Many Americans believe the United States Constitution is a living, breathing document that should be amended over time. Times change and, among others, notable figures like Thomas Jefferson and Sonia Sotomayor think that the Constitution should be altered with our societal changes and progress. In light of the recent election, conservatives across the board have been looking at the possibility of assembling a nation-wide convention to amend our current constitution, as there are now about enough state houses of one party to make amending the Constitution possible on the basis of their required votes. Note that the last Constitutional amendment was ratified in 1992 with the 27th Amendment, which took nearly 203 years to ratify. Amending the Constitution isn’t a simple task.
With this in mind, whether or not it happens, I’d like to play with the idea and present some of the possible legal ramifications that I think would make sense given our country’s current political, economic and social states.
To start with, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to do away with the right for babies born in the United States to automatically obtain citizenship upon birth to individuals who are not U.S. citizens. The law is a relic of an old slavery issue where, once slavery was abolished, African-Americans and their children still faced social obstacles due to their lack of citizenship. Thus came about the law that those born on United States soil were to be considered citizens, even if the parents of the children legally were not.
Today the law has resulted in what has come to be known as the “anchor baby” issue, with which I’m sure many readers are familiar. Those from other countries have been known to cross our borders illegally in order to give birth to their children, “anchoring” the family legally in the United States. I am pro-diversity and believe in the foundation of our “melting pot” nation. But I still have a problem with outdated laws being taken advantage of to grant citizenship to those who cross into our country illegally.
Next, the Electoral College should be done away with and replaced with a popular vote – one person equals one vote. We are at the point technologically where we can efficiently account for individualized votes at a national level. Additionally, the Electoral College distorts campaign behavior, as candidates may pick and choose which states to visit depending on whether the state will go “all red” or “all blue.”
I’ll touch briefly on a few more issues. Abortion should be legal and not subject to such easy legal alteration. Gun rights should be upheld without question even though there is some speculation regarding personal ownership in the Second Amendment; if someone goes through the proper and responsible protocol to own a firearm, they should be able to do so. War should be declared only by a majority popular vote of U.S. citizens.
I’ve presented a few ideas regarding some laws and issues I’d like to see politicians take greater action on. Some are conservative while others are more liberal. In the midst of this Republican domination and talk on Constitutional amending, I invite you to take the time to consider what you’d like to see change if we had the chance to.