What ONE change would you make to the US Constitution?

Question

This was asked before, but a while ago.

Any thoughts?

Linus - I definitely understand your point! There's a lot of explanation for how that came about - 3/5, actually - but the symbolism sucks! (The idea was that the southern states wanted slaves counted for purposes of getting more congrssmen, even though slaves couldn't vote. So if they didn't count them as 3/5, the South would have had even more power!) It took until 1865, and beyond, to settle that score. But it was done, thank God.

Answer 1

(Yes, this was asked before, a while ago. My answer wasn't picked as best then, but -- whatthehey! -- I'll try again.)

Repeal and replace the 14th Amendment. Section 1 of the 14th has three consecutive clauses that are vague and have been misused and abused by the Courts so much that it makes me want to stay away from the ballot box for the rest of my life.

Constitutional law ought to constitute a set of rules so that government (the level of government being commanded) can know what it can or cannot do. Constitutional law ought to "provide guidance and discipline for the legislature, which is entitled to know what kind of laws it may pass," and it ought to "mark the limit of [the Court's] authority." (From Romer v. Evans, 1996; morally correct rhetoric but completely hypocritical in reality.)

Declare that the 14th is repealed (we obviously don't need the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th sections of it any more) and is replaced with more clearly stated rules for the states to obey.

In place of the Privileges and Immunities Clause, say that states must obey all provisions of the Bill of Rights except for the 2nd, 7th, and 9th amendments, and the Grand Jury Clause of the 5th.

Clarify that the Due Process Clause means exactly what it literally says and that, as Alexander Hamilton once said, it can never be applied to an act of the legislature (or voters). The Clause guarantees fair, standard PROCEDURES, not laws which judges deem acceptable.

Clarify that the Equal Protection Clause means only one thing: RACIAL equality. Not gender, not sexual orientation, not aliens, not equality for persons born out of wedlock, etc., etc.

The Supreme Court has been at its worst when: 1) it steals Presidential elections, 2) it enforces "unenumerated rights," and 3) picks out "minorities" other than racial minorites for "heightened protection."

"The current state of equal protection and fundamental rights is a travesty. The Court has drifted between different [clauses of the 14th] in deriving these rights as if they were so many coat hooks for the Court to use which-ever one is convenient. The various standards set out by the Court for deriving these rights are so vague as to be virtually useless. ... [T]he Fourteenth Amendment remains a hodgepodge of underdeveloped ideas." -- Evan Gerstmann, "Same-Sex Marriage and the Constitution," (2003) Cambridge University Press, pp 209-210.

And this quote bears repeating, too:

"Each one of us must in the end choose for himself how far he would like to leave our collective fate to the wayward vagaries of popular assemblies. No one can fail to recognize the perils to which the last forty years have exposed such governments. ... For myself, it would be most irksome to be ruled by a bevy of Platonic Guardians, even if I knew how to choose them, which I assuredly do not. If they were in charge, I should miss the stimulus of living in a society where I have, at least theoretically, some part in the direction of public affairs. Of course I know how illusory would be the belief that my vote determined anything; but nevertheless when I go to the polls I have a satisfaction in the sense that we are all engaged in a common venture."

The U.S. Supreme Court is behaving like a bevy of Platonic Guardians. They steal elections and flush the people's moral values down the toilet. They have robbed from me the reason for voting -- that "satisafaction ... that we are all engaged in a common venture."

Answer 2

Let Dubya do whatever he wants- look at kiddy books while the country is being attacked, ANYTHING he wants... because like Nixon said,
"if the president does it, it can't be illegal"

so give him supreme power, put video cameras in our bedrooms so that congress can closley watch EVERYTHING, just in case all of us working taxpayers are actually "evil-doers" and tap everything- phones, internet, cable TV, purchases, to make sure we are not "evil-doers" because they may not like that you bought a Rolling Stone Magazine or if you bought Hellmans Mayonaise instead of Kraft- then thankfully a law was passed already that anyone can be deemed an "evil-doer" and whisked away with NO TRIAL- to permanent solitary confinement on some off-shore prison-
NOW ISN"T THAT FAIR ENOUGH for a FREE COUNTRY LIKE the US?
and eventually there will only be three or four people left in the whole country- and things will be JUST GREAT! ...of course I'll be gone too, but it is my duty to make the country better for the Dubya Regime- *sigh*

have fun today!

Answer 3

I would remove the prohibition on poll taxes.

A nominal poll tax of $1 (or less) would be sufficient to discourage the uninformed from voting, and generate enough revenue to modernize voting technology employed across the country.

Answer 4

I make some needed changes to the 14th. One: close the loophole given citizenship to person born here whose parents were non-citizens. Two: change it so that corporations can't claim the same rights as citizens

Answer 5

That we were considered 2/3 human.

Answer 6

Reform our current electoral model. Eliminate the electoral college, and allocate individual votes to each candidate.

As part of that, eliminate political parties. And eliminate corporate campaign contributions, as well as prevent payment by lobbyists to elected officials.

All candidates would be required to run as individuals, on their own merits. Leadership of Congress and subcommittees would rotate, with no one person being allowed to hold the position for longer than one year at a time.

Finally, require all candidates to elected office to sign a contractual agreement for anything that they promise to do as part of their campaign. If they violate their promise, any one of their constituents who voted for them (and include a requirement to ensure written records of all votes) would be able to sue to have them removed from office for fraud.

Answer 7

Make the first 10 unable to be altered in any way by new laws.

Answer 8

Immigrants would have 2 years to learn english.

Answer 9

It applies to everybody including the president.

Answer 10

No amendments. Just make it so they can't be changed.