84
votes
Accepted
Why does the government not introduce an amendment to the constitution to allow abortion?
Because it likely wouldn't get passed.
In order for a Constitutional amendment to be passed, it currently needs 38 state legislatures to support it. For practical purposes, it also needs ...
- 23.7k
37
votes
Why is the US constitution so set in stone and immobile, leading to inevitable anachronisms with the modern world?
Is there a mechanism (aside from amendments, which, well, can only amend) that allow legislators to update the single most important legal text of the US?
The portion that I bolded is where you are ...
- 15.6k
34
votes
If two U.S. Constitutional amendments conflict with each other, does the most recent one take precedence?
Yes... but...
But muggles like you and I don't get to decide if a conflict exists, that is a matter for the Court in their role in interpreting the constitution. And the Constitution should be read as ...
- 113k
30
votes
Why does the government not introduce an amendment to the constitution to allow abortion?
Because the hurdle for amendments is, by design, too high to allow a change that does not have broad enough state-by-state support (no, a national-level majority does not apply here).
The Constitution ...
22
votes
Can federal courts overrule North Carolina's vote ID constitutional amendment?
Yes. The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution overrides any state law -- even a state constitutional amendment.
Article 6, Paragraph 2 states:
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United ...
- 12k
20
votes
Accepted
Could the UK amend the European Withdrawal Act and revoke the Article 50 invocation?
The premise of the question is flawed. The default outcome is not enshrined in the EU (Withdrawal) Act, but in Article 50 itself. If the UK takes no action, its EU membership will end at the end of ...
- 17.3k
20
votes
How long do states have to vote on Constitutional amendments passed by congress? Are there any in limbo?
There is no time limit but it can be included in the amendment itself.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/article-5/ratification
It has been accepted that Congress may, in proposing an ...
- 14.6k
18
votes
US Constitution amendment restriction on Senate - is there a way around it?
For example, would it be legal to propose an amendment repealing the
bolded clause, have it ratified by 3/4 of the states and become part
of the Constitution, and then separately propose a new ...
- 70.9k
16
votes
Accepted
Why was the prohibition of intoxicating liquor enacted through a constitutional amendment?
Our cousin site, History.SE had an answer by @Athanasius covering this in-depth.
I won't copy/paste the whole answer, but the executive summary is that Constitutional amendment had the following 3 ...
- 91.2k
16
votes
US Constitution amendment restriction on Senate - is there a way around it?
Theoretically yes - this was the subject of a 2012 paper by Enrique Guerra-Pujol on the subject of Gödel's Loophole - a purported "inner contradiction" in the Constitution which Kurt Gödel ...
CDJB♦
- 102k
14
votes
US Constitution amendment restriction on Senate - is there a way around it?
From a textualist point of view: This is simply amendable by the mechanism you propose. The textualist looks at the plain meaning of the text.
From an originalist point of view, this can't be amended....
- 113k
13
votes
Why was the prohibition of intoxicating liquor enacted through a constitutional amendment?
In the early 1900s, many American Protestants strongly supported Prohibition, but in order to outlaw alcohol (or anything), the only option Congress had was to wait for the States to amend the ...
- 688
13
votes
Could the UK amend the European Withdrawal Act and revoke the Article 50 invocation?
is it possible for MPs to pass legislation to change this default position from "No Deal" to revocation of Article 50?
Technically yes, if time can be allocated in parliament.
Politically no.
...
- 9,041
12
votes
What is the point of the twenty-second amendment?
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Wikipedia says:
Although the Twenty-second Amendment was clearly a reaction to Franklin D. Roosevelt's service as President for an unprecedented four terms, the notion ...
- 89.2k
12
votes
Accepted
Can the US president be thrown out of office via a Constitutional convention?
Yes.
There is perhaps no limit on the power of the states to amend the constitution. The process is this:
2/3 of the legistures of the states apply to Congress calling for an amendatory convention.
...
- 113k
11
votes
How long do states have to vote on Constitutional amendments passed by congress? Are there any in limbo?
The anti-title amendment is still outstanding, since 1810 when the 11th Congress passed it:
"If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain any title of nobility or ...
- 233
10
votes
What would happen if the Corwin Amendment was ratified today?
The text of the Corwin amendment:
No amendment shall be made to the Constitution which will authorize or give to Congress the power to abolish or interfere, within any State, with the domestic ...
- 89.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Can an 11% minority actually pass a Constitutional amendment?
Your plan revolves around controlling the state legislatures. Article V gives Congress the ability to specify that an amendment must be passed via convention instead of via state legislatures, and if ...
- 2,346
9
votes
Accepted
What medium is the current U. S. constitution on?
When they made several new amendments, how did they go back to the constitution and revise any prior sections to comply with that new amendment?
They don't. Some renditions of it will strike out ...
- 89.2k
9
votes
Why is the US constitution so set in stone and immobile, leading to inevitable anachronisms with the modern world?
Right from the start, you begin with an assumption which must be challenged: "don't touch, just reinterpret". In fact, the constitution of the United States of America is not supposed to be ...
- 1,057
9
votes
Accepted
What is the Wyden Amendment?
The amendment would have changed the language of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to exclude browser data and search history from the expanded authority that FISA provides. However, in ...
- 9,587
9
votes
Accepted
Why was the 18th amendment constructed with way it was?
I think you overlooked Section 2 of that amendment:
SECTION 2
The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Congress was given ...
- 23.7k
9
votes
Why does the government not introduce an amendment to the constitution to allow abortion?
There are a couple of reasons here. The other answers correctly address the issue that this would have no chance of getting 3/4 of states to ratify it, or of getting 2/3 of Congress to even propose it ...
- 8,080
8
votes
Accepted
Are there any restrictions on how amendment should be related to original law in US Senate?
The rules regarding amendments to a bill are controlled by their respective chambers. The constitution allows the Senate and House to make their own rules and is very hands off with respect to what ...
- 13.8k
7
votes
If a law is found to be unconstitutional; can an amendment to the state constitution matter?
Article VI of the US Constitution says:
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 ...
- 13.8k
7
votes
Accepted
Why did Nebraska ratify the Twenty-seventh Amendment 24 years after it came into force?
As a tidy up. According to this report, Senator Laura Ebke stumbled on the omission while researching another resolution and decided to close the gap.
"This is really a ceremonial thing," she said....
- 5,670
6
votes
Accepted
Have there ever been serious attempts to pass an amendment to the constitution to better define when impeachment may occur?
I'll do my best to answer broadly, but I'd highly suggest better defining your use of the term "serious attempts" for a more precise response.
Summary
No proposed amendments concerning impeachment ...
- 966
6
votes
What is the point of the twenty-second amendment?
Although the US Constitution did not originally set term limits on the Presidency, this was a controversial point among its framers:
However, when the states ratified the Constitution (1787–88), ...
- 11.4k
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