MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

Political Violence in America: Can the States Lower the Temperature?

By Vickie Deppe

Recent polling by Pew Research indicates overwhelming consensus on political violence in the US: 85% of survey respondents believe political violence is on the rise, with Democrats and Republicans supporting this view in near-equal numbers. They also largely agree on the problem, too: the other side. Factors like media (social, traditional, and new) and influence exerted by big corporate interests are certainly part of this milieu, but let’s not miss the forest for the trees: whether your top issue is federal spending, racial justice, the economy, education, labor policy, or something else, the federal government has overstepped its constitutional bounds and transformed nearly every issue one can think of from a local matter to a high-stakes, winner-take-all national brawl.

Why does federal overreach matter? For the average person, it’s much easier to have an impact on a local office than a congressional race: a constituent’s voice and access are far more diluted at the congressional level. In most states, a representative’s constituents number in the tens of thousands, while a congressional district averages more than three-quarters of a million people. Additionally, most states limit corporate contributions to state races, if they allow them at all. Congressional races draw significantly more money, particularly from non-constituents and corporate interests. Members of Congress don’t care nearly as much about us as they do meeting fundraising requirements imposed by their party. Even if they agree with and are willing to work hard for you, if your congressman isn’t on the right committee (which is more a function of fundraising prowess than expertise), they can’t be of much help effecting change.

Though state legislators tend to be more responsive to constituents than their congressional counterparts, there are still situations where they can’t—or won’t—help. Even then, constituents are not without recourse: they can seek remedy in the courts, or they can move to a state that offers a policy paradigm more in line with their own sensibilities: people who want to live in a high-service, high-tax state are free to do so, as are those who prefer a low-service, low-tax model. There is real potential for everyone to be a winner. The federal government offers no such accommodation. Washington insiders pick the winners and losers. The average person feels more and more that they’re losing control of their lives, even as opportunities to effect change move further and further out of reach. No wonder our politics have become so heated.

Can states lower the temperature? Absolutely, they can. When federal overreach is the problem, Article V is the constitutional answer. Your legislature can join the dozens of states with applications in place to impose term limits, fiscal controls, and power checks on Washington. If you’re not yet ready to do that, pass a delegate selection and oversight bill…because a convention is coming, and if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. At the very least, make sure your state is part of the conversation: send a delegate to the National Federalism Commission.

Article V News 

The National Constitution Center held a symposium on state-led constitutional reform featuring constitutional scholars Gerard Magliocca, Sanford Levinson, Michael Rappaport, and Steven Sachs. The event was moderated by Jeffrey Rosen, President and CEO of the NCC. All pointed to the desirability of amending Article V to remedy the need for a congressional call (i.e., the “congressional veto”) that has given Congress a chokehold on what is meant to be a state-led check on its power. Members of the panel are similarly uniform in their concern for orderliness at the convention, yet all seem unaware that nearly 1/3 of the states already have delegate selection and oversight statutes in place. This was an interesting and informative discussion, but we are left to wonder why scholars like Lawrence Lessig or Michael Farris weren’t part of this panel. Lessig, Harvard’s Roy Furman Professor of Law, has written extensively on Article V; and Farris has successfully argued multiple Article V cases in federal court.

America First Democrats released a video short explaining Article V. Though for the most part factually accurate and non-partisan, the narration features the unforgivable gaffe of referring to the Amending Clause as “Article Vee” instead of “Article Five.” Human beings remain necessary for the foreseeable future.

In response to a federal ruling that the Kansas Constitution’s supermajority requirement for Article V applications is unconstitutional, The John Birch Society’s D. Michael DeRidder penned “Federal Judge’s Overreach Opens Path for Runaway Constitutional Convention” for New American. The irony cannot be overstated: the ruling not only holds that the states must abide by the Constitution per the Supremacy Clause, but also demonstrates that the courts can—and will—step in to right constitutional wrongs when called upon. DeRidder nonetheless hysterically imagines that the decision will open the door to pandemonium.

Article V Legislative Activity

CoConvention of States Project

  • Illinois: SJR 27 and HJR 15 remain pending in their respective committees. The House version has bipartisan support.
  • Massachusetts: H 3888 remains pending in the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs.
  • Ohio: SJR 3 and HJR 2 remain pending in their respective committees.
  • Pennsylvania: HR 125 remains pending in the House State Government Committee. The measure includes delegate selection and oversight language and has bipartisan support.

Countermand

  • Pennsylvania: SR 118 remains pending in the State Government Committee. The legislation also contains language pertinent to delegates, so it is also included in the DSO list below.

Equal Rights Amendment

  • Florida: S 82 has been prefiled.
  • North Carolina: S 438 and H 500 remain pending in their respective committees.

Fiscal Responsibility

  • United States: HCR 15 remains pending in the House Judiciary Committee.

Free and Fair Elections (Wolf Pack)

  • S 2463 has been referred to the Rules Committee for further investigation and study. H 3842 and H 3843 remain pending in the Joint Committee on Veterans and Federal Affairs. H 3843 has bipartisan support.

Term Limits

  • United States Congress: HJR 12 and SJR 1 remain pending in their respective committees. The House rendition has bipartisan support.
  • United States Congress: HJR 29, allowing the president to serve a third term under certain circumstances, remains pending in Judiciary.
  • Georgia: SR 23 continues to await action in the House Rules Committee.
  • New Hampshire: HCR 13 and HCR 16 have been prefiled.
  • Pennsylvania: HR 21 continues to await a hearing in the State Government Committee. The measure covers Supreme Court justices as well as members of Congress and has bipartisan support.

Delegate Selection and Oversight

  • Michigan: HCR 2 and HB 5151 have been filed and assigned to the House Government Operations Committee. The measures stipulate appointment by legislative leadership and define delegate misbehavior or tampering with a delegate as a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
  • Missouri: HB 1811 and SB 1119 have been prefiled.
  • New York: A 8935 remains pending in the Governmental Operations Committee.
  • North Carolina: H 214 remains pending in the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate.
  • Ohio: HB 67 and SB112 continue to await action in their respective committees.
  • Pennsylvania: SR 117, remains pending in the State Government Committee (see also Countermand legislation, above).
  • Virginia: HB 8 has been prefiled.

Rescission

  • Virginia: HB 8 has been prefiled.

Other

  • Oklahoma: HJR 1036 has been prefiled. The measure calls for a convention to propose an amendment to prohibit the President or any member of the House, Senate, or Supreme Court from being paid during a government shutdown. It further defines a shutdown to include any period in which Congress has failed to pass a balanced budget (defined as expenditures not to exceed the prior year’s tax receipts) and stipulates that the aforementioned elected officials will be ineligible to stand for reelection. The measure awaits a first reading and committee assignment when the legislative session resumes in February.

Constitutional Education

In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the National Constitution Center has launched its “America at 250” page featuring multimedia resources, contemporary and historic experts, and teaching materials.

Who Said it?

Can any of you seriously say the Bill of Rights could get through Congress today? It wouldn’t even get out of committee!

F. Lee Bailey