|
|
Article: PITCHING AMENDMENTS AS PANACEAS.(COMMENTARY)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- February 9, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: Perry Mogan
Knowing that in time many Americans would come to consider themselves constitutional lawyers, the founding fathers made amendments to the charter easy to offer and hard to enact.
Some 10,000 amendments have been introduced in Congress; 26 have been adopted, one (Prohibition) canceled by another as people tired of bathtub brewing.
Many early amendments seem silly now. One would have stripped citizenship from any American who accepted a gift from a king. Another would have guaranteed the ``literal construction of the Constitution'' - a farcical lick against Supreme Court justices recasting the document according to their own ...