ACS Cautions against a Constitutional Convention

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Nancy Rodriguez, media@acslaw.org

 Washington, DC – The California Senate recently introduced Senate Joint Resolution 7 (SJR 7), which would “apply to the United States Congress to call a constitutional convention under Article V of the Constitution of the United States for the purpose of proposing a constitutional amendment relating to firearms, as specified.” In response to SJR 7, the American Constitution Society released the following statement:

“There is nothing in Article V of the U.S. Constitution that enables a constitutional convention to be restricted to a specific topic. Once called by Congress, delegates to an Article V Convention could pursue any array of amendments,” said ACS President Russ Feingold. “There should be an inclusive, transparent conversation in this country about constitutional amendment. However, we must be clear eyed about the risks of bypassing that conversation and pushing immediately for a constitutional convention under Article V as it is written now. It is impossible to predict how a constitutional convention would play out given how few rules are specified in Article V. Under current circumstances, calling a constitutional convention would likely send this country into a constitutional crisis.

Moreover, there is an orchestrated effort already underway by the far-Right to convene a constitutional convention in order to radically rewrite the Constitution. Any state that applies for Congress to call a convention risks advancing that effort, whether it intends to or not.”

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AMERICAN CONSTITUTION SOCIETY
The American Constitution Society is a 501(c)3 non-profit, non-partisan legal organization. Through a diverse nationwide network of progressive lawyers, law students, judges, scholars, advocates, and many others, our mission is to support and advocate for laws and legal systems that strengthen our democratic legitimacy, uphold the rule of law, and redress the founding failures of our Constitution and enduring inequities in our laws in pursuit of realized equality. For more information, visit us at www.acslaw.org or on Twitter @acslaw.