Amending the Consitution

The 22nd Amendment

Starting with George Washington, no president has had the job for more than two full terms. He was asked to run for a third term but he refused because a "transition of power was was needed to set the Constitution in stone." This stayed true for about 150 years until Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected in 1932. He was re-elected for his second term in 1936; however, he was re-elected for a third term in 1940 because the American people did not see it wise to elect another president in the midst of WWII. When his third term was up, again the American people did not think it was smart to change leaders in the middle of WWII, so they re-elected him for a fourth term in 1944. Even though it was said that FDR's leadership was a main reason we came out of the war victorious, Congress decided that once the war was over, Washington's self-imposed two-term limit should become the law. The 22nd Amendment passed Congress on March 21, 1947, and was ratified by 41 states on February 27, 1951.

The Every Vote Counts Amendment

Mr. Gene Greene of Texas proposed the joint resolution to amend the Constitution of the United States. The Every Vote Counts Amendment, proposed January 4, 2007, would abolish the electoral college and would provide for the direct popular election of the President and Vice President. After the election of 1876, the House committee approved a constitutional amendment (The Electoral College) to apply a proportional system to all the states. The argument for this system is that is makes each individual vote valuable because each ballot would affect the candidates' ability to reach the 270 Electoral College votes required to be elected. However, The Every Vote Counts Amendment failed by a vote of 86 to 338. 

Federalism and Same-Sex Marriage

When it comes to same-sex marriage, or marriage in general, the Constitution does not specify any power or federal control they have over the topic. Marriage is left in the hands of the state. The states, for example California, have the power to make their own rules regarding same-sex marriage, and the federal government gives them that power. 

But because the states have the power to make their own laws, they aren't always uniform. There is still a big divide in the country between states that have laws banning same-sex marriage and allowing same-sex marriage.  

However, when the federal government did intervene in the repeal of Prop 8 in California, the ruiling was only applicable to one state. Not like in Brown v. The Boad of Education where segregation was banned in every state. The federal government ha yet to do so for gay rights. It is a long-term goal for same-sex marriage activists to have the federal government legalize gay marriage in all 50 states.

http://works.bepress.com/nancy_knauer/4/

Battleground America (New Yorker)

This article surprised me in many ways; these three things surprised me the most. First, I was surprised to learn that the US has the highest rate of civilian gun ownership in the world. Yemen is the second highest but still their rate is only half the rate of ours. Second, I was also surprised to learn that the rate of gun ownership among men has fell from one in two to one in three. I think this surprised me so much because with all he debates about gun control in the country, I would assume that gun ownership rates have raised. Lastly, I was surprised to learn about the "gun-show loophole" and that it cannot be prevented. Although all states require firearms-safety training and background checks, because of the gun-show loophole, not all gun owners have to take the class or have a background check.

This article reminded me of FX's hit TV show, Son's of Anarchy. I am a fan of Son's and I've been watching it since the first season, and this article particularly reminded me of the show because of the show's heavy use of guns. In the show, the Son's of Anarchy are a motorcycle gang in the East Bay and one of the many things they are involved in is the distribution of guns to neighboring street gangs. Obviously, their distribution of guns is illegal and secretive, but this reminds me of the idea that guns are become easily accessible by civilians--especially dangerous ones. This disregards the required background checks and state laws requiring firearm-safety courses for all gun owners.

One question I have would be: "Have the states or the Federal government done anything to prevent the "gun-show loophole" from being a legitimate reason to buy and own a gun?"

After doing research, I discovered that many states do not require background checks for the people purchasing weapons at a gun show from private individuals. The only background checks the federal government requires are those done by licensed dealers. However, some states have gone further than federal law by requiring background checks for any gun purchased at gun shows.  

The link below includes more information as well as a map of the US that depicts the different laws requiring background checks at gun shows.

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/safety-justice/gun-show-firearms-bankground-checks-state-laws-map.html

LGBTQ Rights and The Constitution

In the United States, there are only 15 states that have legal same sex marriage--4 by court decision, 6 by State Legislature, and 3 by popular vote. There are 2 states, New Jersey and New Mexico, that have no laws banning or legalizing same-sex marriage. However, the remaining 35 states ban same-sex marriage based either on State Law, Constitutional Law, or even both. But how does the Constitution relate to the rights of gays in America when it comes to marriage?

Get the facts here! http://gaymarriage.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004857

In Article IV of the Constitution, the first two sections can be related to LGBTQ rights in America, more specifically, same-sex marriage.

Section 1 reads:

"Full Faith and Credit should be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings...."

Because a marriage certificate seen as an official "record," a gay couple married legally has the right to be recognized as married even though they may be in a state that bans same-sex marriage. 

Similarly, Section 2 reads:

"The Citizens of each State should be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States."

This means for example, a gay couple living and who are citizens in Nevada (a state that bans same-sex marriage) has the right to go to California (a state that legalizes same-sex marriage) and be legally married. This is because they have the same exact rights as any other citizen to be married even though their home state will not legally wed them. 

My Policy: Civil Rights

The policy area I've decided to focus on throughout the year is Civil Rights, more specifically the issue of LGBTQ Rights. This policy grabs my attention because of the debate and controversy surrounding the rights of gays in America. Ever since Proposition 8 was ruled unconstitutional and gay marriage was legalized in California, I have been bombarded by the media with praise as well as anger toward this change in policy. Though this is a great win for LGBTQ advocates and same-sex marriage supporters, I am compelled to learn about the opposition to this ruling and how it is affecting the rest of the country. I feel called study and become an expert on the rights and debates concerning LGBTQ citizens and throughout the year I'll be applying the concepts I learn in this course to my policy.