The following Amendments are proposed by the author.
An Amendment to Limit the Number of Supreme Court Justices
The number of justices serving terms on the Supreme Court of the United States shall be no more than nine.
An Amendment to Disambiguate and Clarify the Second Amendment
(Edited 6/15/2021: See Note 1.)
SECTION 1: The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied persons at least 17 years of age and, who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States.
SECTION 2: The classes of the militia are:
a. the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
b. the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
SECTION 3: The right of the people to keep and bear arms is an individual right as members of either of the two classes of the militia of the United States defined in SECTION 1 and SECTION 2 of this Amendment.
SECTION 4: Minor citizens under 17 years of age, and other minors under 17 years of age whose parents or legal guardians have made a declaration of intention to become citizens of the United States may bear and possess arms defined in this Amendment. Congress may not legislate conditions of possession for minors subject to this Section.
SECTION 5: The right to keep and bear arms shall not extend to any person convicted of a felony upon due process, nor to any person adjudicated mentally ill or incapacitated upon due process, unless and until said person’s civil rights have been restored by pardon, or by court order issued in the State in which said person resides.
§ SECTION 6: The term “arms” in Amendment II, and in this Amendment is defined as a firearm, rifled and smooth bore, designed for individual use that fires a single round or a single shot shell with a single trigger pull only, without regard to barrel length, cosmetic features, or action type, and includes but is not limited to, shouldered rifles and shotguns, handguns, clips, magazines, all components, parts, and all ammunition fitted for such arms. (See Note 2)
SECTION 7: Manufacturers and sellers of firearms, ammunition, or a component of a firearm that has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, and trade associations of such manufacturers or sellers, shall not be liable for damages, punitive damages, injunctive or declaratory relief, abatement, restitution, fines, penalties, or other relief resulting from the criminal or unlawful misuse of a firearm by a third party.
An Amendment to Establish Term Limits for Supreme Court Justices and Super-Majority Legislative Override
The following proposed amendment differs from Mr. Levin’s only in the length of term, which it increases from twelve in Mr. Levin’s proposal to eighteen, here.
SECTION 1: No person may serve as Chief Justice or Associate Justice of the Supreme Court for more than a combined total of eighteen years.
SECTION 2: Immediately upon ratification of this Amendment, The Supreme Court will organize the justices of the Court as equally as possible into three classes, with the justices assigned to each class in reverse seniority order, with the most senior justices in the earlier classes. The terms of office for the justices for the First Class will expire at the end of the sixth Year following the ratification of the Amendment, the terms for the justices of the Second Class will expire at the end of the twelfth Year, and of the Third Class at the end of the eighteenth Year, so that one-third of the justices may be chosen every sixth Year.
SECTION 3: When a vacancy occurs in the Supreme Court, the President shall nominate a new justice who, with the approval of a majority of the Senate, shall serve the remainder of the unexpired term. Justices who fill a vacancy for longer that half of an unexpired term may not be renominated to a full term. No more than three vacancies may be filled by a single President.
SECTION 4: Upon three-fifths vote of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Congress may override a majority opinion rendered by the Supreme Court.
SECTION 5: The Congressional override under Section is not subject to a Presidential veto and shall not be the subject of litigation or review in any Federal or State court.
SECTION 6: Upon three-fifths vote of the several state legislatures, the States may override a majority opinion rendered by the Supreme Court.
SECTION 7: The States’ override under Section 6 shall not be the subject of litigation or review in any Federal or State court, or oversight or interference by Congress or the President.
SECTION 8: Congressional or State override authority under Sections 5 and 6 must be exercised no later than twenty-four months from the date of the Supreme Court rendering its majority opinion, after which date Congress and the States are prohibited from exercising the override.
Notes:
- Removed action type “automatic” from Section 6. Added “without regard to barrel length in Section 6. Added “by a third party” to Section 7. Changed “persons” to “minors” in Section 4.
- Examples of action types deleted as unnecessary, and to allow development of future actions types that may meet the single trigger action per round or shot shell conditions of this section.
A Proposal for States
Presently, U.S. Senators are elected by popular vote, the consequence of which often is a tyranny of the majority. That is, the areas with high population densities (i.e., cities) often determine the outcome of a senatorial election.
Why not use the electoral college as a model. Rather than reducing senatorial elections to popularity contests under the popular vote model, encourage candidates to win individual counties. The candidate that accrues a majority of the state’s counties would be the candidate that represents the state. The actual majority number required would be set by the state’s legislature (e.g., 2/3, 3/4, etc.). Such a proposal would ensure counties with relatively low population densities have a representative chance to influence election outcomes. It may also serve to encourage the senator to be more responsive to the opinions of rural voters, who often have divergent points of view from urban voters, in contentious issues.
A similar schema might also be useful in gubernatorial elections for the same reasons.