ورقة موقف
بيان الائتلاف المعارض لاتفاقية المادة الخامسة
القضايا ذات الصلة
Constitutional Rights and Public Interest Groups Oppose Calls for an Article V Constitutional Convention
Plans to convene a new constitutional convention under Article V of the U.S. Constitution are a threat to every American’s constitutional rights and civil liberties.
Article V convention proponents and wealthy special interest groups are dangerously close to forcing the calling of a constitutional convention to enact a federal balanced budget amendment (BBA). This would be the first constitutional convention since the original convention in 1787 — all constitutional amendments since then have been passed first by Congress and then approved by three-fourths of the state legislatures. There are no rules and guidelines in the U.S. Constitution on how a convention would work, which creates an opportunity for a runaway convention that could rewrite any constitutional right or protection currently available to American citizens.
Under Article V of the U.S. Constitution, a convention can be called when two-thirds of the states (34) petition for a convention to enact amendments to the constitution. States can also rescind their calls by a vote in the state legislature. Just a few states short of reaching the constitutionally-required 34 states to call a convention, Article V and BBA advocates have recently increased their efforts to call a new convention.
An Article V convention is a dangerous threat to the U.S. Constitution, our democracy, and our civil rights and liberties. There is no language in the U.S. Constitution to limit a convention to one issue and there is reason to fear that once called, a convention will be able to consider any amendments that the delegates want to consider. There also are no guidelines or rules to govern a convention. Due to the lack of provisions in the Constitution and the lack of historical precedent, it is unknown how delegates to a convention would be chosen, what rules would be in place, what would happen in case of legal disputes, what issues would be raised, how the American people would be represented, and how to limit the influence of special interests in a convention.
Because there is no way to limit a convention’s focus, any constitutional provision could be brought up for revision by a convention. This includes civil rights and civil liberties, including freedom of speech, freedom of religion, privacy rights, the guarantee of equal protection under law, the right to vote, immigration issues, and the right to counsel and a jury trial, among others. Basic separation of executive, legislative, and judicial powers would be subject to revision as well. A convention might not preserve the role of the courts in protecting our constitutional rights. Even the supremacy of federal law and the Constitution over state laws could be called into doubt.
A 2016 USA Today editorial correctly stated that calling for a constitutional convention is “an invitation to constitutional mayhem” and “could further poison our politics and hobble American leaders at moments of crisis.” Legal scholars across the political spectrum agree. One of the nation’s most esteemed constitutional law scholars, Professor Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School, has قال a constitutional convention would put “the whole Constitution up for grabs.”
Georgetown University Law professor David Super has written that “a constitutional convention would circumvent one of the proudest democratic advances of the last century in America: one-person, one-vote. Without a precedent, no one really knows how a convention would unfold, but proponents predict that each state would have an equal vote in whatever they got up to.”
Former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger shared similar concerns, writing, “[T]here is no way to effectively limit or muzzle the actions of a constitutional convention. The convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda. Congress might try to limit the convention to one amendment or one issue, but there is no way to assure that the convention would obey.”
The late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia also warned of the dangers of a constitutional convention. “I certainly would not want a constitutional convention. Whoa! Who knows what would come out of it?,” Scalia قال in 2014.
The undersigned organizations strongly urge state legislatures to oppose efforts to pass a resolution to call for a constitutional convention. We also strongly urge state legislatures to rescind any application for an Article V constitutional convention in order to protect all Americans’ constitutional rights and privileges from being put at risk and up for grabs.
National organizations:
African American Health Alliance
African American Ministers In Action
AFSCME Retirees
Alliance for Justice
American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote
Bend the Arc Jewish Action
Brennan Center for Justice
Campaign Legal Center
Center for American Progress
Center for Community Change
Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
Center for Media and Democracy
Center for Medicare Advocacy
Center for Popular Democracy
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Children’s Defense Fund
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)
Coalition on Human Needs
سبب مشترك
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Community Advocates Public Policy Institute
Daily Kos
Democracy 21
Democracy For America
Dream Defenders
Earthjustice
Eclectablog
Economic Policy Institute
EMILY’s List
Every Voice
Fair Elections Center
Faith in Public Life
Family Values at Work
Food Research & Action Center (FRAC)
Franciscan Action Network
Greenpeace USA
International Association of Fire Fighters
Jobs With Justice
Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights
League of Women Voters of the United States
Main Street Alliance
Mi Familia Vota
NAACP
National Asian Pacific American Families Against Substance Abuse
National Association of Social Workers
National Council of Asian Pacific Americans
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council of La Raza Action Fund
National Disability Institute
National Disability Rights Network
National Education Association (NEA)
National Employment Law Project (NELP)
National Fair Housing Alliance
National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)
National Partnership for Women & Families
National WIC Association
National Women’s Law Center
People Demanding Action
People For the American Way
ProgressNow
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
Sierra Club
Sisters of Charity of Nazareth Congregational Leadership
Social Security Works
State Innovation Exchange
The Arc of the United States
The Forum for Youth Investment
The Public Interest
The Voting Rights Institute
UNITE HERE
United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)
Voice for Adoption
VoteVets Action Fund
Women’s Voices Women Vote Action Fund
Working America
State and local organizations:
ألاباما
Fair Housing Center of Northern Alabama
ألاسكا
Alaska AFL-CIO
أركنساس
OMNI Center for Peace, Justice & Ecology
أريزونا
AFSCME 2960
AFSCME Retirees Chapter 97
Arizona Advocacy Network
Phoenix Day
Southwest Fair Housing Council
كاليفورنيا
سبب شائع في كاليفورنيا
City of Chino Housing Division
Courage Campaign
Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California
كولورادو
ACLU of Colorado
America Votes Colorado
Colorado AFL-CIO
Colorado Common Cause
Colorado Ethics Watch
Colorado Fiscal Institute
Colorado People’s Alliance
Colorado Sierra Club
Colorado WINS
New Era Colorado
League of Women Voters of Colorado
ProgressNow Colorado
SEIU Colorado
كونيتيكت
Common Cause Connecticut
Connecticut Fair Housing Center, Inc.
Planned Parenthood of Southern New England
Holy Family Home and Shelter, Inc
ديلاوير
Common Cause Delaware
فلوريدا
قضية مشتركة في فلوريدا
Faith in Florida
Florida Consumer Action Network
Progress Florida
جورجيا
9to5 Georgia Chapter
Black Voters Matter Fund
Common Cause Georgia
Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda
Georgia STAND-UP
League of Women Voters of Georgia
Partnership for Southern Equity
هاواي
Americans for Democratic Action Hawaii
Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action
Hawaii Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice
Hawaii Government Employees Association
Common Cause Hawaii
League of Women Voters of Hawaii
League of Women Voters of Honolulu
League of Women Voters Hawaii Island
Life of the Land
أيداهو
ACLU of Idaho
Better Idaho
Idaho AFL-CIO
إلينوي
سبب شائع في إلينوي
Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry
Project IRENE
إنديانا
Common Cause Indiana
Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana
ايوا
AFSCME Iowa Council 61
Congregation of the Humility of Mary
Iowa AFL-CIO
كانساس
Kansas AFL-CIO
كنتاكي
Common Cause Kentucky
Jefferson County Teachers’ Association
Kentucky AFL-CIO
Kentucky Center for Economic Policy
UFCW Local 227
لويزيانا
Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action Center
ماين
Disability Rights Maine
Maine AFL-CIO
ميريلاند
ACE-AFSCME Local 2250
AFSCME Council 3
AFSCME Council 67
Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc.
Benedictine Sisters of Baltimore
Common Cause Maryland
Disability Rights Maryland
League of Women Voters of Maryland
Maryland Center on Economic Policy
Public Justice Center
The Xaverian Brothers
ماساتشوستس
Massachusetts AFL-CIO
ميشيغان
سبب شائع في ميشيغان
Fair Housing Center of West Michigan
Progress Michigan
مينيسوتا
Alliance of Chicanos, Hispanics and Latin Americans (Rochester, MN)
Common Cause Minnesota
Indivisible Minnesota Local
League of Women Voters of Minnesota
Minnesota AFL-CIO
Minnesota Citizens for Clean Elections
TakeAction Minnesota
Women & Advocates Minnesota
ميسيسيبي
Common Cause Mississippi
Mississippi AFL-CIO
ميسوري
Vision for Children at Risk
مونتانا
Montana AFL-CIO
نبراسكا
Common Cause Nebraska
Nebraskans for Civic Reform
نيو هامبشاير
New Hampshire AFL-CIO
نيوجيرسي
CWA Local 1081
New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc.
Monarch Housing Associates
نيو مكسيكو
ACLU of New Mexico
AFSCME Council 18
Common Cause New Mexico
League of Women Voters of New Mexico
New Mexico Hospital Workers Union (1199NM)
نيويورك
CNY Fair Housing, Inc
Common Cause New York
Disabled in Action of Greater Syracuse Inc.
Long Island Housing Services, Inc.
Schenectady Inner City Ministry
Solidarity Committee of the Capital District
نيفادا
AFSCME 4041
AFSCME Nevada Retirees
Battle Born Progress
Culinary Workers’ Union Local 226
Let Nevadans Vote coalition
Nevada AFL-CIO
Nevada Conservation League
Nevada State Education Association (NSEA)
SEIU Nevada 1107
كارولينا الشمالية
سبب شائع في ولاية كارولينا الشمالية
Disability Rights North Carolina
Independent Living Resources (Durham, NC)
داكوتا الشمالية
North Dakota AFL-CIO
أوهايو
Cleveland Nonviolence Network
سبب شائع في أوهايو
Equality Ohio
Ohio Voice
ProgressOhio
Toledo Fair Housing Center
Toledo Area Jobs with Justice
أوكلاهوما
Oklahoma AFL-CIO
Oklahoma Policy Institute
أوريغون
Common Cause Oregon
Disability Rights Oregon
بنسلفانيا
Bhutanese Community Association of Pittsburgh
Common Cause Pennsylvania
Community at Holy Family Manor (Pittsburgh, PA)
Just Harvest (Pittsburgh, PA)
رود آيلاند
Common Cause Rhode Island
كارولينا الجنوبية
South Carolina AFL-CIO
داكوتا الجنوبية
South Dakota AFL-CIO
تينيسي
Common Cause Tennessee
Nashville CARES
تكساس
Clean Elections Texas
سبب شائع في تكساس
Harlingen Community Development Corporation
يوتا
Tabitha’s Way
فيرمونت
Downstreet Housing & Community Development
P.S., A Partnership
فرجينيا
The Commonwealth Institute
Virginia AFL-CIO
Virginia Civic Engagement Table
واشنطن
Conscious Talk Radio
Washington AFL-CIO
Washington Community Action Network
Fuse Washington
ويسكونسن
Access to Independence, Inc. (Madison, WI)
AFSCME Council 32
AFSCME Retirees Chapter 32
Citizen Action of Wisconsin
Common Cause Wisconsin
End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin
Grandparents United for Madison Public Schools
Independence First
League of Women Voters of Wisconsin
Madison-area Urban Ministry
Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council
Midstate Independent Living Consultants
One Wisconsin Now
Options for Independent Living Inc (Green Bay, WI)
School Sisters of Saint Francis (Milwaukee, WI)
Survival Coalition of Disability Organization of Wisconsin
The Arc Wisconsin
Wisconsin AFL-CIO
Wisconsin Aging Advocacy Network
Wisconsin Coalition of Independent Living Centers,
Wisconsin Community Action Program Association
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families
Wisconsin Democracy Campaign
Wisconsin Faith Voices for Justice
Wisconsin Voices
National Association of Social Workers, WI Chapter
Dominicans of Sinsinawa – Leadership Council
فرجينيا الغربية
West Virginia Citizen Action Group
وايومنغ
Wyoming AFL-CIO
This statement was released in April 2017 and the list of signers was updated in March 2019