Index

Housekeeping

The Amendment Process

Timeliness--
To become law, a proposed amendment to this Constitution must be ratified by the requisite number of States within 7 years of submission to the States.

Actual consensus--
Until a proposed amendment is ratified by the requisite number of States, any State may rescind its ratification by the same mechanism it used to ratify.

No superior jurisdiction shall mandate expenditure by a inferior jurisdiction, without also paying for it or mandating the tax to pay for it.
A superior jurisdiction can, however, impose extra taxes on an specific inferior jurisdiction to ensure the inferior jurisdiction spends enough to meet a general standard. This power, however, can be exercised only by the elected legislative authority; it cannot be delegated to judges or other unelected officials.

To discourage enactment of hasty and/or ill-judged legislation, by forcing advocates to state on the record its underlying premises and promised results. It is named for the "Reichstag Fire" in Germany, February 1933, used by Nazi leaders to panic the legislature into empowering Nazi dictatorship.

(1) Any proposed bill can (but is not required to) have attached "premises" and "promises."

Restrain Civil lawsuits. Where the amount in controversy exceeds 3 weeks wages of an unskilled laborer, the defendant in a civil proceeding enjoy the same protections as defendents in criminal proceedings.

In particular, attention is directed to the issues of unreasonable searches and seizures (Fourth Amendment), self-incrimination (Fifth Amendment),
Sixth Amendment, Eight Amendment

Exceptions

preferring judge trials to jury
standard of proof ("beyond a reasonable doubt" not required)

Alternate draft:
No court of the United States shall entertain any /civil/ lawsuit whose /reasonably/ foreseeable effect would be to compel a private or subordinate government entity to restrict personal liberty in any way forbidden to the Federal government itself by this Constitution.
No court of any State shall entertain any /civil/ lawsuit whose /reasonably/ foreseeable effect would be to compel a private or subordinate government entity to restrict personal liberty in any way forbidden to the State government itself by this Constitution.

//Except by continuing consent of the State Legislature, a State shall not be required to give faith and credit to the judicial proceedings of another state on matters that should properly// Every person is entitled to

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