The People's U.S. Constitution: Amendments XXI to XXVII
Posted: Tuesday, December 09, 2008
by Jeff Brown
Inner Projection
Amendment XXI : Amendment 18 Repealed. Ratified 12/5/1933.
1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
3. The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
Our first amendment repealed, but a good example of why the Constitution needs to be amendable and un-amendable for improvement. This amendment came on the heels of the death of Prohibition. Maybe a good indicator of the need for separation between church and state. Let the government govern the law and the church govern the soul.
The repeal was also timely for it opened up jobs in breweries and distilleries in a depressive era.
In Section 2 we see only for the second time the Constitution telling citizens that they cannot do something. But in the "not doing" it has set them free, as it did to so many slaves in the 13 th Amendment, the only other time citizens were forbidden certain conduct.
The Supreme Court has ruled that Section 2 gives the states authority to regulate alcohol, its consumption not its transportation to other states. The lack of restriction to regulate commerce between states is covered by the Commerce Clause.
Probably the most important result of the repeal was the creation of a new sport called stock car racing. One which came from all the modified cars used in not only getting cargo to destinations on time but also just getting there . . . period, for the police couldn't keep up with these souped-up cars. Maybe this is why stock car racing is the most watched sport on TV. Everyone who's ever had a cop car bearing down on them from behind would love to have a vehicle that could easily put an unrecoverable distance between him and his pursuer. Ka-chow! K-k-k-chow!
Amendment XXII: Presidential Term Limits. Ratified 2/27/1951.
1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
Did you know that before this amendment Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected to a fourth term? Not the type of government the framers had envisioned. Few desired to allow a president to roost in the White House, creating the potential for a much despised Monarchial rule so many of the colonists were looking to avoid in this newest of nations.
And for you Republicans, here's a scary proposition: "It's a good thing we've got a 22nd Amendment or I would run again." Bill Clinton
If you look closely at Section 1 , you'll see that the maximum number of years a president can actually serve is 10. Yes, 10. Not 8. For if a vice president becomes president and serves no more than two years, he or she can be elected to a maximum of two terms. For you non-math majors that's ten years.
However, because of the two-term limit, a lame-duck situation was created, meaning, since we know the president is out at the end of his second term he loses influence. Not in the case of George W. Bush. He lost all influence long before he got anywhere near the end of his second term. Sorry George. ;=)
Amendment XXIII: Presidential Vote for District of Columbia. Ratified 3/29/1961.
1. The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
OK, a little background about our nation's capitol, if I please.
The City of Washington was originally a part of the Territory of Columbia until it was combined by An Act of Congress in 1871. Currently, on weekends, the population is about half a million. During the week it swells to about ten times that size with the influx of commuters. This "work area" was defined in 2004 as Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA, as defined by the U.S. States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). So if you work in the area, you're well know for telling people that you'll meet them for lunch in "Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA." That's a mouthful but really just practice for lunch, isn't it?
Let's move on.
Did you know that the five-hundred-fifty-eight thousand plus citizens of Washington D.C. live in "one of the largest blocs of disenfranchised voters in the world"? (Mayor Anthony Williams). Yes, they do, for they do not have representation. They do have a non-voting at-large Congressional delegate, but no senators. Well, lots of senators, really, all of them, but none of them represent Washington D.C. And until this 23rd Amendment, people of D.C., or what is commonly known as Washington or the District, couldn't vote for president until 1961, which isn't that long ago historically. To this day, you may have family members or know someone from the area who can tell you more about this.
But why this need for The United States Congress to have supreme authority over the area?
In Federalist No. 43, James Madison states the need for a federal district and a need to be distinct from the states to provide, mostly, for its own safety. Why? Well, in the Pennsylvania Mutiny of 1783, the state of Pennsylvania (where Congress resided at the time) refused to protect Congress from an anti-government protest of some 400 Continental soldiers. Also, it was Madison who had to move out of the White House for repairs after the British burned it down in the War of 1812.
Amendment XXIV : Poll Tax Barred. Ratified 1/23/1964.
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
If you're poor or a minority, you're always a target for discrimination. (See the Florida vote recount of 2000 and the discrimination or lack of attention to Katrina sufferers who were mostly poor and black).
Previous to the Sixties, there was a lot of discrimination against the poor, even whites (why the Irish were discriminated against for so long). It used to be that you could keep these "undesirables" from voting by requiring voters to own land. However, this limitation was greatly eradicated by the Jacksonian era. So what's a bigot to do? Inflict the poll tax or head tax, a tax that had to be paid in order to vote. Even though it wasn't much, if you were poor, the amount in most cases was prohibitive.
Amendment XXV: Presidential Disability and Succession. Ratified 2/10/1967.
1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
With the assassination of JFK, the question of who should succeed a president who died in office or became temporarily incapacitated came into full consideration. And what of a vice president who encountered similar circumstances?
As we now know, the vice president takes over if the president is removed from office, impeached, or dies or cannot serve in full capacity for whatever reason. In the case of Spiro Agnew, President Nixon had to assign a new vice president after Agnew's conviction of tax evasion. In 1974, with Nixon's resignation, Ford becoming president and nominating Nelson Rockefeller to vice president, the 25 th became a much needed amendment.
If the president can't function to his full capacity, he informs the Vice President and Speaker of the House "his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office" (Section 3), and the Vice President takes over until told otherwise by the President.
In Section 4 the president can no longer act for himself; therefore, "the Vice President and a majority of either the principle officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide" inform the Vice President and Speaker of the House that this is the case and the Vice President takes over. Note here that it's never just one person making these decisions, an allusion to checks and balances. And to continue that theme, Section 4 allows the President to contest a decision of disability made by the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet. Congress must then decide by a two-thirds vote who should be in office.
Amendment XXVI: Voting Age Set to 18 Years. Ratified 7/1/1971.
1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
If you turned eighteen after June of 1971, the 26 th Amendment is your favorite; that is if you like voting. Vietnam Vets were stating that if you were old enough to die you were old enough to vote, thus the 25 th Amendment that lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
During WWII some states allowed those younger than 21 to vote. In the Voting Rights Act of 1970, the voting age was set to 18. However, in Oregon vs. Mitchell (1970) the Supreme Court ruled that eighteen-year-olds could vote in national elections but not in state elections. Thus, to get eighteen-year-olds their full voting rights, the 26 th Amendment.
Amendment XXVII: Limiting Congressional Pay Increases. Ratified 5/7/1992.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
This amendment was originally supposed to be a part of the Bill of Rights, submitted by James Madison to prevent Congress from voting themselves a pay raise before voters could put them out of office. The amendment was approved as one of the twelve amendments submitted to the states in September 1789, but it was not ratified along with the other ten that became the Bill of Rights as we know it today. And since there was no time limit for ratification for the amendment, it was still on the books to be ratified in the 1980s when several states did just that. Finally, in 1992 it became the last amendment to this point in time. But it was a record breaker, on the books as the longest ratification in U.S. history.
A Constitutional Responsibility.
OK, that's it. Take all those seven articles and twenty-seven amendments in and internalize them for your personal wealth and the betterment of all mankind. For what is more important than knowing some of the basics about your Constitutional rights as a free-living American?
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Make you dedication now to help foster the good word. And good luck with all your Constitutional efforts.
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