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| <back | home Time for a Constitution Convention? by John De Herrera The Constitution is the supreme law of the U.S. because every other law, from jay-walking in Alabama, operating a tractor in Maine, disposing of paint in California, to smoking marijuana in Colorado, is tied directly to its seven articles and 27 amendments. Law is objective; it is fact. You can either do something or you cannot. Constitutional law is absolute in most cases. Last year on 60 Minutes, departing Senator Ernest Hollingsworth told Mike Wallace that the legislation that members of Congress now sign off on is written by the lobbyists who pay for their campaigns. In other words, corruption has become institutionalized. But America will never have proper and necessary legislation emerge from a corrupt legislative branch. There is only one legal method whereby a permanent change can occur: an amendment to the Constitution. A federal lawsuit titled Walker v. Members of Congress (05-35023 U.S. Ninth Circuit Court) is newsworthy because it is concerned with Article V and the amendatory process. Did you know that there are only two groups of Americans who can propose an idea to the states? Congress or Convention. Walker comes down to this: The Constitution requires that 34 states must apply before a convention can be called. Just as there “shall be three branches” of government, Congress “shall call a convention for proposing amendments” once the state applications are received. This is peremptory, and done without debate. This is the direct language of the supreme law which all elected officials and members of our U.S. Military swear an oath to uphold. Going back to the years 1969, 1986, 1993, and 1999, when talk of a convention circulated, the traditional fear has been that such a convention might tamper with the Constitution, or our freedoms and rights might be lost. But these arguments are invalid since 1) the Founders saw to it that our freedoms and rights could only be added to, never taken away, and 2) any proposed amendment needs 38 states to agree, that is 75% of the country, which means any idea which is even slightly questionable has no chance. Only those with broad and overwhelming support will be ratified. The one and only thing which will come out of America’s first Article V Convention is a roster of ideas, and Walker frames the situation, not that it is time to hold a national convention, but that it is a constitutional requirement. The requisite applications are in order, and to be Anti-Conventionist today is to be Anti-Constitutionalist. When Supreme Court decisions state emphatically and without any caveat that it is not the place of either courts or legislatures to alter the amendatory process, and when the case before them concerns that issue directly, then the U.S. must follow the law as written. In regards to Walker, the issue raised is that Congress by its actions is claiming a veto power over a clause/provision of the Constitution, and can decide whether or not it will be carried out as instructed. Alexander Hamilton, the author of Article V, along with countless others, makes clear: the clause was “peremptory,” and done without debate. Congress shall have no option in the matter. In short, the framers anticipated the political question doctrine almost 250 years ago and dealt with it directly. Thus a convention call is ministerial in duty, not discretionary. The direct language of the Supremacy Clause demands all judges take an oath to support the Constitution, and Marbury v. Madison states that either an action of the legislature is constitutional or it is not, and on that basis a judges must make decisions. Their oath prevents them from ruling in favor of an act which is unconstitutional and not supported by the text of the Constitution. Simply put, the refusal of Congress to issue the call when a sufficient number of applying states exists, is unconstitutional. It is a violation of several federal criminal laws and those laws together make members of Congress criminally liable for these acts. It could be argued that members of Congress are not liable, that the Congress of the last century is, but the Department of Justice is representing the current members, and they are not stepping aside in light of the assertions made in Walker. There is no immunity whatsoever for anyone who attempts to overthrow, by any means, our constitutional form of government. Refusing to obey the Constitution and its text by not calling a convention is illegal. We have two amendatory processes in place. One is controlled by Congress, the other is not, and Congress cannot veto the second process. It currently is doing so, and clearly and indisputably creating a single amendatory process where two exist. Members of Congress, the President, the Supreme Court, and the Attorney General will tell you how precious the Constitution is just about every chance they get -- and they are right. The framers knew then what we know now, governments can become corrupt. Please send a letter to your congressional representatives and ask them about Walker, and please pass along the following links. http://www.article5.org http://www.cc2.org <back | top^ |