When the United States was formed, it took one day to travel 20 miles by horseback. Today it takes 20 minutes on an interstate highway.  Using email and social media, communications can be almost instantaneous.  Since the Constitution is over 200 years old, many lawyers and judges have started to take liberties with their interpretation of what this document means.  The smart ones believe in what is written, the not so smart ones become activists and bend the hell out of their interpretation.  What this means is that the activists do not believe in the rule of law and in their hearts are anarchists.  The march towards anarchy is why we have so much conflict today.

Based on the 2016 presidential primaries and caucuses and subsequent election, it appears that the United States is in the middle of another political revolution. This revolution is due to the failure of all forms of government to do the job for which they were elected or appointed.  The political class has abused the system so badly that the American people are fed up with them and are embracing political change.  I suspect that by using my fingers and toes that I could count the number of honest and trustworthy politicians in office without running out of toes.

The American people are completely frustrated with lying politicians who promise the moon and deliver nothing. There is no accountability.  Despite the fact that the Constitution is excellent, it protects bad politicians by shielding them from retribution by allowing removal from office only by death, resignation, impeachment or another election.  For today’s gutless politicians, impeachment is out of the question because it might interfere with individual re-election efforts.  Of course, if all politicians served only one term, re-election would not be a problem.  All the politicians depend on the public’s short memory to forget their political mistakes and miscalculations between elections and therefore accountability is lost.  Without accountability, the politician or any government official can do as they please.  This is wrong.

When government ignores doing the right thing, then we must find a way for the public to make the needed changes. To do this, we need a new constitutional amendment.  When ordinary citizens can force government action, accountability comes to government.  With accountability, some of the constitutional amendments currently under consideration and the Convention of the States may be nice but probably not necessary.  A Convention of the States risks the wrong participants representing the states who could make changes to the current constitution that are not wanted, needed or desirable.   This new amendment would give the public a way to remove any government official including a newly elected President and repeal any law or judicial decision without making any changes in how we currently amend our constitution.  Furthermore, the Accountability Amendment should be written in simple English and not with all the legal language.  Legal language invites lawsuits that benefit only the lawyers.

How would this new amendment work? All changes are initiated by a petition signed by the registered voters in the appropriate jurisdiction.  Voter fraud must be eliminated.  After the petition has been validated, an election date is set and the people vote.  Could this be costly?  Yes.  The cost will depend on how large the jurisdictional population of voters is.  As with most change, every government official and probably most political pundits will oppose this amendment for any number of reasons.  What this amendment does is bring accountability to government that is currently nonexistent.  Any time there is a serious issue that needs quick resolution, the voters could petition the government to hold an accountability election.  Government abuse of power and corruption are best handled by one of these elections.  The abuse of power must be stopped to return the country back to the rule of law.

Examples of how the amendment would work:

Recall United States Representative

When 20% of the registered voters in a congressional district submit a petition to recall their House of Representatives member of Congress, a recall election is held. If a majority of voters agree to recall the Representative, that person is immediately removed from office and a new Representative must be elected.  Lacking a majority recall vote permits the Representative to remain.

Recall United States Senator      

When 20% of the registered voters in a state submit a petition to recall their Senator, a recall election is held. If a majority of voters agree to recall the Senator, that person is immediately removed from office and a new Senator must be elected.  Lacking a majority recall vote permits the Senator to remain.

Recall a nationally elected official

The voters in all 50 states can petition, but when 10% of the registered voters in a minimum of 20 states submit a petition to recall a nationally elected official, a recall election is held in all 50 states. If a majority of voters in three fourths of the states vote for recall, that official is immediately removed from office and a new official must be elected.  Lacking a majority vote in three fourths of the states permits the official to remain.

A twenty state minimum for petition initiation was chosen to insure that two or three states do not try to monopolize and control changes.

Repeal a federal law and regulations

The voters in all 50 states can petition, but when 10% of the registered voters in a minimum of 20 states submit a petition to repeal a federal law and regulations, a recall election is held in all 50 states. If a majority of voters in three fourths of the states vote for recall, that law and regulations are immediately null and void.  Lacking a majority vote in three fourths of the states permits the law and regulations to remain.

Voters are not elected to pass laws—only the legislative branch can do that. This amendment would empower the public to repeal any law and regulations and force the Congress and the President to either pass a revised law or let the repeal stand.

Repeal a federal court decision or remove a Supreme Court Justice          

The voters in all 50 states can petition, but when 10% of the registered voters in a minimum of 20 states submit a petition to repeal a federal court decision or remove a Supreme Court Justice, a recall election is held in all 50 states. If a majority of voters in three fourths of the states vote for recall, that federal court decision is repealed or that a Supreme Court Justice is immediately removed from office.  Lacking a majority vote in three fourths of the states permits the court decision to stand or the Supreme Court Justice to remain.

Remove any appointed federal official or non Supreme Court federal judge

The preferred method for removal is impeachment, but with political hacks and gutless politicians involved, what should be done many times does not get done. The voters in all 50 states can petition, but when 5% of the registered voters in a minimum of 20 states submit a petition to recall any appointed federal official or non Supreme Court federal judge, a recall election is held in all 50 states.  If a majority of voters in three fourths the states vote for recall, the appointed federal official or non Supreme Court federal judge is immediately removed from office.  Lacking a majority vote in three fourths the states permits the appointed federal official or non Supreme Court federal judge to remain.

Remember, for this Amendment to work, voter fraud must be eliminated.

Since there are many doubts about the intention of all candidates in every election, passage of this amendment could be critical in trying to keep the politicians honest. If they don’t keep their word, then recall them and elect someone new.  It will likely take a few recall elections before the politicians get the message that lying to their voters may require that they find a new job.

For too long, as this country has grown and its population has greatly increased, voter communication with our government officials has deteriorated. A political class has evolved with the attitude that the public are just dumb people who need to be told when, where and what to do.  That is simply not true and government’s attitude towards the public is a major source of conflict.

With recent federal judge political activism, it is time for an amendment to remove federal judge lifetime appointments and make these judges run for the position like all politicians must. It is a sad commentary that the political system has bastardized the federal judiciary with political hack judges.  It is time for the Federal Judiciary Amendment (March 31, 2016 post) which would make all federal judges run for a single 10 year term.