Sorry, life has been busy. 🙂

Courts must be held to standards for a democracy to survive. The Supreme Court, over the past 10-15 years, has began leaning into autocratic behaviors, using the “Shadow Docket” to release orders with NO explanation of their reasoning, and have held some decisions to the last possible moment to, seemingly, give advantages to particular persons or parties. So, let’s call this one:

The Transparency in Courts Amendment

Once a Court, at any level, up to an including the Supreme Court, has reached a verdict, the verdict must be released immediately. The explanatory opinions must be released within one month thereafter. Judges or justices may not delay the ruling by withholding the release of their dissenting opinions. Justice delayed is justice denied.

No opinion or ruling may be issued on any matter by any court without a written opinion explaining the reasoning behind the ruling within the required time period, along with which judges or justices voted which way on the issue. No unexplained “shadow dockets,” all opinions must stand, along with their reasoning, in the purifying light of the sun, and the judges and justices may not hide anonymously from their decisions and reasonings.

Judges and Justices may not accept ANY gifts or income from any source during their tenure on the bench, nor any unreasonably large income of any form for ten years after leaving the bench.

This would address both issues: no delaying opinions/decisions for any reason, and no issuing of orders without standing responsible for the same. The last paragraph would address the lack of rigorous standards, particularly (currently) for the Supreme Court.

Judges and Justices could only speak at events if they pay for their own travel and lodging. They may publish books and videos only if they do so for no payment and/or all proceeds go the government’s general fund. They may not accept forgiveness of loans. They may not be the recipients of any kind of contest, gambling, or other form of “mana from heaven.” The last line of this amendment is absolute. Judges and Justices serve as the final line of defense for democracy, and those who choose to do so must remain above reproach, and must take to the bench knowing that their monetary reward will remain solely their government salary and benefits. If it looks like a payoff to a duck, it’s probably weeds from the bottom of the pond.

-Everett

Given that liars and cheaters always want to rewrite history, and transparency in government is crucial to a well functioning democracy, I propose:

The Library Amendment

All museums, monuments, the National Archives and Records Administration, Library of Congress, Copyrights, Patents, and governmental record keeping shall be separated from the other governmental branches into its own co-equal LIBRARY branch of government. All records from other branches of government must be filed, in a timely fashion, with the LIBRARY branch for archiving.

The LIBRARY shall be responsible for maintaining and preserving the records reflecting the history of the country, and dispensing that information to the public in the form of copies, reports, pamphlets, books, audio, video and any other compilations and media that is desirable or required by law.

The LIBRARY shall be run by the Librarian and the Assistant Librarian. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall be responsible for receiving nominations for Librarian and counting votes for Librarian but shall have no other role. The Librarian shall be appointed by majority vote of all Federal District Judges for a single 11-year term. The Librarian shall select the Assistant Librarian, and the Assistant Librarian shall become the Librarian if the Librarian is unable to complete their 11-year term.
The LIBRARY duties must be performed in an impartial, purely majority-of-the-evidence fashion. To do otherwise is a breach of the Librarian’s Oath of Office and cause for removal/dismissal from any office of the Library.

Classified documents may be withheld for no longer than 95 years or until de-classified by Congress, the Attorney General, the Chief Justice, the President or the Librarian, whichever comes first.

The LIBRARY may be sued in Federal Courts for improperly withheld records or if dispensed information is believed to be incorrect or incomplete, and the outcome is to be based solely upon the preponderance of the evidence and the laws of the United States.

Congress must fund the Library, at a minimum, to sufficiently to carry out its information storage and dispensing services. The LIBRARY may charge fees for making and distributing copies of records, but those fees may not be excessive.

The Librarian must issue an annual State of the Library report to Congress, which must also be stored in the Library and made available to the Public like any other record.

The Librarian may appoint an Inspector General, who may appoint Marshals and investigate whether records are being properly provided to the LIBRARY, and together with the Librarian, may issue subpoenas and search warrants to seize governmental records that are being withheld from the Library.

Too many governmental critters and hirelings try to hide what they do and/or try to distort what’s been done by those before them. The Library would serve as a counter-weight to those democracy-destroying efforts, and provide another co-equal branch of government to help strengthen the government against non-democratic agents.

Having the Librarian appointed by vote of all Federal District Judges would somewhat insulate the Library from partisanship issues.

-Everett

On further thought, given current events and the behavior of Congress (i.e., NO behavior), I’ve amended this proposed amendment. Congress should NOT be able to cowardly evade their constitutional duties by simply doing nothing when the President usurps the rights and responsibilities of Congress. As such, here’s an alternative ‘war’ amendment. My prior attempt put all the pressure on the President for starting a non-Congressionally approved war. This version puts pressure, on both, to obey the INTENT of the Constitution.

The War Powers Amendment

When the President causes a military strike, other than purely defensive actions that require implementation in less than a few hours (an emergency situation), without prior approval from Congress, the Senate and House must, within one week, vote on a bill to approve the war. If the vote fails, the President immediately ceases to be President and is removed from office. If the vote is not held within one week, the majority leadership of the Senate and the House immediately cease to be elected officials and are removed from office.

Any successor to the President who continues the military action for longer than one week after Congress denied approval is subject to the same automatic termination. No end-runs, no loop-holes: Congress, and ONLY Congress may start wars.

Any successors to the Congressional leadership are subject to the same automatic termination as the prior leadership if they fail to hold the vote within one further week.

Emergency actions, of a very limited nature, may be approved by the top 8 Congressional leaders. All other military actions must be approved by the full Congress.

This Presidency termination and/or Congressional leadership termination is self-implementing, and requires no action by any body.

The exception would be if Congress has previously agreed to a defensive treaty that automatically triggers military action by the United States upon aggression directed at a signatory of the defensive treaty.

There MUST be automatic consequences when a President usurps the Constitutional powers of Congress, and there MUST be automatic consequences when Congress refuses to execute their constitutional duties. There should be NO “playing politics” when it comes to war.

-Everett

Evil, corruption, selfishness, lies, and cheating — they all breed in darkness.

The Candidate Transparency Amendment

To provide transparency in government, all candidates for federal offices must file a public copy of their three most recent annual tax filings or maximally comparable financial reporting, as well as clear descriptions of any and all debts, at the time of filing their candidacy or acceptance of nomination for office. Failure to do so causes them to be ineligible to hold any office.

Privacy is a good thing, but there must be balance. When any person wishes to take on positions of power greater than ‘average’, ‘normal’ citizens, then those persons should be required to be more open, more transparent about their financial history and standing, as they will be in positions of power, where they can be tempted or influenced to take actions or make decisions that may personally benefit themselves and those around them, and that is a corrosive situation for a society that wishes to remain free, fair, and democratic.

-Everett

The Executive Branch RUNS the government according to the laws passed by Congress. While Congress will clearly always be partisan in nature, we should expect the Chief Executive to run the country for ALL the citizens.

The Non-Partisan Government Amendment

Partisanship may not be used for hiring or firing Federal employees. Partisanship may only be used when nominating and appointing to positions that normally end when a new administration or elected official takes office. Federal employees and candidates for job positions in the government may not be asked for their political views at any time, nor may they be compelled to, nor voluntarily choose to, issue any kind of statement of a political nature.

Candidates nominated for offices, during their Senate confirmation hearings MUST answer questions about their personal beliefs and attitudes on issues of public importance. They may not prevaricate, but must answer fully and truthfully. Any candidate failing to do so may NOT be confirmed.

Yes, politics is, and always will be, a dirty business. But that doesn’t mean we have to accept it as a way of life. We can, and should, expect better from the people we put in place to run and shape our government. We should expect them to do so for the betterment of ALL citizens, not just their preferred clique. Politics will always be as dirty and as subject to special interests as we allow it to be. It’s up to the voting public to rein in the government and the people running it.

-Everett

It’s too easy for Presidents to believe their supporters who portray the President as “The most powerful man [sic] on the planet!”

The Executive Executes Amendment

The Executive Branch is limited to EXECUTING the laws passed by Congress. The Executive Branch may not shift funding from one program to another without the expressed permission of Congress, nor may the Executive Branch withhold funding from any agency or program provided to it by Acts of Congress, nor may the Executive Branch hamper the performance of agencies and programs by limiting employment or other imaginative means of thwarting the Acts of Congress.

The President and the Presidential Minions are “hired help.” They are hired by the voting population to carry out the laws passed by Congress (who are also hired by the voting public). When Congress says, “Polish the floors,” the President must POLISH THE FLOORS. The President may not put down rugs over the tiles. The President may not rip up the tiles and put down wood flooring. The President may not erect buildings on top of the floors. The President may not set fire to the floors. Unless Congress says so. When the LAWS say the President must polish the floors, the President must polish the floors. Otherwise, the President has betrayed their Oath Of Office and should be FIRED for failing to polish the floors.

-Everett

Throughout history, people in power or who wish to be in power, have used lies and deceit to achieve their goals. Democracy grows best in a bed of honesty and transparency.

The Honest Speech Amendment

Any person or group who, directly or through any number of subsidiaries, has a following, listeners, readers, or viewers greater than 0.5 percent of the population may be held to higher standards of speech by Acts of Congress, specifically with regards to slander, libel, and fraud with minimal evidentiary backing, as adjudicated by a court of law.

In other words, politicians and people with large followings in the media may be (and MUST be) held to a higher standard of speech and press than the First Amendment allows. Leaders who lie to us are trying to destroy our democracy, which means they’re trying to take away some, if not all, of our basic freedoms. Those who lead, whether in government or in “Big Media,” must be ‘encouraged’ to be honest with the voting public.

A democracy cannot be healthy, may not even survive, if the voters are uneducated or miseducated or misled. In recent decades, it’s become a comic book slogan, but has been well understood by philosophers for millennia: With great power comes great responsibility; To whom much was given, of him much will be required. Making statements and accusations with no evidence to back up those statements is, simply, fraud, attempting to bend (if not break) our democracy to their personal ends. We must expect, and demand, more from our leaders.

-Everett

For much of my life, Presidents have continued to erode the constitutional division of powers, specifically the power to declare war, which was carefully given to Congress, fearing that was too much power in the hands of a single person.

The Presidency Ending War Amendment

When the President causes a military strike, other than purely defensive actions that require implementation in less than a few hours, without getting approval from Congress, that President immediately ceases to be President, losing all powers, privileges and rights of the office. Emergency actions, of a very limited nature, may be approved by the top 8 Congressional leaders. All other military actions must be approved by the full Congress. This Presidency termination is self-implementing, and requires no action by Congress or any Court.

The exception would be if Congress has previously agreed to a defensive treaty that automatically triggers military action by the United States upon aggression directed at a signatory of the defensive treaty.

Any successor to the President who continues the military action without getting Congressional approval is subject to the same automatic termination. No end-runs, no loop-holes: Congress, and ONLY Congress may instigate offensive military actions.

We can’t depend upon Congress to stand up for their own powers, especially when the Presidency and Congress are both in the control of one party. In those circumstances, it’s too easy for a President to take the country into a war without the agreement of anyone outside their ruling circle. That is inexcusable, and must automatically terminate the Presidency, since Congress can’t be depended on to hold the President in check. Some things are simply too dangerous and too important. If offensive actions are necessary, then the President should be able to convince Congress. If not, find another solution.

-Everett

Life’s been busy… Today’s proposed Amendment is to block dictatorial tendencies to punish opponents:

The Right of Citizenship Amendment

No citizen shall lose their citizenship except as directly provided for by the United States Constitution. If you’re born within any territory of the United States, or naturalized by the laws of the United States, you can only lose your U.S. citizenship by voluntarily becoming a legal citizen of another country.

Some things should not need to be “put down on paper,” but recent years have shown us that “norms” and “customs” are not sufficient guardrails for Democracy. Anything that we care about NEEDS to be written down, woven into the legal fabric of our country.

-Everett

Emergencies are all too easy for a lawless President to declare, and laws too frequently either aren’t there or have unforeseen loopholes. To strengthen those guardrails:

The National Emergencies Amendment

While the President may declare an Emergency, evidence and arguments in support of the Emergency must be presented to a Federal Appellate Court of reasonably pertinent jurisdiction within one week. Failure to do so or denial by the Court shall terminate the Emergency and any events or powers thereby triggered. The Court must rule on the validity of the Emergency within one week after the presentation of the Emergency. The Court may terminate any state of Emergency at any time. An Emergency must consist of something that cannot be handled by normal governmental or civic authorities and processes.

The regular military may not be deployed off-base within the States and Territories of the United States except in case of an Emergency as allowed by law and this Amendment.

The National Guards may not be deployed within the United States by the Federal government without the consent of the chief executive of the State or Territory involved, except in case of an Emergency as allowed by law and this Amendment.

The goal here is to make it clear that the Courts can halt a runaway President. Without “troops with guns”, it makes it more difficult for a President to break our rules-based system.

-Everett