The Equal Just Amendment (proposed) By Paul Toscano Whereas, the United States Supreme Court having eroded the individual liberties of natural persons and citizens of the United States in such cases as: • Bush v. Gore, that effectively impeded the counting of votes and thus gave the Presidency of the United States to George W. Bush, contrary to the Constitution of the United States, • Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, that accords corporations the same free speech rights as natural persons and citizens and allows them to contribute unlimited sums to promote or attack political candidates, • Davis v. FEC and Arizona Free Enterprise Clubs PAC v. Bennett, that allows unlimited private funding of political campaigns while prohibiting unlimited public funding of campaigns, • AT&T Mobility v. Concepcion and Wal-Mart v. Dukes, that makes class actions more difficult to certify and thus alienates employees by forcing them to file individual discrimination suits against employers, • Iqbal v Ashcroft, that requires plaintiffs to allege specific facts in order to file a case and allows trial judges to dismiss cases if such facts are not plausible, thereby reversing the rules of over 70 years that placed discovery after a notice pleading, thereby making law suits more difficult to file to redress wrongs, • Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co, that will likely increase the difficulty of suing corporations violating human rights, • Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative Traders; Morrison v. National Australian Bank, Ltd; Watters v. Wachovial Bank; Cuomo v. Clearing House, that in various ways protect wall street from suit by damaged or defrauded investors; and most recently • Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, 573 U.S. ___ (2014), the decision by the United States Supreme Court allowing closely held for-profit corporations to be exempt from a law to which they religiously object; And whereas, the United States Supreme Court having demonstrated itself to be out of touch with a majority of the citizens of the United States and, by a bare majority of five justices, being likely to continue to restructure the democratic foundations of the republic into an oligarchy that favors artificial over natural persons and more privileged over less privileged citizens of the United States; NOW THEREFORE, the following EQUAL JUSTICE AMENDMENT to the United States Constitution be, and hereby is, proposed: ARTICLE III OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES shall be amended to contain the follow additional sections that shall have the same force and effect as the original: Section 4. The United States Supreme Court shall consist of 15 Justices. Each Justice shall be selected from a pool of 150 licensed attorneys, three from each State of the Union that have been selected by lottery from the list of members of the bar of each such state who have attained the age of 50 years and have actively practiced law in the 7-year period prior to the selection with the first of the three to be randomly selected based on affiliation with the most dominant political party of that state, the second of the three to be randomly selected based on affiliation with the next most dominant political party of the state, and the third to be randomly selected based on non-affiliation with any political party during the last 7 consecutive years. Section 5. Of the 15 Justices selected from the above-referenced pool, three must be selected randomly based upon affiliation with one of the two most dominant political parties of the nation; three others must be selected randomly based upon affiliation with the other of the two most dominant political parties of the nation; three others must be selected randomly based upon independence for the last 7 consecutive years from either of the two most dominant political parties of the nation; three others must be selected as follows: one by the speaker of the house, one by the majority whip of the senate, and one by the President of the United States; and three others must be selected as follows: one by the minority leader of the house, one by the minority leader of the senate, and one by lottery from the remaining unselected members of the pool of 150. Section 6. Upon selection from the pool, the Justices in each group of three referenced in Section 5 above shall draw lots. The winner of this lottery shall serve for a term of 9 years, the loser for a term of 5 years, and the remaining Justice for a term of 7 years; thereafter, each replacement of a Justice whose term has expired shall serve a term of 7 years. If a Justice dies or resigns prior to the end of a term, his replacement shall serve only to the end of the term of such Justice. Any replacement Justice shall be chosen in the same manner as the Justice replaced. No Justice shall serve for more than one term. Section 7. Upon selection but prior to taking the oath of office, each Justice shall divest himself or herself of all financial interests by placing such interests with the trustee of a blind trust and shall have no information or involvement with respect thereto during his or her term as a Supreme Court Justice. Section 8. No Justice shall have any communication whatsoever with any person regarding any matter before the Supreme Court or before any inferior court except through pleadings publicly filed with the Supreme Court or in hearings required by the case to be held by that Court. Section 9. No Justice may sit on any other court; and no judicial officer of any other court may sit on the Supreme Court. Section 10. No Justice shall delegate any matter or any judicial authority to any party whatsoever; this provision does not preclude the Supreme Court from duly engaging qualified assistants to perform non-judicial administrative and research functions. Section 11. The term of the Supreme Court shall begin on October 1st of each calendar year and shall end on August 31st of the following calendar year. Section 12. No Justice by formal or informal rule or otherwise shall exercise authority over or affect the diminution of the authority of any other Justice. A chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall be selected by the President of the United States no later than 1 day following the expiration of the term of the next preceding chief Justice and shall serve for a single term only, which term shall not to exceed 3 years. Section 13. Cases or proceedings of any kind coming before the Supreme Court must be considered by all 15 Justices of the Supreme Court and no decisional holding of the Supreme Court shall be binding unless a majority of the Justices concur in such holding. Section 14. The decisional holdings of the Supreme Court must designate the names of the concurring and dissenting Justice or Justices. Section 15. The decisional holdings of the Supreme Court affecting the constitutionality of any law, rule, or procedure, including rules and procedures governing the Supreme Court or any other branch of the government, may be challenged by a referendum of a majority of the voters in each of the United States; in the event of such a referendum, such decisional holding of the Supreme court shall be submitted for review by the Circuit Courts of Appeal and shall be overturned only upon a two-thirds majority of such Circuit Courts. Section 16. In addition to the impeachment proceeding for any Justice in this Constitution, any Justice may be censured or impeached for violating this Article or for felonies or for serious misdemeanors involving moral turpitude committed while or before serving as a Justice of the Supreme Court by a vote of three-quarters of the legislatures of the States of the Union in which two thirds of the population of the nation are domiciled. An impeached Justice shall be removed from office and denied any emoluments thereof, including benefits of retirement, insurance, enrichment, support, or personal security. Any censured Justice shall be removed from office and shall not subsequently hold any public office whatsoever. Section 17. Upon the end of a term, the retiring Justice shall be prohibited from service in any public or political office or as a consultant or lobbyist thereto or therein or in any manner that may enable such to exert any influence upon the public sector of the nation, a state, or any subdivision thereof, either directly or indirectly, whether by action, commentary, financial contribution, or otherwise. A proven violation of this provision by a Justice shall result in the denial to such Justice of any emoluments of office, including benefits of retirement, insurance, enrichment, support, or personal security. Section 18. Knowing and intentional interference with or subversion of this Article as amended by any entity may, for cause shown, be punished as a crime against the state by fine, imprisonment, or death. Section 19. This amendment shall take effect on the Monday following the 180th day following the date of its ratification, on which date the sitting Supreme Court Justices shall be retired in accordance with this amendment, and the 15 Justices selected under this Article as amended shall be sworn in and take their offices.
Posted on: Thu, 03 Jul 2014 20:55:27 +0000
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