. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army
and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the
several States, when called into the actual service of the
United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the
principle officer in each of the executive departments, upon
any subject relating to the duties of their respective
offices; and he shall have the power to grant reprieves, and
pardons for offenses against the United States, accept in
cases of impeachment.
2. He shall have the power, by and with the advise and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds
of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate and, by
and with the advise and consent of the Senate, shall appoint
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of
the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United
States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided
for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress
may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as
they think proper in the President alone, in the courts of
law, or in the heads of departments.
3. The President shall have the power to fill up all
vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by
granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their
next session.
SECTION 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress
information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their
consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and
expedient; he may on extraordinary occasions, convene both
houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement
between them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may
adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall
receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take
care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall
commission all the officers of the United States.
SECTION 4. The President, Vice-president, and all civil
officers of the United States, shall be removed from office
on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or
other high crimes and misdemeanors.
SECTION 1. The judicial power of the United States shall be
vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as
the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The
judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall hold
their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated
times, receive for their services a compensation which shall
not be diminished during their continuance in office.
SECTION 2.
1. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law
and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of
the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made,
under their authority; - to all cases effecting Ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls; - to all cases of
Admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; - to controversies
between two or more States; - between a State and citizens of
another State; - between citizens of different States; -
between citizens of the same State, claiming lands under
grants of different States, and between a State, or the
citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens, or subjects.
2. In all cases effecting Ambassadors, other public
ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be a
party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In
all the other cases before mentioned the Supreme Court shall
have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with
such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress
shall make.
3. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of
impeachment, shall be by jury, and such trial shall be held
in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed;
but when not committed within any State the trial shall be at
such place or places as the Congress may by law have
directed.
SECTION 3.
1. Treason against the United States shall consist only in
levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies,
giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of
treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same
overt act, or on confession in open court.
2. The Congress shall have the power to declare the
punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall
work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the
life of the person attained.
SECTION 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each
State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings
of every other State. And Congress may by general laws
prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and
proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.
SECTION 2.
1. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all
privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States.
2. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or
other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in
another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of
the State from which he fled, be delivered up, and be
removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.
3. No person held to service or labor in one State, under
the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in
consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged
from such service or labor, but shall be delivered up on
claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be
due.
SECTION 3.
1. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this
Union, but no new State shall be formed or erected within the
jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by
the junction of two or more States, or parts of States,
without the consent of the Legislatures of the States
concerned, as well as the Congress.
2. The Congress shall have the power to dispose of and
make all needful rules and regulations respecting the
territory or other property belonging to the United States;
and nothing in this Constitution shall be construed as to
prejudice any claims of the United States or of any
particular State.
SECTION 4. The United States shall guarantee to every state
in this Union a republican form of government, and shall
protect each of them against invasion, and, on application of
the Legislature, or of the Executive ( when the Legislature
cannot be convened ), against domestic violence.
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall
deem it necessary, shall propose AMENDMENTS to this
Constitution, or, on the application of the Legislatures of
two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for
proposing AMENDMENTS, which, in either case, shall be valid
to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution,
when ratified by the Legislature of three-fourths of
the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be
proposed by the Congress; provided that no AMENDMENT which
may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and
eight shall in any manor effect the first and fourth clauses
in the ninth section of the first Article; and that no State,
without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage
in the Senate.
1. All debts contracted and engagements entered into
before the adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid
against the United States under this Constitution as under
the Confederation.
2. This Constitution and the laws of the United States
which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties
made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the
United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the
judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything in the
Constitution or laws of any States to the contrary
notwithstanding.
3. The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and
the members of the several State Legislatures, and all the
Executive and judicial officers, both of the United States
and the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation
to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall
ever be required as a qualification to any office or public
trust under the United States.
The ratification of the Convention of nine States shall be
sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between
the States so ratifying the same.
Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States
present the seventh day of September in the Year of Our Lord
one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven, and of the
independence of the United States of America the Twelfth. In
witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names.
George Washington-55, VIRGINIA
John Langdon-46, Nicholas Gilman-32, NEW
HAMPSHIRE
Nathaniel Gorham-49 and Ruffs King-32,
MASSACHUSETTS
William Samuel Johnson-59, Roger Sherman-66,
CONNECTICUT
George Read-53, John Dickenson-55,
Jacob Broom-35, Gunning Bedford,Jr-40,
Richard Bassett-42, DELAWARE
James McHenry-34, Daniel Carroll-31,
Daniel of St. Thos. Jenifer-64, MARYLAND
John Blair-55, James Madison-30, NEW YORK
William Livingston-63, David Brearley-42,
William Patterson-42, Jonathan Dayton-26, NEW
JERSEY
Benjamin Franklin-81, Robert Morris-53,
Thomas Fitzsimmons-46, James Wilson-45,
Thomas Mifflin-43, Governor Morris-35,
Jared Ingersoll-37, George Clymer-48,
PENNSYLVANIA
William Blount-38, Hugh Williamson-51,
Richard DOB’s Spaight-29, NORT
H
CAROLINA
James Rutledge-48, Charles Pinckney-29,
Charles Coteswirth Pinckney-41,
Pierce Butler-43, SOUTH CAROLINA
William Few-39, Abraham Baldwin-32, GEORGIA
Links to other briefs
A better way to secure our benefits:
Social Security
*
Another approach to:
Taxation
*
“Political leaders everywhere have come to understand that to govern they must learn how to act . . . who are we really voting for? The self-possessed character who projects dignity, exemplary morals, and enough forthright courage to lead us through war and depression, or the person who is simply good at creating a counterfeit with the help of professional coaching, executive tailoring, and that the whole armory of pretense that the groomed president can now employ? Are we allowed anymore to know what is going on, not merely in the candidate’s facial expression and his choice of a suit, but also in his head? Unfortunately. . . This is something we are not told until the auditioning ends an he is securely in office. . . As with many actors, any resemblance between the man and the role is purely coincidental.”
Arthur Miller, playwright.
A proposed end to the spectacle we tolerate
Campaign finance
reform. “The FECMA Conspiracy.” A novel with a
difference.
*
"Your body is a public responsibility":
Abortion
*
We need an intelligent approach to:
"The War on Drugs"
*
Our kids are in trouble:
Public Education
*
Are we destined to go on and on about an
individual’s right to own an arsenal?
Guns, and the 2nd
amendment
*
Is it really a threat?
A National ID card
*
Commentaries on the not-so-little things
about our system of:
Law and Order
*
A genuine solution for everyone:
Health Care
*
Our cities are terrible!
*
A commentary on miscellaneous issues and questions:
Misc.
*
Issues too minor for the attention of people so involved
with the larger issues, but . . . .
Welcome to our Church
*
Islam and “those people.”
AMENDMENT 1:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right
of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the
Government for a redress of grievances.
( Regretably, this does not prohibit the government from
practicing a particular religion, or praying. See my correction
above.
AMENDMENT 2:
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security
of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bare
arms, shall not be infringed.
In order to be prepared for a call to protect the state
from invasion. This amendment can have no other intent, for it is
in specific reference only to the need for a militia.
Therefore, this amendment is authorization for the states to organize militias, to permit all individuals to be readily armed for call-up, and that such militias shall be, not only be formed and controlled by the state government, but that they shall be established by the state government.
The fact that weapons are now provided long ago eliminated the need for individuals to own a weapon for service. Certainly not an armory.
AMENDMENT 3:
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any
house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war,
but in a manor to be prescribed by law.
AMENDMENT 4:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons,
houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall
issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath and
affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be
searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
AMENDMENT 5:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or
otherwise infamous crime, unless by a presentation or
indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the
land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual
services in time of war or public danger; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offense to be put twice in
jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any
criminal case to be a witness against himself; nor be
deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process
of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use,
without just compensation.
AMENDMENT 6;
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the
right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of
the state and district wherein the crime shall have been
committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and
cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses
against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining
witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of council
for his defense.
AMENDMENT 7:
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy
shall exceed an amount equal to the current calendar year’s minimum taxable income for the federal tax, the right of trial by jury shall
be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise
reexamined in any court of the United States, than according
to the rules of the common law.
AMENDMENT 8:
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
AMENDMENT 9:
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights,
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained
by the people.
AMENDMENT 10:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
( Collectively, as individuals. )
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE 16TH AMENDMENT
This amendment is hereby re-worded:
“Upon signing the Federal budget next following ratification of
this amendment, the President shall cause the billing of each
Governor for a proportionate share of the Federal budget, based
on population; a specific dollar amount per registered citizen, as of
the previous calendar year.
Each state shall continue to tax their citizens in any manor they
legally choose, to which they will be expected to add the national
sur-tax. Governors shall forward such sur-tax to the national
Treasurer as often as technology will permit; daily if
possible.
This system shall replace all taxation of individuals, and intra-state
commerce, by the national government. The taxation of Inter-state
commerce shall be agreed upon among the legislators of all states.
The Infernal Revenue Bureau is to be dismantled in an orderly
manor, consistent with receipt of income from the states under
the new system.
The relationship between the national government
*administration* and the individual citizen is hereby ended. All
Federal Bureaus not
necessary that can be disbanded, shall be, with their functions
adopted by the states as they will.
For the rest of the amendments, #11 to the 26th, go to the very end of this page.
Many people currently use the expression, “Bill of Rights” as if it
still existed, other than as an historic document. Once it was
voted on and approved, it became, by design, an integral part of
the Constitution, as the first ten amendments. So “The
Constitution AND the Bill of Rights” is wrong. “The Constitution”
includes the amendments, and there’s no longer a Bill of Rights.
So, if you say it, stop it!
This was a very emotional moment. I feel much better
now.
I INVITE YOUR COMMENTS.
What is your opinion of this web site?
© 1997 burtonridgeway
@yahoo. com
Links to other briefs
*
A good idea on:
Social Security
*
Ideas on:
Taxes
*
For a much better election system; A novel of political
intrigue:
”The FECMA Conspiracy.”
*
Who's body is it, anyway?
Abortion
*
The ridiculous
"War on Drugs"
*
ON
Public Education
*
About everyone’s right to a personal armory:
Guns and the 2nd
amendment
*
Views on:
Law & Order
*
About a:
National ID Card
*
The best idea on a better system of
Health Care
*
Our cities are terrible!
*
Horrendous ideas on a variety of subjects:
Misc.
*
Islam, and our problems with it.
*
Rev./Rab./Fr. Burton
at the pulpit
*
Home page
Article. XI
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
Article. XII
Ratified 1804]
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. — The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
.Article. XIII.
Ratified 1865
Section. 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article. XIV
(This amendment was added when there was no such thing as an illegal alien, Therefore allowing updating. Burton Ridgeway. )
Section. 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, 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. 2. 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. 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 male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one 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 male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section. 3. 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. 4. 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. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Article. XV.
Ratified 1870
Section. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article. XVI.
Ratified 1913
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
(Shall have the power, if it decides to use it, but is not required to do so. Burton Ridgeway)
Article. XVII
Ratified 1913
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
Article. XIX
Ratified 1920
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article. XX
Ratified 1933
Section. 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section. 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section. 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section. 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section. 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section. 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
Article. XXI
Ratified 1933
Section. 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section. 2. The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section. 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Article. XXII
Ratified 1951
Section. 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section. 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
Article. XXIII
Ratified 1961
Section. 1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article. XXIV
Ratified 1964
Section. 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article. XXV
Ratified 1967
Section. 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section. 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section. 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section. 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
Article. XXVI
Ratified 1971
Section. 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Article. XXVII
Proposed 1789, and ratified in 1992. This was the second of twelve articles comprising the Bill of Rights, which had not been passed until 203 years later.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.