TWENTY QUESTIONS ABOUT A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION Delegate Selection: 1. How would Delegates be selected or elected to a Constitutional Convention? [T]he Founders modeled the interstate convention on international diplomatic practice. As in diplomatic meetings, each sovereignty decides how to select its own delegation or “committee” and how many to send. The records of the Founding-Era interstate conventions tell us that states selected delegates (“commissioners”) in any of several ways: (1) Election by one house of the state legislature, subject to concurrence by the other, with a joint committee negotiating any differences; (2) Election by joint session of both houses of the state legislature; (3) Designation by the executive; (4) Selection by a designated committee. (pgs. 14 -15) 2. What authority would be responsible for determining the number of Delegates from each state? 3. What authority would be responsible for electing the Delegates to the convention? 4. Would Delegates be selected based on Population, number of Registered Voters, or along Party lines? 5. Would Delegates be selected based on race, ethnicity or gender? Answer to Questions 2-5 above: [F]or the 1861 Washington Conference Convention, which served as a sort of “dry run” for an amendments convention, most state legislatures selected their own commissioners, but some authorized the executive to appoint commissioners or nominate them subject to the consent of the state senate. Election by legislative joint ballot has several advantages. First, it makes sense for the legislature to select commissioners, because they serve as legislative agents subject to legislative instruction and removal. Second, joint ballot elections are less prone to deadlock than election by each chamber seriatim. Third, because the applications and legislative instructions will define the policy behind the amendment, the commissioners’ role at the convention is primarily to serve as a legal drafting committee, calling for technical abilities and diplomatic skills. Lawmakers are likely to know which individuals possess those abilities. Each commissioner is empowered to act by a document called a “commission,” issued in such matter as the state legislature directs. (pg 15) Scope or Mission of Convention: [T]he scope of a convention for proposing amendments [as outline under Article V] is similarly narrow. As James Madison made clear, it is not what leading Founders called a “plenipotentiary convention.” In other words, it is not an assembly with very wide authority, such as one charged with drafting or adopting a Constitution. Thus, it is simply incorrect to refer to a convention for proposing amendments as a “constitutional convention.” They are different creatures entirely. Convention Structure: 6. What authority would be responsible for organizing the convention, such as committee selection, committee chairs and members, etc.? 7. How would the number of Delegates serving on any committee be selected and limited? 8. How would the Chair of the Convention be selected or elected? 9. What authority will establish the Rules of the Convention, such as setting a quorum, how to proceed if a state wishes to withdraw its delegation, etc? 10. What authority would be responsible for selecting the venue for the Convention? Answers to Questions 6 - 10 above: [A]ll states, not merely the applying states, are entitled to send committees to a convention for proposing amendments. The convention is, as James Madison once asserted, “subject to the forms of the Constitution.” In other words, it is not “plenipotentiary” (or “constitutional”) in nature. Accordingly, a convention for proposing amendments has no authority to violate Article V or any other part of the Constitution. According to the rules in Article V, the convention may not propose a change in the rule that each state has “equal Suffrage in the Senate,”12 nor may it alter the ratification procedure. definition of plenipotentiary: invested with full power. Prior rules and practice governing interstate conventions show that conventions must honor the terms of their call and limit themselves to the scope of the subject matter they are charged with addressing. The scope of the subject matter is set by the scope of the 34 or more successful applications, and ideally Congress should reproduce that scope in its call. Delegates to American conventions generally have had power to elect their own officers and adopt their own rules, and this has been universally true of interstate conventions. These rules include the standards of debate, daily times of convening and adjourning, whether the proceedings are open or secret, and other matters of internal procedure. Interstate conventions traditionally have determined issues according to a “one state/one vote,” although a convention is free to change the rule of suffrage. The convention also may limit how many commissioners from each state can occupy the floor at a time. Like other diplomatic personnel, convention commissioners are subject to instruction from home—in this case from the legislature or the legislature’s designee. The designee could be a committee, the executive, or another person or body. Although state applications cannot specify particular wording for an amendment, a state could instruct its commissioners to not agree to any amendment that did not include particular language. In accordance with Founding Era practice and the convention’s purpose, each state should pay its own delegates. The convention may opt to propose one or more amendments within the designated subject matter or it may adjourn without proposing anything. Unless altered by convention rule, proposal requires only a majority vote. Some have argued that a formal proposal requires a two thirds convention vote—or that Congress may impose such a rule—but there is nothing in law or history to support this argument. The Constitution does not require that a proposal be transmitted to Congress or to any other particular entity; the proposal is complete when the rules of the convention says it is. Because Congress must choose a mode of ratification, however, the convention should officially transmit the proposal to Congress. Once amendments are proposed or the delegates decide not to propose any, the purpose of the convention has been served, and it must adjourn. Amendment Ratification Process: 11 . Would proposed amendments require a two-thirds majority vote for passage? 12. How would the number of votes required to pass a Constitutional Amendment be determined? Answer to 11 and 12 above: [I]n general, ratification of convention-proposed amendments is the same as for congressionally-proposed amendments. (pg 16) (See Article V, U.S. Constitution). 13. What would happen if the Con Con decided to write its own rules so that 2/3 of the states need not be present to get amendments passed? (see answer provided for 6-10 above) 14. Could a state delegation be recalled by its legislature and its call for a convention be rescinded during the convention? (see answer provided for 2-5 above) 15. Would non-Delegates be permitted inside the convention hall? (see answer provided for 6-10 above) 16. Will demonstrators be allowed and/or controlled outside the convention hall? (see answer provided for 6-10 above) 17. Would congress decide to submit Con Con amendments for ratification to the state legislatures or to a state constitutional convention as permitted under Article V of the constitution? (see answer provided for 11-12 above) 18. Where would the Convention be held? Congress would decide the location 19. Who will fund this Convention? In accordance with Founding Era practice and the convention’s purpose, each state should pay its own delegates. (pg 15) 20. If these questions cannot be answered (and they CANNOT!), then why would any state legislator even consider voting for such an uncertain event as an Article V Constitutional Convention? This question has been proven invalid by the aforementioned answers. If this is not good enough then I digress to the very words of Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison when they authored the Federalist Papers 1- 85 for the purpose of convincing the States to ratify our U.S. Constitution. I invite you to read all 85 in their entirety. They are eloquent in their composition and it is amazing to be able to see into the minds of those three Founding Fathers (Hamilton, Jay, and Madison). See link foundingfathers.info/federalistpapers/fedindex.htm The rule of law as established by our Constitution guides our Legislators, Supreme Court Justices, our President, and our State Governments in the limits of their authority. This is not a haphazard process- but a process which has over 237 years of case precedence to back it up. I am awestruck by the wisdom possessed by our Founders when this Country was established. Certainly it cannot be argued that a higher power guided them through the process. I pray that we are successful in changing the present course of this Nation before it is to late.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 06:51:12 +0000
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