Ought v. Naught
The Founding Documents
The “Other” Amendments
The United States Constitution clearly defined the amendment process because the Founding Fathers understood that any sustainable governing document would have to be a living document that could get changed and updated as needed to meet the changing times. As such, Article 5 of the Constitution establishes that the Constitution can be amended following certain procedures including obtaining a super-majority (⅔) of Congress and 75% ratification by the states. It establishes that such amendments strike a balance between pliancy and rigidity.
Thirty-three amendments to the Constitution of the United States have been proposed by Congress and sent them for ratification to the states (remembering that the first ten amendments, called the Rill of Rights, were ratified along with the original text of the Constitution). Of those, twenty-seven in total have been ratified, leaving seventeen to be listed and discussed here. Six amendments adopted by Congress and sent for ratification were not adopted by the required number of states. Four of those amendments are still pending, one is closed and has failed by its own terms, and one is closed and has failed by the terms of the resolution proposing it. I will cover those at the end of the adopted amendments.
Amendments:
11. Makes states immune from suits from out-of-state citizens and foreigners not living within the state borders; lays the foundation for state sovereign immunity (1795).
i. Citizens ought to expect that internecine disputes between states or from external parties are not part of our governing landscape.
12. Revises presidential election procedures by having the president and vice president elected together as opposed to the vice president being the runner up in the presidential election (1804).
i. Citizens ought to expect that they are electing an executive team.
The 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments are collectively known as the Reconstruction Amendments
13. Abolishes slavery, and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime (1865).
i. Citizens ought to expect equality based on race and that slavery per se is non-existent in our nation.
14. Defines citizenship, contains the Privileges or Immunities Clause, the Due Process Clause, and the Equal Protection Clause, and deals with post–Civil War issues (1868).
i. Citizens ought to expect that racial equality extends to the fullest extent of citizenship.
15. Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on race, color or previous condition of servitude (1870).
i. Citizens ought to expect that racial equality and citizenship include the right to vote and that each man deserves an equal vote.
16. Permits Congress to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the various states or basing it on the United States Census (1913).
i. Citizens ought to expect that they will be taxed on their income and that the process will be even-handed and not biased by state or population thereof.
17. Establishes the direct election of United States senators by popular vote (1913).
i. Citizens ought to expect that they can vote directly for all their Congressional representatives.
18. Prohibited the manufacturing or sale of alcohol within the United States (1919 – Repealed December 5, 1933, via the 21st Amendment).
i. Citizens ought to expect that majority rule might lead to temporal and social restrictions based on societal mores.
19. Prohibits the denial of the right to vote based on gender (1920).
i. Citizens ought to expect that all people, regardless of gender, are created equal and have the full rights of citizenship including the vote.
20. Changes the dates on which the terms of the president and vice president, and of members of Congress, begin and end, to January 20 and January 3 respectively. States that if the president-elect dies before taking office, the vice president-elect is to be inaugurated as president (1933).
i. Citizens ought to expect that the continuity of government is consistent and properly managed carefully and properly.
21. Repeals the 18th Amendment and makes it a federal offense to transport or import intoxicating liquors into U.S. states and territories where such is prohibited by law (1933).
i. Citizens ought to expect that mores change and that majority rule will govern, and rules or laws that no longer reflect those mores can change.
ii. Citizens ought to recognize that the repeal of the 18th Amendment is the best example that the Constitution is intended to be a living document.
22. Limits the number of times a person can be elected president (1951).
i. Citizens ought to expect that democracy requires a balance between continuity and renewal to keep autocracy at bay.
23. Grants the District of Columbia electors in the Electoral College (1961).
i. Citizens ought to expect that ALL citizens have the right to have their votes (at least for the Executive) duly counted.
24. Prohibits the revocation of voting rights due to the non-payment of a poll tax or any other tax (1964).
i. Citizens ought to expect that democracy demands that ALL citizens, even those with limited resources, retain their right to vote.
25. Addresses succession to the presidency and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the vice president and responding to presidential disabilities (1967).
i. Citizens ought to expect that there be a clear means to maintain executive continuity under any circumstances.
ii. Citizens ought to expect that there are reasonable procedures to insure that the Executive be able bodied and of sound mind.
26. Prohibits the denial of the right of US citizens, 18 years of age or older, to vote on account of age (1971).
i. Citizens ought to expect that the mores of the majority can and should determine the age of majority with regard to voting, and that such age should be reasonable and consistent with other duties afforded or imposed upon people of that age.
27. Delays laws affecting Congressional salary from taking effect until after the next election of representatives (1992).
i. Citizens ought to expect that there be a clear and prudent process for Congressional compensation.
Pending Amendments:
• Congressional Apportionment Amendment – pending since 1789 – 11 states ratified
• Addresses the number of seats in the House of Representatives, but was neither ever ratified nor retired from consideration. It is now more or less moot as the apportionment is set by Congressional statute.
• Titles of Nobility Amendment – pending since 1810 – 12 states ratified
• Strips citizenship from citizens who accepts a title of nobility, or who accepts any present, pension, office or emolument from a foreign power without the consent of Congress.
• Corbin Amendment – pending since 1863 – 5 states originally ratified
• This would shield slavery within the states from the federal constitutional amendment process and from abolition or interference by Congress.
• In his inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln said, “I understand a proposed amendment to the Constitution—which amendment, however, I have not seen—has passed Congress, to the effect that the Federal Government shall never interfere with the domestic institutions of the States, including that of persons held to service … holding such a provision to now be implied constitutional law, I have no objection to its being made express and irrevocable.” He allowed all states to consider it and only 5 (Kentucky, Ohio, Rhode Island, Maryland and Illinois) ratified it and even three of those have since ratified it. As recently as 1963, Texas tried to ratify the amendment, but failed to do so.
• Child Labor Amendment – pending since 1924 – 28 states ratified
• Would empower the federal government to limit, regulate, and prohibit child labor.
• The amendment became moot following the passage of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which implemented federal regulation of child labor with the Supreme Court’s approval in 1941.
• Equal Rights Amendment – pending from 1972 to 1982 – 38 states have ratified, but only 35 ratified by the time allowed for ratification and thus the amendment failed.
• Would prohibit the federal or state governments to deprive equal rights on account of gender.
• District of Columbia Voting Rights Amendment – pending 1978 to 1985 – 16 states have ratified so ratification has failed.
• Would give the District of Columbia Congressional status as a state (superseding the 23rd Amendment, representation in the Electoral College and participation in the amendment process of the Constitution.
i. Citizens ought to expect that there be a clear and prudent process for amending the Constitution.
ii. Citizens ought to be able to expect that there will be no undue partisan political influence in the ratification of amendments by the states.
iii. Citizens ought to expect that the ratification of amendments fairly represent the will of the majority of the people of the country.