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Six proposed amendments to US Constitution

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by PDad » Sun Apr 20, 2014 12:55 pm

Retired SCOTUS justice John Stevens wrote a book proposing 6 amendments to the US Constitution.

1. The “Anti-Commandeering Rule” (Amend the Supremacy Clause of Article VI) 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 and other public officials in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.

2. Political Gerrymandering – Districts represented by members of Congress, or by members of any state legislative body, shall be compact and composed of contiguous territory. The state shall have the burden of justifying any departures from this requirement by reference to neutral criteria such as natural, political, or historical boundaries or demographic changes. The interest in enhancing or preserving the political power of the party in control of the state government is not such a neutral criterion.

3. Campaign Finance – Neither the First Amendment nor any other provision of this Constitution shall be construed to prohibit the Congress or any state from imposing reasonable limits on the amount of money that candidates for public office, or their supporters, may spend in election campaigns.

4. Sovereign Immunity – Neither the Tenth Amendment, the Eleventh Amendment, nor any other provision of this Constitution, shall be construed to provide any state, state agency, or state officer with an immunity from liability for violating any act of Congress, or any provision of this Constitution.

5. Death Penalty- (Amend the 8th Amendment) Excessive Bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments such as the death penalty inflicted.

6. The Second Amendment – (Amend the 2nd Amendment) A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms when serving in the Militia shall not be infringed.
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by Battle » Sun Apr 20, 2014 7:49 pm

It appears that Mr. Stevens is amending 1-4 to move the Constitution more towards giving more power to the Federal Government and less to states. He has misinterpreted the Constitution and it's Amendments for so long that now he has written a book.

I'm for the death penalty when there is no doubt. If there is ANY possibility that they are innocent or could ever be found innocent then... no.

The right to bear arms amendment is interesting considering the militia that he is referring to doesn't take their weapons home. I take it that he is talking about the National Guard and Reserves. Although in context, the militia consisted of ordinary citizens when it was written.
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by jonriv » Mon Apr 21, 2014 8:30 am

Was reading some of the excerpts(recommended for insomniacs!!) A lot of musings from someone who seems very bitter about votes that did not go his way. Obviously none of these will happen. All his amendment ideas seem to come from cases he was on the wrong side of

second ammendment that no one seems to read the whole way through. One side reads the "right to bear arms" while the other side reads "for a well regulated militia" The two recent Supreme Court decisions about DC and Chicago both confirmed the right to bear arms(for the first time), but allowed the states to impose "reasonble restriction" -seemed to piss off both sideds of the gun control issue

When written- State Militias varied - some were simply towns people that brought their own weapons from home, bigger towns had armories- They had different Uniforms etc (the 7th regiment from NY wore Gray Uniforms to Bull Run(just like the confederates)-the same that West Point wears today) Today's version of the Militia is the National Guard. All of the various state militias were formalized under the Dick Act following the terrible disorganization of calling up Guard Units for the Spanish American war. Many National Guard units trace their heritage back to before the revolution. The two units I was in (71st Infantry American Guard) was a reponse by the No Nothings(Gangs of NY) to all the ethnic militias and the 69th infanfry(Fighting 69th the Irish Brigade that gave Notre Dame its name

Although owning the gun for a well regulated militia is no longer relevent, the surpreme court recognized that the right to bear arms for home/self protection as implied when written. Several writings in the Federalist papers seem to support this as well
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by jonriv » Mon Apr 21, 2014 9:32 am

2. Political Gerrymandering – Districts represented by members of Congress, or by members of any state legislative body, shall be compact and composed of contiguous territory. The state shall have the burden of justifying any departures from this requirement by reference to neutral criteria such as natural, political, or historical boundaries or demographic changes. The interest in enhancing or preserving the political power of the party in control of the state government is not such a neutral criterion.



This one is not too bad- but I would make it in all circumstances. IMO voting districts should almost be gridlike
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by PDad » Mon Apr 21, 2014 1:54 pm

jonriv wrote:
2. Political Gerrymandering – Districts represented by members of Congress, or by members of any state legislative body, shall be compact and composed of contiguous territory. The state shall have the burden of justifying any departures from this requirement by reference to neutral criteria such as natural, political, or historical boundaries or demographic changes. The interest in enhancing or preserving the political power of the party in control of the state government is not such a neutral criterion.

This one is not too bad- but I would make it in all circumstances. IMO voting districts should almost be gridlike

This is the only one I'd like to see. A grid would be ideal, however it isn't feasible due to population density not being uniform (e.g. metropolitan areas often require multiple districts). I'm also concerned about rural areas not having a voice if they are split up and added to primarily metropolitan districts. Whenever possible, I'd like to see at least 1 primarily rural district so their concerns and interests are well represented.

#1 & #4 are clearly attempts to give the Feds more control over the States.

#3 Campaign Finance - I'm more concerned about cleaning up what is said so it is accurate and not misleading.

#5 Capital punishment ban won't pass any time soon as 32 states currently have it on their books.

#6 Gun control would require a more stringent definition of militia to change anything. Gun control is more likely to happen via a re-interpretation of the current 2nd amendment than passage of a new amendment. BTW, the Left now refers to gun control as "gun safety."
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by Dugout Dad » Wed Apr 23, 2014 11:53 am

PDad wrote:
jonriv wrote:
2. Political Gerrymandering – Districts represented by members of Congress, or by members of any state legislative body, shall be compact and composed of contiguous territory. The state shall have the burden of justifying any departures from this requirement by reference to neutral criteria such as natural, political, or historical boundaries or demographic changes. The interest in enhancing or preserving the political power of the party in control of the state government is not such a neutral criterion.

This one is not too bad- but I would make it in all circumstances. IMO voting districts should almost be gridlike

This is the only one I'd like to see. A grid would be ideal, however it isn't feasible due to population density not being uniform (e.g. metropolitan areas often require multiple districts). I'm also concerned about rural areas not having a voice if they are split up and added to primarily metropolitan districts. Whenever possible, I'd like to see at least 1 primarily rural district so their concerns and interests are well represented.

#1 & #4 are clearly attempts to give the Feds more control over the States.

#3 Campaign Finance - I'm more concerned about cleaning up what is said so it is accurate and not misleading.

#5 Capital punishment ban won't pass any time soon as 32 states currently have it on their books.

#6 Gun control would require a more stringent definition of militia to change anything. Gun control is more likely to happen via a re-interpretation of the current 2nd amendment than passage of a new amendment. BTW, the Left now refers to gun control as "gun safety."

At least prevent crap like this Illinois district from forming.
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