Amendments proposed at a 1969 Constitutional Convention

Kendall Hart

The United States may have come the closest to an Article V Constitutional Convention in 1969 over the issue of reapportionment. Only one more state needed to call for a Convention in order for it to be ratified.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conve...ates_Constitution#Congressional_apportionment

It’s not necessarily hard to imagine one more state pushing for a convention. Perhaps Everett Dirksen lives and continues to campaign for his cause. However, the United States had been through a lot, reapportionment had somewhat faded away, and some scholars debate exactly how far an Article V Convention can go. Therefore, what amendments might be brought up during the convention and which ones might eventually be approved by the states. Additionally, how would such a convention be set up in the first place?
 

Amadeus

Kendall Hart said:
The United States may have come the closest to an Article V Constitutional Convention in 1969 over the issue of reapportionment. Only one more state needed to call for a Convention in order for it to be ratified.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conve...ates_Constitution#Congressional_apportionment

It’s not necessarily hard to imagine one more state pushing for a convention. Perhaps Everett Dirksen lives and continues to campaign for his cause. However, the United States had been through a lot, reapportionment had somewhat faded away, and some scholars debate exactly how far an Article V Convention can go. Therefore, what amendments might be brought up during the convention and which ones might eventually be approved by the states. Additionally, how would such a convention be set up in the first place?
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In addition to some sort of amendment to address reapportionment, I think you'd see the 18-year-old vote amendment proposed as well.

That said, I personally am loathe to see a Constitutional Convention unfold under the Nixon administration....
 
JEF_300

JEF_300

Instead of having the War Powers Act, you'd probably just get the War Powers Amendment at the convention.

In OTL the Equal Rights Amendment passed the House and Senate in 71 and 72, so it doesn't seem unreasonable to assume it would make it into a convention, and it would likely pass.

1969 is the same year as the Moon landing, the declaration of Earth day, and the National Environmental Policy Act, so there might be some 'feel good' amendments related to those events, such as an amendment that essentially just reinforces the Outer Space Treaty's ban on the militarization of space, or some sort of Environmental Protection Amendment.

Maybe something about the use of nuclear force, although I'm dubious about that one.

I can imagine a Balanced Budget Amendment and Amendment to Abolish Affirmative Action being proposed, but I don't think either would have enough support to pass.
 
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sprite

Donor
Article V is a bit vague, so there's a chance that it could go wide. I think Congress will try and limit the scope of the convention, but will fail.

A runaway convention would probably cover:-
- Something linked to reapportionment in the states and federally
- An Equal Rights Amendment
- A balanced budget amendment
- Abolish the Electoral College
- Reducing the voting age
- Term limits
- Allowing school prayer
- D.C. voting rights

I believe the convention itself will be a mess, with rolling protests both for and against for all the issues involved.

It will be slow going and it would take some time to reach any type of consensus. Nixon will try and influence the proceedings (maybe illegally).
 
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TheMann

TheMann

Quintuplicate said:
Do you think the AIP will be brazen enough to introduce one to ban nonwhites from voting?
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It wouldn't pass, and if either of the parties had any level of support for it that would be it for them and the vote from people of colour for a generation.
 

Wendell

Kendall Hart said:
Is it possible that something opposite would be enacted - something almost like a Civil Rights Amendment? It’s hard to say if the south would allow such a thing to come through but the times were definitely shifting in that way
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There were already civil rights amendments enacted.. There could be interesting things emerging though from a convention, I suppose.
 

Quintuplicate

Preamble
We the people of the United States came here from many lands and made America our own. After our Revolution, we made ourselves and our posterity a solemn promise that the freedom we had pledged our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to support would not perish from the earth. Through the ravages of war we saved the Union and became truly one nation. Our promise now stands as the basis of one great republic the source of whose power is the rights it recognizes, and a beacon of hope to all who thirst to be free.

For far too many in our society, the promise has not achieved its full potential. Violence and rioting rock our streets, shops, and campuses, and the problem of poverty continues to elude easy resolution. Reforms are needed to reimpose law and order, secure the enjoyment of civil rights, and ensure the equality of all before the law.

We have grasped the moon and are reaching for the stars. The mysteries of the atom reveal themselves to us just as the secrets that lie beneath the seas are unfolding. Now it is time for our legal achievements to exceed even these marvels.

We the people of the United States of America, in Second Constitutional Convention assembled, do hereby propose the following amendments, which when ratified by Conventions in three-fourths of the States, shall be valid to all intents and purposes as parts of the Constitution of the United States:
 

marktaha

Banned
sprite said:
Article V is a bit vague, so there's a chance that it could go wide. I think Congress will try and limit the scope of the convention, but will fail.

A runaway convention would probably cover:-
- Something linked to reapportionment in the states and federally
- An Equal Rights Amendment
- A balanced budget amendment
- Abolish the Electoral College
- Reducing the voting age
- Term limits
- Allowing school prayer
- D.C. voting rights

I believe the convention itself will be a mess, with rolling protests both for and against for all the issues involved.

It will be slow going and it would take some time to reach any type of consensus. Nixon will try and influence the proceedings (maybe illegally).
Click to expand...
My view Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
 

Mikestone8

Quintuplicate said:
Will there be an amendment to ban that?
Click to expand...

Very probably. How ever, it might need to be couched in pro-civil-rights language eg "No child shall, whether by the United States or by any State, be either directed to or excluded from any school on any consideration of race or colour."
 
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