Arkansas amended their state constitution in 1992 to impose term limits on their legislators. Amendment 73, Section 3 prohibited people who served in the House of Representatives for three or more terms and people who served in the Senate for two or more terms from appearing on the ballot for reelection. Ray Thornton, a six-term House representative, challenged the amendment against U.S. Term Limits, Inc., a national advocacy group. The Arkansas State Supreme Court held Section 3 of Amendment 73 violated Article I of the Constitution. U.S. Term Limits Inc. appealed to the Supreme Court. Issue Did Section 3 of Amendment 73 violate the Qualification Clause of Article I? Rule Article I, Section 5 declares Congress judges the qualifications …show more content…
If states could create their own qualifications for members of Congress, it would conflict with the Framer’s vision of a uniform national legislature. Powell was used as precedent because the Court decided qualifications other than those in the Constitution could not be imposed on members of Congress under Article I, Section 5, the Qualifications Clause. The petitioner, U.S. Term Limits, Inc., argued the Constitution did not prohibit adding qualifications to legislators, and therefore, the power was granted to the states under the Tenth Amendment. The Court disagreed, stating the power to add qualifications was not included in the original powers of the states, so it could not be given to the states by the Tenth Amendment. The Court also argued the Qualifications Clause includes specific qualifications in order to prevent states from adding new qualifications. The 17th Amendment granted the people the right to choose their representatives. Restrictions imposed by the states would conflict with the 17th Amendment right of the people to choose their legislators. U.S. Term Limits Inc. also argued the states had the power to regulate the times, places, and manner of holding elections under Article I, Section 4, making Amendment 73 constitutional. The Court rejected this argument, stating Section 3 of the amendment was only an attempt to create new qualifications for members of Congress and was not a direct attempt to regulate the time, place, or manner of holding
Article V of the Constitution states that “The congress…shall propose Amendments to this Constitution”. Amendments to the Constitution are essential and allow for changes in law as times and values change. In today's world, I believe that there are many necessary amendments that should be proposed in order for the supreme law of the land to remain up to date with the values of a modern world. If I were able to propose the 28th amendment to the U.S. Constitution it would state, “Those serving in congress shall be subjected to term limits in order to ensure congressional turnover. Those serving in the Senate will be subjected to a maximum of two terms totaling twelve years, those serving in the House of Representatives will be subjected to a
I agree with Marshall’s argument that the Tenth Amendment only allows the states authority in areas not delegated to the federal government, and that the federal government is not limited to its enumerated powers alone. I feel that this would make for an unproductive federal government, especially as the role of the government has expanded and changed throughout the decades. However, the state of Illinois did not argue that the federal government could not pass the Motor Voter Act under the Times, Places and Manner Clause. It allowed for the act to remain in place for federal candidates, but not for state candidates. I believe it would be reasonable to allow the states to regulate their own candidates, which Illinois did.
Vonelle Robertson Professor Currie American National Government April 15th, 2015 Essay: Should the 17thAmendment be repealed? While citizens of each state did not directly vote in the senators of their respective states legislatures chose the senators based on the law that was adopted in the constitution in 1788.The 17th amendment came about because of the state legislature being deadlocked over the election of United States Senators. This left numerous senate vacancies lasting as long as months or even years. But this was not the first attempt to amend the constitution to elect senators by popular vote. It was first introduced in the US House of Representatives in 1826 but the amendment did not have favorable support until the late 19th century
There is a debate that the 22nd Amendment may not work well with the 12th Amendment.
The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed in 1798 in preparation for an anticipated war with France. It interpreted the participation of immigrants in the Republican opposition party for evidence between foreigners and disloyalty. As an immigrant I really don’t think it should be so harsh on us foreigners trying to help our government. Since immigrants were trying to get in the republican party, Federalists made harder and tighter restrictions for us immigrants and all the critics also. The Naturalization Act was also passed in 1798 which increased residency on requirement of American citizens.
As government officials grow more and more corrupt, the need for a system of checks and balances increases. In Article 2 Section 4 of the united states constitution, a means of controlling these unacceptable behaviors was created. This established the ability to impeach a government official, including the president. Impeachment is the process of calling into question the validity or integrity of someone who holds public office. The can be impeached due to to treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
Congress had certain limitations with this constitution in action, along with many disputes among each separate state. Land distribution, foreign trouble, and payments of money, were all familiar predicaments to Congress. Absence of a centralized national power prevented the states from having fair land control, causing debate among the colonies. Maryland, rejected the constitution stating that other states, including Virginia, would become too dominant unless the Appalachian Mountains and the Mississippi river were turned over to Congress (Davidson, page 190).
The presidential selection process was also a problem during the Constitutional Convention. The Virginia Plan suggested that the president should be selected by Congress because its members had the best knowledge and understanding of how the presidential selection process worked. In Federalist Paper No. 68, Hamilton asserted that the “men most capable of analyzing the qualities,” hence the members of Congress, to select the president since they had enough information on the presidential candidates to evaluate and make a reasoned judgment on which candidate would fit best in the president position. Pennsylvania delegate James Wilson, on the other hand, opposed this idea and suggested that the president should be selected by ordinary citizens.
According to an article by Robert Longley, if there were term limits for congress there would be less experience and also you would be limiting the members that have not became corrupt. The article also states that new members would bring in more fresh ideas to congress. Applying no term limits for the members of congress is unconstitutional
There are many differing views on the powers congress holds, and congress itself, one such point of view is on whether or not congressmen should have a limited number of terms they are capable of serving, similar to how the president is only capable of serving two terms, and whether or not it would benefit both the people and the government. Congress itself is the legislative branch of the federal government, and as such holds a large amount of authority and power, including putting laws into effect, declaring war, taxing, impeachment, and many other important duties that can be carries out only by congress. Furthermore, members of congress do not have limits on the amount of terms they are allowed to serve, only limits on the length of each term, for those in the house of representatives each term is two years, while in the senate, each term is six years long. I find this to be a matter of public concern because many
During the Progressive era, the role of our federal government was being rethought—the “…traditional assumption that a powerful government posed a threat to freedom” (Foner 699) was beginning to be rejected. During this time, citizens of the United States began to realize that they needed more political freedom in order to obtain a government that worked for and with them, not one that was overrun by corporate mongrels as seen during the Gilded Age. As a step towards change, in early 1913, the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified, and it was something that would expand political freedom like never before. The Seventeenth Amendment changed our election process—senators would now be chosen by popular vote instead of directly by state legislators. In addition to this, some states even introduced the systems of initiative, referendum, and recall.
Issue 6- Does the Act violate the Procedural Due Process? Conclusion 1.
Ever since the 1960 's the justice system has been under construction because of the innovative precedents. There has been a constant debate about the justification of the people and how police conduct has an impact. the framework of the fourth amendment will give a better understanding on how the fourth amendment is used. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, house, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall be issue, but apon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or thing to be seized (U.S Const,. amend IV).
The Senate and House of Representatives comprise the two chambers of the United States Congress. While both houses are representative bodies and jointly oversee the executive branch, both must approve all bills before the president, but both chambers have different roles according to the Constitution. The House of Representatives has 435 members apportioned to the house from across the United States. States with larger populations receive more seats within the house.
Popular sovereignty: Power that the people have to vote for their leaders or other issues. Constitution example Article l, Section 4, clause 1 - “The Times, Places, and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof:” This portion of the constitution is stating that the state will organize their own congressional elections. This is connected to popular sovereignty because voting polls and elections is how people vote for leaders of the country and issues of their state. Current event Votes in for Minnesota School Districts - 11/04/15 - wdaz8 News On election day, East Grand Forks polls have been crowded to decide the future of three close by school districts.