Constitutional Proposal Additional Notes

 Notations and explanations of the purpose of each clause in my New Constitutional Proposal:

https://shawnravenfire.blogspot.com/2023/06/constitutional-proposal.html

Article 1, Section A, Paragraph i:  This will spare the American public from having to deal with overbearing national election cycles, while still allowing states the freedom to hold elections for council positions if they so choose.

Article 1, Section A, Paragraph ii:  Historically, states have been concerned with the number of representatives from each state, and the impact of some states having more votes than others.  By explicitly stating that councils are not required to give one vote to each representative, by that they are free to use a caucus or roundtable discussion system, no state will need to worry about being out-voted by a state with more representatives.  Additionally, without formal rules about how long each representative is permitted to speak, we eliminate the problem of representatives arguing about gaining additional time to speak on important issues (as with the House) or of representatives filibustering to stall legislation (as with the Senate).

1, A, iii:  The purpose of this clause is to eliminate long-term career politicians, and to prevent any one representative from gaining too much power.

1, A, iv:  This is in response to previous incidents during which Senate committees have been formed with unelected activists acting as committee members.  Note that this does not preclude councils from inviting a guest to speak as an expert on a particular topic, or from seeking advice from experts.  Only that these experts may not serve in the same capacity as the representatives.

1, A, v:  This is to help alleviate any states' concerns about what might happen if they don't have constant representation in every council.  Smaller states may not wish to appoint any council members if they feel it's not necessary or might be a waste of time and money, but still want to have a backup plan if it becomes necessary later.  Ideally, councils will not be oversaturated with members, as this can slow down the legislative process.

1, A, vi:  A simple limitation to prevent councils from exceeding their authority.

1, A, vii:  In addition to the obvious reason of avoiding waste of taxpayer money, this will also hopefully alleviate the psychological effect of council members feeling a sense of superiority, as well as deter candidates seeking personal gain.

1, A, viii:  Standard anti-corruption clause.

1, A, ix:  Purposefully vague, but will hopefully prevent issues on deciding where to locate offices, as well as prevent one state from gaining undue power through deals with specific councils.  Most likely, most if not all offices will continue to be located in Washington, but there is nothing to prevent them from relocating for whatever reason.

1, A, x:  A variation on Article I, Section 6 of the U.S. Constitution, but instead of being "privileged from arrest," they will simply not be detained from their duties.  This way, council members may not use their position as a means of immunity, but simply avoid the disruption of council proceedings.

1, B, i:  Due to the complexity of the various pros and cons of central banking, fiat money, commodity-backed money, etc. this clause is left deliberately open-ended, giving the Financial Council the freedom to alter and adapt the monetary system as they see fit, as opposed to just having a fixed system that could potentially fail, requiring a difficult amending process.

1, B, ii:  This is to prevent a government shutdown from occurring as a result of budget disagreements, as well as preventing the Financial Council from gaining too much power.

1, B, iii and iv:  This is to protect the poor and middle-class from having to bear most of the tax burden.

1, B, v:  This, of course, is to put an end to the controversial practice of large corporations receiving huge sums of money from the government, claiming to be "too big to fail."

1, B, vi and vii:  A more clarified continuation of some of the powers granted in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, as well as preserving existing antitrust laws.

1, C, i and ii:  Protection for the existing benefits programs.

1, C, iii:  This is a failsafe clause for economic crisis.  While UBI has been suggested by never implemented, this clause allows a pathway to start this or a similar program should the need arise.

1, D, i:  This is in response to recent controversial proposals to expand the Supreme Court in order to give a majority to activist judges wishing to overturn previous rulings.

1, D, ii:  This is to prevent any one office from becoming too powerful by having the ability to grant pardons to anyone, regardless of the nature of the crime committed.

1, D, iii:  This is to prevent federal law enforcement from becoming more powerful than state or local law enforcement, as well as to have the Civil Rights Council act as a watchdog over the Department of Justice.

1, D, iv through vi:  Adding separate sections for election rules, law-enforcement rules and general rights will make it easier for people to review their protected rights (as opposed to listing them in the order in which they were ratified).

1, D, iv, 1:  To avoid the controversial suggestion of mandatory voting, and protect the rights of the people to refuse to participate.

1, D, iv, 2:  To avoid the problems of jerrymandering, disloyal electors, and other risk factors which have on multiple occasions resulted in the election of a president (or other officer) who did not win the popular vote.  The dissolution of the electoral college has been a frequent proposal throughout U.S. history.

1, D, iv, 3:  A continuation of the 26th Amendment.  This will allow states to lower the legal voting age (something that has been suggested in recent years) if they choose, but will not allow them to raise the voting age higher than it currently is.

1, D, iv, 4:  A continuation of the 24th Amendment.

1, D, iv, 5:  Codifies absentee ballot rights into writing, avoiding a recurrence of controversies regarding the counting of absentee ballots.

1, D, iv, 6:  A continuation of the 15th and 19th Amendments, plus preventative measures against any future forms of discrimination.

1, D, iv, 7:  Hopefully to help break up the two-party duopoly, discourage mud-slinging campaigns, and avoid the need for special runoff elections.

1, D, iv, 8:  This is to discourage candidates or options from being dismissed by voters due to lack of availability in neighboring states or districts, and to avoid the issue of votes becoming obsolete if a candidate drops out of a race partway through an election.

1, D, iv, 9:  This is to help discontinue multi-state political parties, to discourage trading public endorsements for backdoor deals, and to discourage politicians from gaining too much control of a council by supporting politicians who will appoint representatives with a shared agenda.

1, D, iv, 10 and 12:  This leaves election rules open-ended for issues like broadcast campaign ads, campaign financing, misleading ads, spamming, etc.  Since no one can possibly plan for every possible form of corruption, regulators need room to adapt to new situations.  This also prevents unfair treatment in the case of one group of states fearing that another group of states is more likely to act dishonestly.

1, D, v, 1:  A continuation of rights protected in Article 1, Section 10 of the U.S. Constitution.

1, D, v, 2:  A continuation of the 4th Amendment, with some additional wording adapted for the digital age.

1, D, v, 3:  This grants further protection against unlawful searches, preventing police from avoiding consequences for their misdeeds.  At the same time, this guarantees that courts can still convict violent criminals, even if there are legal issues regarding how the evidence was obtained.  Note that the specific disciplinary actions are not specified, but left up to the states to decide.  The purpose is simply to avoid favoritism within the police force.

1, D, v, 4:  A continuation of the rights protected by the 5th and 6th Amendments.

1, D, v, 5:  A continuation of the 5th Amendment protection against self-incrimination, but with some additional wording.  Police can no longer trick or threaten people into confessing, and police must give complete and honest testimony in the execution of their own duties, even if that includes self-incrimination of police misconduct.  Police are supposed to enforce the law, including on themselves.

1, D, v, 6 through 9:  Additional protections against police misuse of power, and codifying existing protections.

1, D, v, 10 and 11:  Additional continuation of rights protected by the 5th Amendment.

1, D, v, 12:  A continuation of the 8th Amendment.

1, D, v, 13:  This is to settle the debate regarding the abolition of the death penalty, and eliminates the risk of executing any innocent person mistakenly convicted.

1, D, v, 14:  This is in response to current overuse of prison labor.

1, D, v, 15:  This will save authorities the trouble of having to systematically pardon and expunge the records of offenders for repealed crimes, as is currently happing with a lot of non-violent drug-related crimes, and may come up in the future with other types of crimes.

1, D, v, 16:  This is to protect the rights of voters, gun-owners, and persons wishing to run for office.  Currently, the rights of ex-cons varies from state to state.

1, D, v, 17:  This eliminates the problems of diplomatic immunity, and also guarantees that public officials will have to face the same consequences for crimes as everyone else.

1, D, v, 18:  Avoids the "just following orders" defense.

1, D, v, 19:  This is to impose a strict penalty for police who abuse their authority, and eliminate the old practice of planting evidence on suspects or political enemies.

1, D, v, 20:  Codifies the existing practice of compensating jurors, but adds that it should be "fair," as opposed to the usual pittance.

1, D, v, 21:  This is to eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing laws, as have been imposed in the past, particularly with non-violent offenders who otherwise would have been dismissed by judges.  However, it does specify that unusual or extenuating circumstances are a requirement, meaning that judges cannot abuse the privilege by playing favorites.

1, D, v, 22:  A continuation of the 7th Amendment, but with the amount increased due to inflation.

1, D, v, 23:  This reverses the highly controversial 11th Amendment, which has caused problems for several groups, especially civil service workers.

1, D, vi, 1:  A continuation of the 1st Amendment's protection of religious freedom, but with some modified wording.  States do have the right to acknowledge the existence of a majority religion, provided that none are shown preferential treatment.  This provides a far more clear definition of purpose than the commonly used "separation of church and state" quote from Jefferson's explanation of the 1st Amendment.

1, D, vi, 2:  Another continuation of the 1st Amendment, but codifying into writing the same restrictions (such as yelling "fire" in a crowded theater) that were previously only implied.

1, D, vi, 3:  A continuation of the 1st Amendment's protection of free assembly.

1, D, vi, 4:  A continuation of the 1st Amendment's protection of the right to petition, but adding the word "means," so as to guarantee that representatives have clear open lines of communication with their constituents.

1, D, vi, 5:  A continuation of the 2nd Amendment, but with additional wording to codify existing regulations on weapons which would not have been available when the original 2nd Amendment was written.  However, the specific wording is still kept open to interpretation so as to avoid issues in the future as new weapon technology is invented.

1, D, vi, 6:  Protection of property rights previously only implied.

1, D, vi, 7:  A continuation of the 13th Amendment, but with some additional clarification.  A person who commits a crime may be forced to directly compensate for that crime (for example, a person who paints graffiti on someone else's property may be forced to wash off the graffiti), as opposed to simply being forced to work for the state after having committed an unrelated minor offense.

1, D, vi, 8:  This resolves the controversial issue of married status having a different tax return form than single status, as well as continues the protections of several states' "no fault divorce" laws (starting with California's Family Law Act) and the same-sex marriage protection of "Obergefell v Hodges," as well as any future marriage issues that may arise involving non-traditional wedding rituals or practitioners of polyamory.  (Granted, this may mean that private insurance companies may have to update their spousal benefit insurance policies, but that shouldn't be a problem.)

1, D, vi, 9:  This codifies the abortion rights protected by Roe v Wade, eliminates the problems of failed drug and alcohol prohibition laws, and protects the rights of sex workers.  The general consensus for some time has been that government should not infringe upon bodily autonomy.

1, D, vi, 10:  This provides a protection of business-owners not to have to deal with unfair zoning laws.

1, D, vi, 11:  Codifies into law existing transportation rights previously only implied.

1, D, vi, 12:  The legal adulthood of persons 18 or older is more or less standard practice already, but this eliminates odd exceptions.  (For example, there is no reason why a person should have to be 18 to buy tobacco, but 21 to buy alcohol.)  The clause about extending rights to younger people is included to avoid any misinterpretation that persons under 18 have no rights at all (for example, getting a driver's license at 16).

1, D, vi, 13 and 14:  This is mainly to avoid mandatory education, and protect the rights of home-schooling.  It also avoids a recurrence of previous incidents in which French Cajun or Native American children were forcibly indoctrinated into Anglo-American cultures.  However, the phrase "in their homes" is included to avoid the possibility of any parent assuming that their children can do whatever they want outside of the home without consequence.

1, D, vi, 15:  This effectively eliminates the line of separation between citizens and non-citizens.

1, D, vi, 16 through 18:  This is a preventative measure against the possibility that some future lawmaker might claim that his own department doesn't have the same restrictions as another department, or that a town may decide to infringe upon freedoms on the basis that only the word "state" was used in protecting these rights.  The protection of intentional communities is to avoid a possible loophole that some future person may join such a community and then claim rights infringement (for example, someone moving into an Amish village and then claiming the local rules do not apply to him).

1, D, vi, 19:  An open-ended clause so that if any future civil rights issues should come up, there would not be a need for a constitutional amendment or a Supreme Court case.

1, E, i:  Adds an extra layer of protection of state sovereignty.

1, E, ii:  Adds an extra layer of protection of treaty compliance.

1, E, iii:  It has been an established general policy to avoid supporting nations which violate human rights.  However, this clause explicitly gives the Foreign Affairs Council control over those decisions.  Obviously, there are some cases where completely cutting off trade with a foreign nation isn't feasible, but this will allow the Council to use their best judgement in cases like this.

1, E, iv:  Provision in case the matter ever comes up.

1, E, v:  A continuation of the Peace Corps, listed separately from the rest of the military so as to avoid disruption to humanitarian services.

1, E, vi:  The purpose here is to avoid having a centralized standing military which may be misused by the federal government.  This has the added effect of keeping military forces close to home, so personnel, when not deployed, can be close to their homes, as well as allowing states to decide how best to train and operate their own forces.  The lack of a minimum readiness requirement is necessary so that smaller states need not waste time or money on a small military force that is unlikely to make a significant difference in time of war.

1, E, vi, 1:  Mainly, this is to alleviate any concerns that opponents to this constitution may have about each state having its own military.

1, E, vi, 2 and 3:  This is to prevent another situation like the Vietnam War, involving deployment of troops without a formal declaration of war, and then retroactively committing to war after troops have been deployed.  Particularly stated goals are to avoid a recurrence of situations like the Iraq War, involving an invasion force without a long-term strategy.

1, E, vi, 4:  This resolves the problem of the absence of a president in time of war.  It also helps to make sure that only the best person for the job is in command, as opposed to an all-purpose politician acting as commander-in-chief.

1, E, vi, 5 and 6:  Clarifies the new powers and limitations on each state having its own military.

1, E, vi, 7:  A continuation of the 3rd Amendment, plus the permanent elimination of the military draft, which became highly controversial during the Vietnam War.

1, E, vi, 8 and 9:  This is to prevent a recurrence of unconscionable experiments such as those conducted during the Vietnam War.

1, E, vi, 10:  This is to prevent a recurrence of internment camps, such as those used against the Japanese in World War II.

1, E, vi, 11:  A continuation of the 5th Amendment's exception for active duty military personnel, but clarifying that it only applies where standard legal protections are not feasible.

1, E, vi, 12:  Codifies existing standard practices which avoid recurrences of the surprise alliances during World War I.

1, E, vi, 13:  This is to prevent a recurrence of the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the long-term effects of chemicals used in World War II and Vietnam, as well as in response to practices of waterboarding and other forms of aggressive interrogations, and to provide codified rules and penalties for mistreatment of prisoners such as was the case in Guantanamo Bay.

1, E, vi, 14:  This is to send a message to all foreign governments (Israel, for example) that they should not expect military support while engaging in severe human rights violations.

1, E, vi, 15:  This disincentivizes wars for profit, such as the expansion of lands during the Mexican-American War, or taking control of oil resources through the wars in the Middle East.

1, E, vi, 16:  Already a standard war practice, but here codified.

1, E, vi, 17:  Allows for intelligence gathering, while correcting the previous omission that secret intelligence has historically never been well-regulated.

1, E, vi, 18:  Provides a prescribed pathway in the event of a foreign leader going rogue.

1, E, vi, 19:  This guarantees that existing veteran benefits will continue, and prevents a recurrence of the unnecessary suffering of many Vietnam War veterans.

1, F and G:  This is to ensure that only those who have the necessary specialized knowledge of their respective fields will be in a position to make policy changes for those departments where scientific or industrial knowledge is necessary.

1, H, i and ii:  A continuation of several of the restrictions placed by Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution.

1, H, iii through vii:  This is a direct response to recent abuses of power by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as avoiding the problem of resident aliens being treated differently under law from citizens.

1, H, viii:  A continuation of powers granted in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution dealing with ships on the high sees, but with additional wording to include spacecraft.

1, I:  A continuation of the copyright protections guaranteed in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution, and the census defined in Article 1, Section 2.

1, I, i:  A continuation of the Freedom of Information Act.

1, I, ii:  This is a direct response to the redactions in the recent the Epstein Files.

1, I, iii:  A continuation of existing practices.

1, I, iv:  This is a continuation and codification of existing practices.

1, J:  This provides a means for large-scale infrastructure projects similar to Hoover Dam to be developed independently of any of the other councils or departments.

2, A:  This is to minimize the problem of excessive department creations or arbitrary reorganizations, such as the Department of Homeland Security.

2, B:  This reinforces the idea that the executive departments are intended to be subordinate to the legislatures, and provides a much simpler means of dealing with insubordination than a lengthy impeachment process, as well as preventing rogue executive decisions (for example, Andrew Jackson's unauthorized forced relocation of the Cherokees).

2, C:  This is to prevent random people from being placed in positions of excessive authority, such as with the Department of Government Efficiency.

2, D:  To protect people dependent on government services from suffering under rogue executive decisions, while waiting for the council to deal with the rogue executive.

2, E:  This provides quick responses in the event of a crisis, such as with Covid or 9/11.

2, F:  This is in response to economic effects caused during the Covid quarantines.

2, G:  Codifies existing federal labor practices into the constitution.

2, H:  Protects lower echelon government workers against pay cuts or loss of benefits in response to concerns of overspending.

3, A through D:  An adaptation of impeachment proceedings based on those described in Article 1, Sections 2 and 3 of the U.S. Constitution, but applied to state authorities, and shall only be used in severe cases.

4, A and B:  This further protects the rights of states to self-governance, while at the same time, protecting against abuse of the privilege of secession or reorganization.  Note that this does not require that all states directly-elected chief authorities, but rather that all authorities be held accountable.

4, C:  This is to discourage states from seceding for frivolous reasons, or with the intent of removing the people's rights, but also, to establish that states who have legitimate reasons for secession won't feel forced to stay solely for the sake of federal aid.

5:  This provides a simpler means of amendment, while at the same time, avoiding the problem of states having voted to ratify an amendment long ago, and basically forgetting having done so (such as may or may not have happened with the highly disputed anti-nobility 13th Amendment).

6:  Not to be taken as a permanent listing of federal departments, but rather as a temporary means of reorganizing the existing federal departments and integrating them into the new system without having to deal with the inconvenience of starting from scratch.