Constitution Threatened by New Constitutional Convention Initiative
Friday, 29 May 2009
By Larry Greenley
John Birch Society
A new constitutional convention (Con-Con) initiative, "the Bill of Federalism Project," has been announced on a new website, http://www.federalismamendment.com, which was established by Michael Patrick Leahy on behalf of Professor Randy Barnett's Bill of Federalism proposal. Although the website has apparently been active for a couple weeks already, I just came across it today. This new website provides further evidence for the troubling trend I reported on in my earlier blog, "Constitutional Convention Backers Want to Hijack the Tea Party Movement."
As I explained in "A Con-Con Call to Action for Constitutionalists Across the USA," the high water mark of the balanced budget Con-Con movement occurred in 1983 when Missouri became the 32nd (out of the necessary 34) state to petition Congress to call a constitutional convention. Since that time members and allies of the John Birch Society have been successful in convincing state legislators to refrain from issuing any more Con-Con calls. Furthermore, these members and allies have helped convince state legislators in eleven states to rescind all of their previous constitutional convention calls with Oklahoma becoming the eleventh state earlier this month.
For those of you who have not followed the Con-Con battles of the past three decades, the basic problem with Congress calling a constitutional convention at the request of 34 or more states in accordance with Article V of the Constitution is that leading constitutional scholars and judges have pointed out that the agenda of such a constitutional convention could not be specified by the state legislatures who would have started the whole process in motion in the first place. In brief, a constitutional convention could become a "runaway" convention similar to our original Constitution Convention in 1787 and come up with a radically new constitution, not just a few specific amendments. Even Article V's additional requirement that three fourths of the states must ratify any amendments emanating from a constitutional convention is not sufficient safeguard against a runaway convention given the biased media and political elites that would be involved in the whole process.
Even James Madison, "Father of the Constitution," vigorously warned against the calling of a new constitutional convention in a letter on November 2, 1788, only one year after completing our Constitution:
If a General Convention were to take place for the avowed and sole purpose of revising the Constitution, it would naturally consider itself as having a greater latitude than the Congress.... [I]t would consequently give greater agitation to the public mind; an election into it would be courted by the most violent partisans on both sides ... [and] would no doubt contain individuals of insidious views, who, under the mask of seeking alterations popular in some parts ... might have the dangerous opportunity of sapping the very foundations of the fabric.... Having witnessed the difficulties and dangers experienced by the first Convention, which assembled under every propitious circumstance, I should tremble for the result of a second, meeting in the present temper in America....
Returning to where we started, the new Con-Con initiative on the new federalismamendment.com website, we are told:
This final document will be presented to supportive state legislators in all 50 states, with the idea that they will use it as a "template" in drawing up bills to petition Congress to convene a Constitutional Convention to pass the ten amendments that comprise "The Bill of Federalism".
This website has a page, "State by State Status," which lists all 50 states and marks ten of them as "First Ten Targeted State," namely, Alabama, Alaska, Mississippi, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Based on this list, they appear to be targeting those states which have passed, or have a lot of support for, Tenth Amendment resolutions.
We've already had a couple of reports of JBS members who have been asked to become part of this new Con-Con initiative. Even though this new initiative, based on Professor Randy Barnett's Bill of Federalism proposal, is only in the beginning stages, it has the benefit of support by a founding leader of the Tea Party movement, Michael Patrick Leahy, and the frequent appearances of Prof. Barnett and Judge Andrew Napolitano on the Glenn Beck TV Show speaking favorably of a constitutional convention. Thus, there's the possibility that a million or so Tea Party participants and over 600,000 Glenn Beck 9-12 Project members could be influenced to lobby state legislators on behalf of a Con-Con.
If you are concerned about this new Con-Con threat to the Constitution, you need to inform the organizers of Tea Parties and the 9-12 Project in your area. You also need to be contacting your state legislators and providing the solid reasons against calling for a constitutional convention.
Our best educational tool for preventing a constitutional convention remains our video, "Beware of Article V":
We don't need to risk our Constitution in an unpredictable Article V constitutional convention process. Instead, we need to build a big enough constitutionalist grassroots movement to force Congress to adhere to the Constitution we already have. If Congress does not respond satisfactorily, the same movement can work to get a majority of constitutionalists nominated and elected to Congress over the next couple election cycles.
Our end is freedom. Our means is the Constitution.
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For further information please refer to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
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