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posted by martyb on Friday December 11 2015, @05:50AM   Printer-friendly
from the pandora's-box dept.

The U.S. Constitution has 27 amendments; each was proposed by Congress and ratified by the states.

However, the Constitution sets forth another procedure, never before used, for amending the Constitution. At the request of two thirds of the states, a constitutional convention would be held, at which amendments could be proposed. Any proposals would become part of the Constitution if three fourths of the states ratified them, either at state conventions or in the state legislatures.

Currently, 27 of the needed 34 states have petitioned Congress for a constitutional convention, for the ostensible purpose of writing a balanced-budget amendment (BBA). However, the convention might propose other changes in addition or instead of a BBA—even a total rewrite of the Constitution—if 38 states agreed, the changes would become law.

In November, legislators from 30 states met in Salt Lake City to discuss the matter.


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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Friday December 11 2015, @08:27AM

    by hemocyanin (186) on Friday December 11 2015, @08:27AM (#274872) Journal

    An amendment to the Constitution explicitly permitting unilateral secession by states. The civil war determined that sescession requires bilateral agreement between the state involved and the feds. But an amendment could change that.

    Free Cascadia! [wikipedia.org]

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 11 2015, @05:27PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 11 2015, @05:27PM (#275046)

    An amendment to the Constitution explicitly permitting unilateral secession by states. The civil war determined that sescession requires bilateral agreement between the state involved and the feds. But an amendment could change that.

    And you honestly don't see how that will inevitably be abused? Wow. Just plain wow.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 11 2015, @09:50PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 11 2015, @09:50PM (#275162)

      The right to self-determination is widely accepted: for instance, it's one of the principles in the Charter of the United Nations.

      A well-defined process for secession might be a way to a peaceful dissolution of the American empire. If we could end it without a civil war or revolution, as the British and Soviet empires did, that would be a good thing.

      In my opinion, the Confederate States should have just been allowed to go and do their thing. Slavery was becoming anathema everywhere else; soon they would have had no one to trade with.