Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Law
Disadvantages Of A Federal Constitutional Convention, Ralph M. Carson
Disadvantages Of A Federal Constitutional Convention, Ralph M. Carson
Michigan Law Review
Article V says that on application of two-thirds of the states Congress "shall" call the convention for proposing amendments. The imperative color of this word cannot be disregarded. It leaves no discretion in Congress as to the convening of an article V assembly, although it may be consistent with some control by Congress over the modalities. A deliberate refusal on the part of Congress to call a convention, once the requisite number of state applications were in hand, may be expected, by enlarged analogy to what has been done in the recent civil rights cases and what is being proposed …
Along The Midway: Some Thoughts On Democratic Constitution-Amending, Clifton Mccleskey
Along The Midway: Some Thoughts On Democratic Constitution-Amending, Clifton Mccleskey
Michigan Law Review
In the American political circus there is apt to be going on at any given time a number of sideshows pretty much unrelated to the action under the Big Top. Essentially harmless and perhaps even functional for the system, they include the activities of the anti-vivisectionists, campaigns to impeach the Chief Justice, and the fratricidal spasms of various Marxist-oriented splinter movements. Among these sideshows, however, one has been distinguished by its perennial character and by the attention given to it by otherwise sober and restrained persons. I refer to the attempt through state legislative petitions to get Congress to call …
Proposed Legislation To Implement The Convention Method Of Amending The Constitution, Sam J. Ervin Jr.
Proposed Legislation To Implement The Convention Method Of Amending The Constitution, Sam J. Ervin Jr.
Michigan Law Review
Article V of the Constitution of the United States provides that constitutional amendments may be proposed in either of two ways--by two-thirds of both houses of the Congress or by a convention called by the Congress in response to the applications of two-thirds of the state legislatures. Although the framers of the Constitution evidently contemplated that the two methods of initiating amendments would operate as parallel procedures, neither superior to the other, this has not been the case historically. Each of the twenty-five constitutional amendments ratified to date was proposed by the Congress under the first alternative. As a result, …
The Dirksen Amendment And The Article V Convention Process, Arthur Earl Bonfield
The Dirksen Amendment And The Article V Convention Process, Arthur Earl Bonfield
Michigan Law Review
This article will concentrate on the legal issues facing Congress in the current effort to call a constitutional convention. Because all of the previous amendments to the Constitution were proposed to the states by a two-thirds vote of both Houses of Congress, the issues raised in the present situation have never been resolved. The appropriate course of action for the national legislature is especially in doubt. An attempt will therefore be made here to focus on proper decision-making by Congress in resolving these constitutional issues. The role of the judiciary will be considered only incidentally, since, as will be seen, …