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Author (or Editor): Vile. John |
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Title: Contemporary Questions Surrounding the Constitutional Amending Process |
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Fiction? Anthology? |
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Publisher: Praeger |
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Date: 1993 |
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ISBN: ISBN 0-275-94541-3 LC Catalog 92-41606 |
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Series Name: |
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Physical description: hardbound |
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Relevance to doaskdotell: constitutional amendments; bill of rights |
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Review: Book Review- John Vile on the Constitutional Amending
Process Contemporary Questions Surrounding the Constitutional
Amending Process, by John R. Vile Published by Praeger ( What? A British publisher pushing a rather shocking (at
least in implication) work about the US Constitution? Perhaps so, as the British
"constitution" is so much more informal. In fact, a quick check of amazon.com of author =
"John R. Vile" displays a long list of works, many dealing with the
substance of and possible changing of the United States Constitution. For
example, there is a title Rewriting the As a starting point of discussion, we reproduce the text
of Article V of the United States Constitution 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
Legislatures 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 Manner affect
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. (Emphasis added.) And this text gives a clue as to why the subject of constitutional amendment is critical to the promotion of and defending individual rights. Major changes to the Constitution may not be overly likely, but they are thinkable, and the possibility could appear suddenly and unexpectedly, and cause possibly major chaos. Particularly controversial would be the "state convention" method, which has never yet been used but which could become a major sleeper for pressure groups (especially conservatives) with an "agenda." Imagine a scenario for another Disney-Touchstone "The Insider" type of film. Conservative Republicans capture the White House and maybe one house of Congress in 2000. The feel their oats, and imagine they can get a "Right to Life" amendment through, ending practically all abortion and overturning Roe v. Wade. They don't relish a floor vote in either house of Congress on an amendment, but prefer to be more clandestine, almost in the mood of John Grisham, Tom Clancy, or Vince Flynn. The reconnoiter the 30 some states who had called for a convention on the Balanced Budget Amendment (some of these resolutions may still be good), then get some more state legislatures to pass a convention call for a RTL amendment. Then they maintain that they can combine the states for an "open convention" (or a "revolutionary convention" or a "runaway convention"). Or perhaps they go back to some of the Balanced Budget states and get them to pass on RTL. Can this really happen? Or could we have a call, say, based on eliminating the Income Tax (and replacing it with nothing)? Or would a convention call be limited to just one issue? Vile urges an interpretation of
moderation. Since the "second
method" was intended to give the states the appropriate power in the
amending process, the states surely have the legal right to limit the scope
of such a convention. Indeed, Vile
mentions, on p. 68, a Constitutional Convention and Implementation Act of
1991, without making it clear whether this bill really passed. It is not clear (Marbury v. Vile presents a number of other controversies, which may seem more
peripheral. For example, he asks
whether "any constitutional changes [can] be adopted without using
Article V." He discusses the
notion of judicial activism and "court made law" which many feel
facilitated the New Deal. Some of the
discussion resembles Morton Kaplan's notion of the use of cultural tradition
or assimilation may in certain limited ways justify the Supreme Court's
"Interpretation" of the 14th Amendment due process
clause to "invent" new fundamental rights. (A famous example is the doctrinal change of
Plessy v. There are also discussions of "non-Exclusivity," that the Constitution implicitly may engender other mechanisms for amendment. For example, Akil Reed Amar proposes that Congress is empowered to submit amendments to popular ratification or could be constitutionally obliged to call a convention by popular vote. Amar's ideas seem rooted in subjectivity, noting the "extra-legal" means of rewriting the Articles of Confederation and the idea that the American Revolution gave rise to the notion of popular sovereignty. There is little support for this view. And there are the practical dangers of a "tyranny of the majority," say, to bring back a "Christian nation." Vile also spends a chapter on limitations of what may be amended, and whether some amendments could be illegal (they certainly can be at the state level, as with Romer v. Evans). Vile's prose and presentation often seems to ramble and walk back and forth, and his own writing seems to lack direction. He just argues and counter argues, looking for a disappearing truth. Some hot-button issues seem to have been omitted, such as the possibility of secession. Vile's book shows how "respected scholars" may disagree on questions as fundamental as the Constitutional amending process itself. So the opinions and arguments of "amateurs" (like me) on constitutional law may be as valid as the prattle of experts. But, say some of my friends, all this talk about "the Bill of Rights" and the "Constitution" drives away real people, and keeps the debate with the radicals and intellectuloids who may seem to have nothing better to do than attract attention. Vikram Amar and Alan Brownstein provide an article, “President Bush’s
Proposed Same-Sex Marriage Amendment: Part One in a Series on Wise and Unwise
Constitutional Amendments” on The authors write in this article: “Given the reality that this dialogue is just getting under way,
and that there has been so substantial a change in cultural attitudes in a
short period of time, why should our society be contemplating a
constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages now? “It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the purpose of this
amendment is to prevent this dialogue from continuing. The goal would
seem to be to prevent ongoing discourse and cultural change that might
eventually be reflected in political decision making -- in essence, to
short-circuit democratic deliberation about this normative issue before
further changes in political attitudes occur.” They consider state
constitutional amendments as much less potentially damaging to the democratic
process that any federal amendment designed to derail the legitimacy of
debate about a fundamental cultural change. “Bill of Rights 2” discussion: http://www.doaskdotell.com/content/bor2.htm |
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