Three Constitutional Amendments that We Ought to Consider

Three Constitutional Amendments that We Ought to Consider

 

 

Right to Vote

 

The right of citizens of legal voting age in the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State in any public election held in the jurisdiction in which the citizen resides.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

https://www.fairvote.org/right_to_vote_amendment

 

As we have all discovered over the last several election cycles, there are a range of approaches that are being used to impair “one man, one vote.” HR 1 takes a big swing at many of these voter disempowerment techniques. https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/policy-solutions/case-hr1

 

 

Popular Election of Presidents

 

The President of the United States shall be chosen by direct, popular vote of the United States citizens of legal voting age.

 

https://www.tesd.net/cms/lib/PA01001259/Centricity/Domain/316/Electoral%20College%20Reform%20Plans%202015.pdf

 

Originally, the Constitution had direct election of Representatives, then in the early twentieth century; we adopted direct election of Senators.

 

It is time to do so for the Presidency and abolish the outdated Electoral College.  It may be possible to adopt a National Popular Vote Plan if enough states would agree to abide by the nation-wide popular vote. https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/article-ii/clauses/350

 

 

Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices

 

Justices shall be appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for eighteen-year terms to the Supreme Court. Such appointments shall be staggered each two years.

 

Some think this could be done legislatively by Congress. The issue is that many justices stay on the Supreme Court far too long. Our life expectancie has increased dramatically. Presidents, seeking to extend and enshrine their legacies by judicial fiat, appoint ever-younger judges of shared political persuasions who may well end up serving terms of up to 40 years. They sometimes impede national progress being achieved through democratic means due to their own personal political predilections. (I would argue that the nearly non-stop and increasingly frivolous attacks on the Affordable Care Act by Republican state Attorney Generals are a prime example of this, seeking to overturn by an ever more conservative Court that which they have been unable to achieve in a democratically elected Congress).

 

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/courts/reports/2020/08/03/488518/need-supreme-court-term-limits/ and https://fixthecourt.com/fix/term-limits/

 

 

Reflections on the Presidency of Donald j. Trump

Many Thanks To The Brave GOP Leaders Who Extended Their Congratulations To President-Elect Joe Biden and Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris