Bøger af Roland Adickes

In 1821, Thomas Jefferson foresaw how the US Supreme Court would, over the years, steadily increase the powers of the federal government and reduce the "independent rights" of the states, reserved by the Constitution.In order to save the Republic, Jefferson proposed an amendment to the Constitution by which the people would have ultimate control over the opinions of the Supreme Court.The amendment Jefferson proposed was to provide "some practical and impartial control" by "a mixture of State and Federal authorities," enforced by impeachment of individual justices.Today, two hundred years later, the need for such an amendment is as strong, or even stronger, than it was in Jefferson's time.But in the context of today's partisan divisions, Jefferson's proposed method of enforcement, by impeachment of a justice, could not be, if ever it was, "practical and impartial control."We need to focus on correcting specific erroneous opinions, like Kelo v. City of New London (2005), rather than impeaching the justice who committed a few errors, or even a sole error, during his tenure.This book proposes a constitutional procedure by which the people, acting directly, can overrule erroneous opinions and, over time, cut back the "administrative state" which threatens the unique form of government by delegated and enumerated powers created by the Founders.

In a time when American politics has become a spectator sport often viewed with a cynical eye by the people, it is needful to be reminded that our freedom entails a civic responsibility to preserve the legal document that gives us that freedom, the United States Constitution. The Constitution is a contract to which all citizens are parties and upon which they have a right to rely. The people have as well the right to protect themselves from interpretations that go unreasonably beyond the original intent of the Framers. It is clear that in the past the Constitution has been abused to justify decisions made by the legislative and judicial branches of government (as in the Dred Scott case) that have since been overturned. Decisions that extend the powers of the federal government beyond the expressly stated limits declared in the Constitution continue to occur today and remain subjects of intensely debated contention. This book gives detailed examples of where Congress and the Supreme Court have gone outside the people's mutual contract and have, in effect, amended the Constitution. The last chapter outlines a procedure by which citizens, voting directly, can overrule or repeal amendments made by elements of their government.

Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century, the American people conscientiously amended the Constitution in accordance with Article V. Beginning with the New Deal, majorities in Congress, in effect, amended the Constitution by mere acts of Congress, which were upheld by the Supreme Court.The Court, acting on its own, also, in effect, amended the Constitution in several cases over the years.This change deprived the people in the less populous States of their right to participate in the shaping of amendments.The Declaration of True Meaning procedure proposed in this book would be a small step toward restoring the Founders' plan of self-government.