Draft Amendments to U.S. Constitution

This is a collection of draft amendments to the Constitution for the United States. These should be regarded as short position statements on constitutional construction. It is subject to frequent additions and revisions, so readers may want to revisit often.

There are three groups of amendments: Clarifying, Remedial, and Substantive. The Clarifying are intended only to return legal practice to original understanding. The Remedial are intended to correct errors and omissions. The Substantive are intended to add some additional powers that many people might think the national government should be authorized to exercise. They are intended as much as anything to highlight that the national government presently does not have such powers.

It is not proposed that state legislatures petition Congress to call a constitutional convention, but rather that they propose identical amendments to Congress to be adopted as proposed amendments and send them back to the states for ratification. The task for reformers would be to unite behind identical versions and not accept variations. However, the main focus is not, for the clarifying amendments, on actually getting them ratified, but on using them to drive reform in legal practice.

Such proposed amendments provide a way to allocate our efforts and measure our progress. Using them, we can determine which officials can be redeemed and which must be replaced, at both the state and federal levels. We can also determine what we have to do to get enough public support, by measuring how much support each has among which groups of people. It may happen that with enough support by enough people in the right places, the amendments will not have to actually be adopted, but we may also be able to determine which need to actually be adopted to prevent backsliding. During the course of debate we can also discover weaknesses in the language of the amendments requiring further clarification, to avoid future misinterpretation.

We will be adding pages with links and white papers explaining and discussing each amendment, linked from the title.

Some may prefer not to advance these statements as amendments, but as positions to be demanded of decisionmakers and fellow citizens. Preambles for each purpose will be provided for each by clicking on its title. Just prepend the preferred preamble to the text of the amendment before asserting it.

Strategy. Discussion of the way these amendments and the reforms they represent might be advanced.

Clarifying amendments — These do not make substantive changes in what was originally understood:

Clarification of "right"

In this Constitution all rights are rights against the action of government officials, or immunities, not entitlements to receive some material benefit. Every immunity is a restriction on delegated powers, and every delegated power is a restriction on immunities. Delegated powers and immunities partition the space of public action. The exercise of a right is not subject to regulation, except to allocate use of a scarce resource, or to taxation, and only to insignificant incidental burdens by government actions at any level, unless there is an explicit exception to the contrary, in this Constitution.

Prerogative writs

All persons have the right to a presumption of nonauthority. No person shall be denied or delayed more than 20 days in receiving a fair hearing and decision on the merits on a writ of quo warranto, habeas corpus, prohibito, mandamus, procedendo, certiorari, scire facias, or other prerogative writ, or on a demurral. The order granting the relief sought shall issue by default if a hearing is not held or a decision not made.

Clarification of "regulate"

The power to regulate shall consist only of the power to restrict the attributes or modalities of the object regulated, and not to prohibit all attributes or modalities, or impose criminal penalties.

Clarification of "commerce"

"Commerce among the states" shall consist only of transfers of title and possession of tangible commodities from a seller outside a state to a purchaser inside that state. It shall not include extraction, primary production, manufacturing, sale within a state, possession, use, or disposal, nor shall it include the activities of those engaged in such transfers. It shall not include energy, information, or financial or contractual instruments.

Clarification of "necessary and proper"

A power shall be regarded as "necessary and proper" only if it is essential to making the effort defined by an expressly delegated power, not to do whatever may be convenient to get a desired result, such as full compliance, for which the power might be exercised, and then only in a manner that is reasonable for a proper public purpose, and not abusive. The powers to tax, spend, promote, regulate, and prohibit (or punish), shall each be construed as distinct, with none implied by any of the others, and none shall be exercised as a way to avoid the lack of a power to do one of the others: Spending or taxing shall not be done to achieve a regulatory, promotional, or punitive purpose for which there is otherwise no delegated authority. Criminal prosecution shall not be done to achieve a taxing, spending, promotional, or regulatory purpose.

Rule of construction

If there is any significant doubt concerning whether an official has a power, or a person has an immunity from the exercise of a power, the presumption shall be that the official does not have the power, or conversely, that the person has the immunity.

Stare decisis

On all constitutional issues precedents shall be regarded as only perhaps persuasive and never binding. Constitutional text shall be construed only on historical evidence of the meaning of the terms for, first, their ratifiers, and second, their framers. Equity and prudential decisions shall not be regarded as precedents.

Standing

No person shall be denied standing to privately prosecute a public right for at least declaratory or injunctive relief, even if he or she has not incurred, or does not expect, personal injury resulting from the failure to grant such relief.

Fully informed jury

In all trials in which there are mixed questions of law and fact, including all criminal jury trials, and all jury trials in which government officials or agents, whether general, state, or local, shall be a party, parties shall have the right not to have decisions by the bench made before all arguments can be made before the jury, excepting only arguments on defense motions in limine that cannot be made without disclosing evidence properly excluded. Jurors shall receive copies of all applicable constitutions, statutes, court precedents, and legal arguments, including those of intervenors and amici curiae, and access to an adequate law library in which they can do research.

Access to grand jury, appointment of prosecutors

No person shall be unreasonably impeded from access to a randomly selected grand jury of 23, who, if they should return an indictment or presentment, may appoint that person or any other to prosecute the case, and shall decide which court, if any, has jurisdiction, and whether any official shall have official immunity from suit.

Clarification of "militia"

The primary meaning of "militia" shall be "defense activity", and only secondarily those engaged in it, or obligated to engage in it. All citizens and would-be citizens have the legal duty to defend the constitutions of the United States and their state, and the members of society, from any threat to their rights, privileges, or immunities, in response to a call-up by any person aware of a credible threat. Any call-up that does not require everyone to respond shall select those required by sortition. Jury duty shall be regarded as a form of militia duty. Militia may not be kept in a called up status beyond the duration of an emergency. Congress and state legislatures shall have the power to enforce this duty by appropriate legislation.

Readiness of "militia"

Militia shall be maintained in a state of readiness sufficient to overcome any regular military force it might encounter. Those who may engage in militia shall have any weapons in common use by regular military, subject only to the directives of local elected unit commanders during operations while called up. If Congress or any state or local legislative body shall fail to provide for organizing, training, or equipping militia units, persons shall not be impeded from organizing, training, and equipping themselves independently.

Clarification of "bill of attainder"

A bill of attainder shall consist of any legislative disablement of an immunity, either for an individual, group, or the people in general, without proof beyond a reasonable doubt, decided by a jury in each individual case, that he or she has committed a crime or is dangerously incompetent.

Clarification of "title of nobility"

A title of nobility shall consist of any legislated privilege or immunity, not enjoyed by all, or to the detriment of others, that is not essential for the performance of legitimate official duties, and a grand jury may authorize civil or criminal prosecution of an official for exceeding his jurisdiction or abusing his discretion.

Clarification of "declaration of war"

A declaration of war shall specify the state or organized body that is the enemy, the casus belli or casus foederis requiring its issuance, the commencement date, and the terms for its conclusion. The identification of the enemy shall be sufficiently explicit to allow persons of common understanding to recognize them, and not be left to executive officials to define the boundaries of who is included.

Clarification of "piracy"

"Piracy" shall consist only of warlike acts committed by a foreign nonstate actor, or by a domestic nonstate actor against foreign persons or property. Letters of marque and reprisal make the person to whom they are issued a state actor, and under a declaration of war all citizens are to be regarded as state actors with respect to the foreign state defined in the declaration.

Clarification of "trial by jury"

Trial by jury in criminal cases is not a right that may be waived by the defendant. It is a mandate even if the defendant pleads guilty. The number of jurors in all cases must be twelve. They must be randomly selected from the general body of citizens. They may not be asked about their knowledge, experience, or opinions about the law in voir dire. They must be unanimous to convict but not to acquit, and failure to convict shall be deemed acquittal. This provision applies to all civil or criminal cases, national, state, or local.

Powers in nonstate territories

Congress shall not have power within nonstate territory in excess of powers provided by the constitutions of at least three-fourths of the states, being those that delegate the least power to their governments on the same subjects.

Disablement of rights

Congress shall not have power to disable a right or penalize any person on the basis of an administrative or due process proceeding in another jurisdiction, or lack thereof, or an administrative or due process proceeding in the same jurisdiction that does not explicitly disable the right as part of the final order of the court, upon conviction by a jury for a crime or a unanimous verdict finding dangerous incompetence.

Clarification of "speech" and "press"

"Speech" and "press" shall include the production and distribution of any communication, private or commercial, other than inducement to immediately commit a crime or act of war, or to give aid and comfort to a declared enemy.

Clarification of treaty power

Government shall exercise no power, based on a treaty, not otherwise delegated to it by this Constitution, other than powers to administer trust territories or protectorates.

Clarification of pardon power

A person may be pardoned only after conviction, and the pardon does not nullify the conviction. It is only a declaration that the executive will not enforce it. A declaration by a president or state governor that he will not enforce a criminal conviction against a person, does not bar enforcement by another person to whom a warrant to do so may be issued by a court of competent jurisdiction.

Clarification of sovereign immunity

Sovereign immunity of a state or the nation shall not be a bar to suit, only to execution of judgment against assets not provided by an act of Congress or the state legislature for payment of claims.

Direct and indirect tax

A tax shall be considered direct only if under the totality of circumstances in which it is applied, no significant part of it is likely to be passed through to a further purchaser of the thing taxed as a higher cost of purchase, and indirect if no more than a small part of it may not be thus passed through. When in doubt, a tax shall be considered direct.

Location of jurisdiction for crime

A crime, whether under the laws of the United States or a State, shall be considered to occur at the point in space and time where mens rea and actus reus concur, not where the harm is caused.

Limited application of regulation

No regulation, ordinance, or other rule issued as anything but an act of Congress shall have the force of law on the general public, but may be applied only to government agents.

Remedial amendments — These correct omissions or mistakes:

Contumacy

Congress shall have power to prescribe the penalty for contumacy, but no judge shall have power to punish by fine, imprisonment, or other penalty, other than by incarceration for a period not to exceed ten days per court session, without conviction by a jury in a trial in which another judge shall preside.

Income tax amendment

The amendment proposed by congress in 1909 to "have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration", was never ratified, or if it was, is hereby repealed and rescinded retroactively. Taxes on equal exchanges, such as on the recipient of salary or wages for labor, shall not be taxable to a party who may not pass on the cost to a buyer.

Official misconduct

Congress shall have power to punish for official misconduct, including the violation of the rights, privileges, or immunities of any person, violation of any oath or affirmation, dereliction of duty, failure to supervise, or conduct unbecoming.

Judicial officers

Judicial officers shall consist of all persons sworn to duty in a court of the United States or subdivisions thereof, including but not limited to court presidents, judges, magistrates, clerks, bailiffs, attorneys, witnesses, trial jurors, or recorders. Presidents, magistrates, and clerks shall not be appointed permanently to a particular court, but periodically reassigned to courts and cases by sortition, with presidents or judges reassigned at random to courts each 180 days, and at random to cases, and trial jurors selected at random to each case.

Interventions in court

Intervenors in cases who argue in defense of the Constitution shall not be excluded or impeded, in trial or appeal, in the courtroom or outside it, or in presenting legal arguments to juries.

Ceded parcels

Parcels ceded to the exclusive jurisdiction of Congress by consent of a state legislature must be specifically described by metes and bounds at the time of cession, and all state citizens of such parcel shall remain citizens of the ceding state for all elections to offices of the state or the Union. The boundaries of such parcels shall be clearly marked to give notice to any person entering or leaving which jurisdiction he or she is in.

Impeachment of Vice-President

In a trial on impeachment of the Vice-President he shall not preside over the Senate.

Substantive amendments — These are mainly to delegate powers that would be denied by the clarifying amendments, but which some think the central government should have:

Judicial appeals

At each level of appeal a case shall first be heard by a randomly selected panel of three, appealable to a randomly selected panel of nine, and thence appealable to either a randomly selected or en banc panel of twenty-seven, depending on the number of judges assigned to that court.

Rule of decision in judicial panels

Any multimember judicial panel must be unanimous to sustain a claimed power of government against the claim of a citizen that the government lacks such power. If there is any doubt concerning whether an official has a delegated power, the presumption shall be that he does not. Courts shall not defer to the judgment of legislative or executive officials, but shall require strict proof of their findings or authority, with a presumption of nonauthority.

Decision of jurisdiction

Any question of which court, national, state, or local, shall have jurisdiction, shall be decided by a grand jury of citizens selected at random, if possible, from outside the jurisdictions of the courts in contention.

Pollution

Congress shall have power to regulate or prohibit substances or actions which are likely to cause resource degradation or depletion or injury to people across state, territorial, or national borders, but not those confined within the borders of a state or territory.

Coastal waters and airspace

Congress shall have exclusive legislative jurisdiction over coastal waters from the low tide mark out to a distance of three miles, and over airspace at or above 1000 feet above terrain features, including the power to regulate the movement of vessels through such territory. States shall have jurisdiction for land above the low tide mark.

Broadcast bands

Congress shall have exclusive legislative jurisdiction over the allocation of broadcast bands for transmissions in excess of 1 watt.

In rem forfeitures forbidden

Any claim against a nonperson must specify an owner, even if it is initially an unknown owner, and the last possessor shall be presumed the owner unless title to another is proved. No asset shall be forfeited except to pay a lawful fine, imposed by verdict of a jury, by selling at public auction.

State secrets

Congress shall have power to punish for disclosure of state secrets properly so designated by a court of competent jurisdiction, but it shall also have power to punish the concealment of official misconduct under the guise of state secrecy.

Court opinions

Opinions of all courts, majority, concurring, or dissenting, shall be signed by each judicial officer participating, and all decisions and opinions shall be published except for state secrets. The summary, findings, orders, and commentary shall be clearly separated and labeled as such.

Recording of legal proceedings

Except in an emergency in which recording is impossible, all legislative, judicial, and administrative proceedings, other than grand jury meetings, shall be recorded with current state of the art audio and video technologies, archived, and released as Congress or a state legislature, or a court of competent jurisdiction, shall direct. Persons present in a legislative conference or court shall not be barred from recording the proceedings except to forbid them from disclosing the members of the jury before the trial is concluded.

Supermajority for criminal penalties

Congress or a state legislature shall not enact legislation with criminal penalties without support by a vote of 94% of the members, not just of the members present and voting.

Proxy voting in legislative bodies elected by population

Members of the United States House of Representatives, and houses of state legislatures whose members represent political subdivisions that elect a number of representatives in proportion to their population, shall elect representatives at large, and the number of allocated representatives receiving the most votes shall be declared elected. Each such elected representative shall cast the number of votes he or she received in the last election in all proceedings of the house to which elected. Each candidate shall, prior to election, declare a list of successors if he or she becomes unable to serve, or is removed from office, who shall be appointed to replace him or her.

Firearm exclusion zones

Congress shall have power, on territory under its exclusive jurisdiction, and state legislatures, on territory under their exclusive jurisdiction, to forbid weapons within penal facilities, courthouses, and government offices, provided that they provide for a secure system for checking in weapons on entry, and return on leaving, and guarantee the safety of persons within against all injury they might be able to avoid by having the means to defend themselves or others.

Weapons of mass destruction

Congress shall have power, on territory under its exclusive jurisdiction, and state legislatures, on territory under their exclusive jurisdiction, to forbid unsupervised possession of destructive devices or weapons each discharge of which can produce the death or injury of more than 1000 individuals over a space of 1000 square meters and a time of one hour.

Eminent domain

Congress shall have the power of eminent domain only on territory for which it has exclusive jurisdiction, and state legislatures only on exclusively state territory. State legislatures must consent to Congress taking by eminent domain any parcels within their territory. No taking by either Congress or a state legislature shall be for any purpose other than public use for a period of at least 20 years.

Legal tender

Congress shall have the power to define legal tender only on territory for which it has exclusive jurisdiction, and state legislatures only on exclusively state territory. Neither Congress nor the states may make anything legal tender that does not consist of, or is backed by, gold, silver, or energy.

Occupational licensing

There shall be no occupational licensing, formal or informal, national, state, or local, especially of lawyers by lawyers or judges.

Constitutional authority for legislation

No legislative act or provision thereof shall have the force of law unless the constitutional authority for it is explicitly cited, verifiable by proving an unbroken chain of logical derivation.

Violation of the Constitution

It shall be a capital offense for any official at any level of government to violate this Constitution.

Sunset of legislation

Every bill enacted by Congress shall expire two years after enactment, unless re-enacted, or unless it is constitutionally mandated.

Number of members of the House of Representatives

The number of members of the House of Representatives shall be two hundred eighty-five plus three times the number of states.

Selecting electors for president and vice-president

The electors for president and vice-president shall be selected in each state by the following procedure:

1. An initial panel of citizens qualified to vote in that state equal to one hundred times the number of electors to be selected from that state shall be selected at random, in a process that shall be supervised by a randomly-selected grand jury specially empaneled for that task;
2. Members of this initial panel shall take an examination in which each shall recite from memory 20 randomly selected clauses of this Constitution, and shall receive a score of one for each clause he or she is able to recite without error;
3. A second panel shall be selected from the first, consisting of ten times the number of electors to be selected, with the odds of selecting each weighted by the score he or she received in the examination, and with exclusion of any who scored zero;
4. Members of the second panel shall meet, and each shall rank all the others in descending order of civic virtue, giving a score indicating the rank consisting of the number of panelists for the highest down to one for the lowest;
5. The electors shall then be selected from this second panel at random, but weighted by his or her average rank from the previous round of peer assessments.

Native American rights

Treaties with Native American tribes shall be honored, either with the original land taken from them being returned to them, land of equivalent value deeded to them, or money equal in current value to the land taken paid to them. Conveyance or payment shall be to a trust for each tribe controlled by that tribe. Administrative supervision of tribes shall be terminated.

Power to punish perjury

Perjury shall consist of the violation of any oath or affirmation, including that made for public office, and Congress shall have authority to criminally punish it only when made in a forum of the United States, or by an officer or agent of the United States.

Power to punish fraud

Congress shall have authority to criminally punish fraud only when committed on exclusive territory of the United States.