We, the People, the unique human beings making up the populace of these United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish over ourselves this Constitution for the United States of America.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate, a House of Representatives, and a General Assembly.
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature. There shall be no limit on the number of two-year terms that a person may serve in the House of Representatives, unless the constitution of the State which they are representing specifies otherwise.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be a legal inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. If a state selects its representatives by means of the use of Congressional Districts, no Person shall be a Representative of a Congressional District who shall not, when elected, be a legal inhabitant of that Congressional District in which he shall be chosen.
No incumbent Representative, who has served an entire term, shall be eligible for re-election if he has neither voted on nor proposed any bills during that term that then subsequently went on to become law.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Native Americans not taxed. The actual Enumeration having been made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, all subsequent Censuses or Enumerations shall be made within every subsequent term of ten years after that, in such manner as the House of Representatives shall by Law direct.
Each State shall have at least one Representative for each Senator that they have, and the number of representatives shall be apportioned to each state in as fair a method as may be reasonably determined. No upper limit may be placed on the total number of Representatives to sit in the House, save for ones based on the space required to seat all representatives in the same chamber.
While States may choose to have their voters either select their Representatives by Congressional Districts, or by elections At-Large, or by whatever other fair method the States may reasonably determine, if a State is to use the Congressional Districts method of dividing up its residents, these Districts shall be drawn in a fair manner that reflects existing contiguous geographical regions within the State, so far as this can be done while still respecting the principle of "One Person, One Vote," at the same time. The Congress shall have the power to set exact criteria for fairness in the drawing of Congressional Districts, by passing appropriate legislation.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Declaring Impeachments of federal Officeholders for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and felonies.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of three Senators from each State, chosen in an election in that State in which the single winning candidate shall be the one that receives at least two of the three of the following: a plurality of votes of the people of that state, a plurality of votes of the Legislature of that State, and the approval of the Executive Authority of that state. If there is no single candidate that meets the preceding criteria, then the winning candidate shall be the one that receives a plurality of votes of the people of that state. Each Senator shall be elected for a term of six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote. There shall be no limit on the total number of six-year terms that a Senator may serve, unless the constitution of the State which they are representing specifies otherwise.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, the Senators from each state shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes.
The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that each state may chose one of their three Senators every second Year. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the vacancies are filled in an election as the legislature may direct. Winners in these special elections shall be chosen in the same way as winners of senatorial elections are normally chosen.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be a legal inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
No incumbent Senator, who has served an entire term, shall be eligible for re-election if he has neither voted on nor proposed any bills during that term that then subsequently went on to become law.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate but shall have no Vote, unless the Yeas and Nays be equally divided, in which case it shall be necessary for the Vice President to break the tie.
The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also a President Pro Tempore by seniority, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when said Vice President shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments declared by the House of Representatives. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall preside over the hearings, but he shall have no vote towards the outcome. No person being impeached shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members of the Senate who are present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
The General Assembly of the United States shall not represent any state in particular, but shall instead represent the country at large. It shall consist of one member per every million people in the population of the United States, as determined by the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to take place. Each Assemblyperson shall be chosen by lottery, certified to be random (in a manner similar to how people have traditionally been selected for jury duty), from the entire population of the United States that has registered an interest of serving with the General Assembly, and who shall meet the requirements for service stated in this section. When a vacancy occurs in the General Assembly, a new Assemblyperson shall be chosen by the same method. Each Assemblyperson shall serve a single term of five years.
No person shall serve as an Assemblyperson who shall not have attained the age of twenty years, and been five years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not have voted in the most recent national election preceding the lottery. As the General Assembly is randomly chosen and not elected, after the first lottery in which Assemblypersons are selected, the other two chambers of Congress may specify other reasonable qualifications that Assemblypersons must meet, such as a requirement that Assemblypersons have a certain level of education, provided that a majority of the currently-serving Assemblypersons concur. These additional qualifications may not conflict with, or make impossible to meet, any of the currently specified qualifications for Assemblypersons outlined in this Constitution, or anything else in this Constitution. Any additional qualifications added in this way shall not be required until the following lottery for the selection of Assemblypersons, and no qualifications added in this way shall make any currently-serving Assemblypersons ineligible for their office.
The Assemblypersons shall choose their officers on a rotating basis, such that each member has a chance to hold each office that they may decide to create for an equal amount of time. This does not mean that every member need be holding an office at any given time, just that each one gets a chance to hold each office available at some point during their tenure. The General Assembly may choose to ignore this provision if the resulting equal slices of time would be shorter than a single 24-hour day, and may instead choose to assign officers by a method of their choosing.
The General Assembly shall hold the primary responsibility for hearing any petitions for redress that the people may bring before the Congress; and if any members of the other chambers of Congress feel they are unable to satisfactorily respond to their constituents' requests, questions, and concerns, they may direct said constituents to consult the General Assembly instead. Any citizen wishing to contact a congressperson of whom they are not constituents may also be directed to consult the General Assembly instead as well.
The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Each Chamber of Congress shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each Chamber may provide.
Each Chamber may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Each Chamber shall keep a Journal of its proceedings and actions, and from time to time publish the same, excepting, in rare cases, such parts as may in their best judgment require secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of any of the three chambers on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal. The public's right of access to the publications of this Journal shall not be unreasonably restricted.
No Chamber, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the consent of at least one of the other two Chambers, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the three Chambers shall be sitting.
The Senators, Representatives, and Assemblypersons shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator, Representative, or Assemblyperson shall, during the Time for which he was elected or chosen, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of any of the three Houses during his Continuance in Office.
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other Bills. The General Assembly may simply vote to concur with this type of Bill. The House must propose this sort of Bill often enough as is necessary for the purpose of keeping the government funded. No failure of the House to fulfill this requirement shall result in the federal government shutting down.
Every Bill which shall have passed at least two out of the three of chambers of Congress, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President of the United States: If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that chamber in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two thirds of that chamber shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other chamber or chambers that passed it, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that chamber as well, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of all chambers shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (weekends excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the concurrence of multiple chambers of Congress may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the passing chambers, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts that it may incur, and to provide for the common defense and general health, welfare, safety, and happiness of the United States and its people (as specified in the Preamble to this Constitution), and for justice between all said people; but all Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises levied to pay for these purposes shall be uniform throughout the states of the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To fairly regulate the financing of political campaigns;
To sensibly regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the various Native American Tribes, and any other sort of commerce that may reasonably be deemed to be of great national interest;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To charter a National Bank;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices, post Roads, and any other facilities required by the Postal Service;
To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries; but such exclusive rights may not be used for any other purpose besides the previously mentioned promotion of progress of science and useful arts, and may thus be curtailed to the extent that they obstruct these purposes, and the "limited times" for which these rights may be secured shall not exceed the lifespans of the unique human authors and inventors to whom these rights are granted;
To edify the culture of the American populace, by funding the construction of libraries, theaters, and other cultural institutions;
To provide for, fund, and promote the education of American schoolchildren;
To ensure that everyone in the country is adequately housed;
To promote the civil rights of the country's populace;
To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
To define and punish violent Piracies and other Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, or to temporarily authorize the President to use force-short-of-war, provided that the temporary and limited nature of such authorizations is well-defined;
To grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To provide and maintain an Air Force;
To provide and maintain a Space Force;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land, naval, air, and space forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress unlawful insurrections, and repel invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise concurrent Legislation with a local Government body, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, by Cession of Particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and which, if it does not also become its own state, shall be treated as if it were a state of equivalent size for purposes of representation in Congress;
To exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards and other needful Buildings;—And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, the unenumerated Powers that Congress may reasonably be considered to possess, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
The Congress shall also have the power to delegate rulemaking authority pursuant to any of its previous enumerated Powers to appropriate executive branch agencies, insofar as any Laws they pass have implementation details that require further specification.
If there is any doubt as to whether Congress has the power to pass a certain Bill under one of the criteria enumerated above, or under any other criterion that has its basis in the Constitution, the Chamber of Congress in which the Bill is currently being discussed may request the Supreme Court to issue an Advisory Opinion on the Constitutionality of the Bill in question. Advisory Opinions issued in this way are non-binding.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or physical invasion the public safety may require it. If the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus has been suspended in accordance with the law for this specific reason, after the specific case of rebellion or physical invasion that caused it to be suspended has ended, the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall immediately be reinstated.
No Bill of Attainder targeting any person in the bottom 99 percentiles of the country's wealth distribution shall be passed.
No ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, until the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken has been taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on any salutary Articles exported from any State.
No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another, unless the State to which the preference is given is also the District that serves as the Seat of the Government of the United States.
No vessels bound to, or from, one State, shall be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another.
No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, except as a consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the explicit Consent of the Congress, accept or inherit any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince or foreign State. Any officeholder found to have received anything in violation of this provision shall be eligible for impeachment and forfeiture of what it is they have received, as well as any other consequences which may be provided for by law.
No Congressperson shall, by action or inaction, cause the United States to default on its debts.
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation with any foreign state, or any domestic state engaged in rebellion against the United States; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any thing but gold or silver coin, or any other federally recognized coin, a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or Law impairing the functioning of democratically-held elections, or grant any Title of Nobility. Furthermore, no state shall take any administrative action of the sort that would be prohibited by this section if it were an equivalent legislatively-passed law, assuming it could be conceived of as such.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Control of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually physically invaded, or in such great imminent Danger as will not admit of delay, as governed by international law, drawing from the tradition of "Just War Theory", against aggression.
The executive power shall be vested in the Executive Branch of Government, headed by the President and Vice President of the United States of America, and advised by a Cabinet of his choosing and by a popularly elected Executive Council.
The President shall be an Officer of the United States who shall hold the Office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector. The method for states appointing electors must be a method that is fair and reasonably approximates the will of the people of each state, in proportion to the preferences of said people as expressed by a popular vote.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President. These votes shall reflect the vote of the people of the electors' respective states. After the electors have cast their ballots, they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the current President of the Senate;
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.
The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States, and which shall be chosen so as to give enough time for a peaceful transition of power between presidencies.
No person except a natural born Citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States; nor shall any person be eligible to that Office who would be disqualified under the 14th Article of Amendment to this Constitution.
No person shall eligible for the Office of the Vice President, who does not meet the same qualifications required of the President, and who is not a resident of a different state than the President at the time of their election.
In case of the removal of the President from Office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, support, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court shall be responsible for administering this Oath or Affirmation to the President.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Space Force of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called by the Congress into the actual Service of the United States, provided, however, that his actions as Commander in Chief are not repugnant in any way to any other part of this Constitution, or to any laws established thereunder, or to any international agreements into which the United States has entered. The President may also require the opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of Impeachment, or in cases where the offender is the President himself, or a person in his employ, or a person acting upon his orders, or a person holding an office to which they were nominated by the President. For the purposes of the preceding sentence, "except in cases of Impeachment" shall refer to both to the actual Impeachment itself, as well as any separate prosecutions for the same crimes involved in the Impeachment, as pursued through the normal justice system. Furthermore, it shall also apply to both federal Impeachments, and Impeachments performed by any state government.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen or exist during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the end of their next full session in which they conduct business.
The President shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union in whatever form he sees fit (whether it be a speech or other method of communication), and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene all three Houses, or any combination of them, or any single House, and in case of disagreement among them or between any two of them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all other Officers of the United States besides himself.
The Executive Council shall consist in one member from a pairing between each of the states, chosen in elections every four years by the citizens of each pairing of respective states. The states shall be paired as follows: After the Census or Enumeration specified herein has taken place, the states shall be ranked in order of population. The most populous state shall be paired with the least populous, the second-most populous with the second-least populous, and so on. In the event that there is an odd number of states and exactly one state is the median state, the median state shall be paired with the citizens of the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States, provided that this District is not also a state itself, in which case the median state shall instead be paired with the population of American citizens not counted as living in any specific State. These four-year elections for Executive Council shall be staggered evenly between the four-year elections of the President, so as to provide continuity in the Executive Branch between administrations. In the event that a Census or Enumeration shall occur in the middle of an Executive Council term, the new pairings based on that Census or Enumeration shall not be applied until the following election. There shall be no limit on the total number of four-year terms that an Executive Councilor may serve, unless the constitution of both of the States in the pair that has elected him specifies otherwise. In the case of a single median state, only a specification in that single state's constitution shall be necessary to impose term limits on that Executive Councilor. As pairings are liable to shift with population changes, any term limits that may be specified by state constitutions shall only apply to the terms of Executive Councilors in which they represent the same pair of states.
No person shall be an Executive Councilor who shall not have attained to the age of forty years, and been twenty years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be a legal inhabitant of the smaller of the two States in the pairing of states for which he shall be chosen.
The Executive Council shall assist the President in the distribution of his executive orders amongst the various departments to which the given executive order is relevant, and may, at their discretion, supplement any such executive orders with their own interpretations of how the executive order is to be implemented.
The Executive Council shall assist the President in deciding which Reprieves and Pardons to grant, and, if necessary, may vote to override any Reprieves and Pardons that they determine, by a two-thirds vote, to have been corruptly granted, or to pose a danger to the Republic.
The Executive Council shall also assist the President in deciding which persons to nominate for the offices that the President has been granted the power to make nominations for herein. If a federal office for which the president is supposed to make a nomination remains unfilled one hundred and eighty days after its initial vacancy, and the President has yet to make his own nomination for the position, the Executive Council may make a nomination for that position instead.
One week after the President actually does make a nomination to one of the offices mentioned previously, if the Senate fails to tell the President one way or another whether or not they shall give him the advice and consent that they are constitutionally required to give on such nominations, the President shall then be entitled to ask the Executive Council for that same advice and consent instead. Similarly, if the Senate fails to tell the President within one week one way or another whether or not they shall consent to a treaty that he has signed, the President shall then be entitled to ask the Executive Council to provide this consent to the treaty instead.
The Executive Council shall be responsible for the smooth functioning of Executive Branch agencies, and shall regularly review their budgets.
When the President signs into law a budget passed by Congress, if that budget provides for the spending of money in a way to be determined by the President, without naming a specific entity with whom the President must contract for the spending of that money, the President must submit his own choice of a specific entity with whom to contract for the spending of that money to the Executive Council, who must then vote to approve or disapprove that contract.
Members of the Executive Council shall be responsible for ensuring that transportation is possible between both members of the pairing of states which they represent.
The President, Vice President, Cabinet, Executive Council, and all other Civil Officers in the Executive Branch of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and felonies. Any impeachable offense may also be prosecuted under normal legal procedures regardless of if and when impeachment proceedings are also being held with regards to those offenses.
The President, Vice President, Cabinet, Executive Council, and all other Civil Officers in the Executive Branch of the United States shall, at stated times, receive for their Services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which those of them that have been elected shall have been elected, and they shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of single one of the states.
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Supreme Court shall consist in an odd number of Justices, one of whom shall be designated the Chief Justice. Additional Justices, beyond the nine currently serving as of this revision to the Constitution, may be appointed by the usual nominations process for Supreme Court Justices, as described in Article II, Section 3, provided that the new number of Justices remain odd, with preference given to prime numbers, and smaller than the maximum number of persons that may fit inside the Court's usual meeting chambers. The Congress may direct the expansion of the Court's usual meeting chambers, by passing appropriate legislation. The Judges, both of the Supreme and Inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office. Examples of bad behavior that shall cause a Judge to cease holding office shall include, but not be limited to, impeachment, conviction in cases of major crimes, and violations of any code of ethics that may be established for the Judiciary. No person shall be nominated to the office of Supreme Court Justice who has not ever appeared in a courtroom in any official capacity, whether it be as a judge, attorney, juror, bailiff, police officer, clerk, expert witness, or any other official position that a lower court may choose to establish, provided that these positions remain open to all. The Congress may establish mandatory retirement ages, as well as term limits, for Judges, by passing appropriate legislation, on the condition that no change in mandatory retirement age or term limit shall cause a judge currently holding office to vacate it, until a replacement for them has been confirmed.
The legal system of the United States shall be able to trace its heritage back to the Common Law system of England, and suits shall be able to be litigated within this system.
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;—to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers and Consuls;—to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;—to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;—to Controversies between two or more States;—between a State and Citizens of another State;—between Citizens of different States;—between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the Supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
After deciding a Case, the Supreme Court shall issue an opinion (or multiple opinions) justifying the reasoning behind the Court's decision. These opinions shall have the force of Precedent. If any Justices dissent from the majority opinion of the Court, they shall issue separate dissenting opinions, explaining their reasoning why they think the majority decided the case incorrectly. While dissenting opinions shall not have the force of Precedent on their own, they may be cited in future opinions that overturn Precedent. Generally Courts should respect Precedent, and should only overturn Precedent when absolutely necessary. The Courts may interpret when it is "absolutely necessary" at their own discretion. Should the Courts interpret this subsection more expansively than is intended, the Congress may also limit the Courts' definition of "absolute necessity", by passing appropriate legislation. If these limits become too narrow for the Courts to stay within, the Congress may also revert this definition to a more expansive level.
In deciding a Case, the Supreme Court may decide that it needs the power of Judicial Review in order to correctly decide that case. In granting itself the power of Judicial Review, the Court may then strike down a law that is in question in the case at hand, on the grounds that that law is Unconstitutional. To do this, the opinion of the Court must cite the specific portion of the Constitution that the Law in question violates. Generally, the Court shall exercise restraint in granting itself the power of Judicial Review, as overturning a law desired by a majority of the people in a democratic republic is a serious matter, with the potential to be seen as unjust, which is a perception that the Court should seek to avoid. For this reason, the Court shall only use the power of Judicial Review in cases where it could not decide the case fairly without otherwise doing so, or in cases where it is necessary to protect an oppressed minority from an oppressive majority. In determining whether a party is an "oppressed minority" or "oppressive majority", the Court shall apply material analysis of the relative power held by the parties within society. Thus, the Court may never consider extremely wealthy persons to be an "oppressed minority" when determining whether a case is eligible for Judicial Review or not. The Supreme Court may not exercise the power of Judicial Review against any law that it simply believes to be Unconstitutional, unless a party to a lawsuit before the Court specifically makes the argument that the law is Unconstitutional, provided that the party in question has standing to do so. In other words, the opinions of the Court may not go farther in either direction than either of the parties in the case before the Court argue themselves. Furthermore, the Court may not create issues out of a case that neither of the parties before them in the case bring up themselves. Any decision that the Supreme Court makes in violation of the provisions of this subsection shall not be enforced.
The Supreme Court shall have the power to decide which cases it hears by issuing Writs of Certiorari, or by other methods to be decided by law. The Congress may determine criteria for issuing Writs of Certiorari, by passing appropriate legislation, provided that these criteria remain fair and achievable.
From time to time, the Supreme Court may request Amicus Curiae briefs from parties with an interest in a case before the Court, in order to assist the Court in deciding the case. The Supreme Court may choose to ignore any such briefs that it receives that were unrequested, so long as it continues to maintain a method for receiving them.
The Supreme Court shall have the power to issue Advisory Opinions on the constitutionality of proposed laws at the request of any of the three Chambers of Congress, in a manner as described in Article I Section 3 of this Constitution.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by a jury of the accused's peers (by which is meant a representative sample of persons sharing characteristics in common with the accused); and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. This "Aid and Comfort" criterion shall be construed narrowly, and shall require evidence to be cited before applying it, including naming of the specific Enemies being adhered to and receiving the Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the testimony of two or more witnesses to the same overt, verifiable act, or on confession in open Court. The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
A Person charged in any State or District with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State or District, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State or District from which he or she fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State or District having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the active Jurisdiction of any other State; nor shall any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the individual States concerned, in addition to the consent of the Congress of the United States. This restriction does not apply to areas that were historically once parts of States, but that, at the time of admission into the Union, no longer have such a status.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State, with an exception that if the State in question is also the District that serves as the Seat of the Government of the United States, then prejudice may be held in favor of it insofar as is necessary for it to fulfill its duties as the District that serves as the Seat of Government.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government with Democratically-held elections, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
For the purposes of this section, "Invasion" shall refer solely to the sense of the term that refers to the operation of war.
The day on which the United States holds its elections shall be a national holiday. On this day, the federal government shall sponsor celebrations and ceremonies designed to promote the sense of civic duty to vote in the citizenry, in a manner to be determined by law.
All jurisdictions within the United States that require voters to register before voting shall ensure that the registration process is as easy and as automatic as is possible, for all persons eligible to register to vote in that jurisdiction.
All voters in elections held by the United States shall be guaranteed an anonymous preference ballot, that is, a ballot in which the voter ranks the candidates ordinally in accordance with his or her preferences. The exact method for tallying these preference votes shall be decided by law, but the method chosen shall meet as many of the mathematical criteria for a desirable election method as is reasonably possible.
No person shall be barred from candidacy for any election held by the United States on the basis of his or her membership in any political party, or by his or her lack of any such membership whatsoever.
All election officials shall ensure that all voters are able to know that their votes were successfully counted for the candidates for whom they intended to cast their votes, should said voters desire this information. This shall be done in a manner consistent with the anonymity of the ballots, such that only the voter desiring this information receives it.
Congress shall have the power to resolve any tensions between these criteria for vote-counting, by passing appropriate legislation.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of two of the three Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, either as additions to the list of Amendments at the end of this Constitution, or as a direct rewriting of the body of the Consitution itself, at the decision of those writing the amendment. This consideration of Amendments as part of the Constitution shall take effect when the Amendments in question are ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate, and also provided that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of a fair suffrage proportionate to its population in the House of Representatives.
The Congress shall have the power to request that the Legislatures of the several states submit an application to call a Convention of the sort described herein, or that they reaffirm any prior such applications that they may have submitted prior to the most recent previous revision of this Constitution.
If a Constitutional Convention is called by the methods prescribed herein, the Congress, the President, the Vice President, the Executive Council, and the Supreme Court shall all work together to facilitate the Convention, and to make sure that all citizens without their own means of attendance are provided with means of attendance. For the purposes of this Section, virtual attendance shall count as a means of attendance. All attendees at such a Convention shall be given an equal opportunity to participate regardless of whether their mode of attendance is virtual or in-person.
While amendments to this Constitution may edit this Article self-referentially, amendments made in a self-referential manner as such shall not be used to give any individual person any greater power to modify the Constitution on their own than any other individual person either currently possesses, or would possess under the amended Constitution, nor shall any amendments made in this manner cause the United States government to be transformed into any form of government resembling what is commonly referred to as a "dictatorship" of any one individual.
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the Supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or Laws of any state to the Contrary notwithstanding. In the case that a state does disobey this provision and makes a law to the contrary anyway, the Federal Government of the United States shall have the power to punish the disobedient states in a method in accordance with Federal Law.
The Senators, Representatives, and Assemblypersons before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive Officers including but not limited to the President, Vice President, and Executive Councilors, and judicial Officers including but not limited to the Justices of the Supreme Court, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States, or under any of the several States.
The source language of this Constitution shall be English, with exceptions for foreign loan words for which no adequate equivalent exists in English. While this Constitution may and should be translated into as many other languages as possible, only the English original shall have the Force of Law. The choice of language for the writing of this Constitution does not imply the establishment of any language as the official language of the United States.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine of the original thirteen States, shall be both necessary and sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same.
The rights guaranteed in this Bill of Rights are thought to be held equally by all to whom they apply. Congress shall ensure that not only are these rights not violated in a negative fashion, but also that all have the capability to exercise these rights in a positive fashion.
Neither Congress nor any State shall make any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof (unless said free exercise would violate one of the other freedoms outlined in this Bill of Rights); or abridging the freedom of speech of the people, or abridging the freedom of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government or similar wielders of power for a redress of grievances; or abridging the right of freedom of conscience. Furthermore, no president shall issue any executive order that abridges any of these rights, either.
All freedoms protected in this amendment shall apply only to the set of unique human beings described in the Preamble of this Constitution. "Freedom of speech" as used in this amendment is meant more in the sense of the Greek word "isegoria" (an equal chance to speak freely) than it is in the sense of the Greek word "parrhesia" (license to say whatever one wishes). Furthermore, the guarantee of freedom of speech does not imply a freedom to force others to listen to said speech, nor shall freedom of speech be thought to abridge the freedom of others to choose those with whom they wish to associate.
However, merely being located in the same space as someone exercising their right to freedom of speech does not imply that one's right to freedom of association is being violated, so long as it is possible to ignore the speaker and disclaim any connection with them.
"Freedom of speech" may also be thought to be synonymous with the similar term of "Freedom of expression".
In cases where one person's freedom of speech may come into conflict with another's similar and equal freedom of speech, and the mutual exclusivity of the two causes it to become necessary for a court to decide which speech to favor, preference shall be given to true speech over false speech, honest speech over deceptive speech, kind speech over hurtful speech, loving speech over hateful speech, and the speech of the less powerful over the speech of the more powerful.
The prohibition against an establishment of religion does not mean that Officers of Government may not have their own religious beliefs, nor does it mean that they must abstain from using reasoning based on these beliefs when making decisions, but rather, means merely that they may not require any other persons to hold these beliefs as well. The prohibition against an establishment of religion also means that this Constitution itself shall not be interpreted as a religious document, but rather, solely as a legal one. One final implication of the prohibition against an establishment of religion is that all persons responsible for the creation and modification of this Constitution shall be regarded solely as human beings, and not as Gods.
The "Establishment Clause" and "Free Exercise Clause" regarding religious freedom in Section 1 of this amendment are intended to maintain a Separation of Church and State, so as to avoid "wars of religion" such as the ones that beset Europe in the centuries preceding the founding of these United States. Religious freedom, intended as such, does not imply license to forsake morality and law entirely, nor does it imply permission to deny equal and compatible freedoms to others. Meanwhile, the rest of the freedoms guaranteed in Section 1 of this amendment, specifically, those of speech, the press, assembly, petitioning, and conscience, are intended to promote the free and reasoned discourse necessary for the betterment of government, and as such, shall be interpreted accordingly, within reason. This amendment is numbered first in order to reflect its primacy.
Further amendments to this Constitution, being duly ratified and adopted, may augment the applicability of this Amendment appropriately.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary for the security and defense of a free state, the collective right of the people to keep and bear arms as part of the aforementioned well regulated militia, or as part of a duly organized labor union or tenants' union, shall not be infringed. However, an individual's right to keep and bear arms may be regulated so far as is necessary to ensure the public safety. Also, no person, who is conscientiously scrupulous about the lawfulness or morality of bearing arms, shall be compelled to serve in a militia or otherwise bear arms against their will. No provision of this amendment shall be construed so as to override or infringe upon any other right guaranteed by this Bill of Rights. For the purpose of this amendment, "well regulated" shall mean both "possessing adequate democratic oversight" and "organized in a manner that is orderly, safe, and lawful," in accordance with the common usage of the term.
Given that people have a right to homes in which they may expect a reasonable amount of privacy, no soldier or other similar member of the military or any police force shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law. For the purposes of this amendment, a person shall be considered a soldier, similar member of the military, or any police force, if and only if it is within their purview to exercise the State's monopoly on the legitimate use of violence.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the location or place to be searched, and the persons, things, or information to be seized. The Congress shall have the power to define fair and reasonable criteria for probable cause by appropriate legislation. Furthemore, the Congress shall have the power to define which searches and seizures are "unreasonable", by passing appropriate legislation, provided that such definitions take into account both safety, and commonly-accepted principles of Justice. The protections afforded by this amendment are primarily targeted against violations by the soldiers, members of the military, police officers, or other executors of the State's monopoly on the legitimate use of violence, as defined by the previous amendment.
No person shall be held to answer for an especially infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval or air or space forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or clear and present public danger; nor shall any unique human person be subject for the exact same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any case, criminal, civil, or otherwise, to be a witness against himself. If a person being accused invokes this right to avoid self-incrimination, or otherwise remains similarly silent, this shall not be construed as an admission of guilt, unless there is strong evidence to the contrary, as determined by the courts. Furthermore, no unique human person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall any property, private or public, be taken by eminent domain, or other methods, for transfer to private entities, without just compensation as prescribed by law.
The Congress has power to define "just compensation" for the purposes of this Amendment, provided that any such definitions are in accordance with Rawlsian principles of justice, specifically that the inequalities of society must be ordered to be of the greatest benefit to the least advantaged.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, to present evidence on his behalf, and to have the assistance of Counsel for his defense. This assistance of Counsel shall be provided by the court if the accused is unable to pay for Counsel himself. If there is no applicable district available to hold the trial guaranteed by this amendment, the next-closest district shall be used instead.
In suits at common law (as defined in Article III, Section 2 of this Constitution), where the value in controversy shall exceed two hundred dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Congress shall have the power to vary the amount of money for the value in controversy provided for in this Amendment, to match current rates of inflation or deflation, by passing appropriate legislation.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. Congress shall have the power to define what level of bail or fines is "excessive", and which punishments are "cruel and unusual", by passing appropriate legislation, with the exception that no such definition of "cruel and unusual punishment" shall override the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition of slavery. Furthermore, any definitions of "excessive" bail or fines, or "cruel and unusual punishments" must take into account the economic principle of the Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people, unless the States and the people freely and consensually decide to waive their rights to these powers. This Amendment is subordinate to the Supremacy Clause found in Article VII of the preceding Constitution, and shall not be construed as giving states the power to nullify federal laws without federal approval.
The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
The Electors shall meet in their respective states, and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate;
The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted. The person having the greatest Number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
"Slavery" shall be defined as the ownership of any person by any other as if they were property, or any forced labor that one is forced to perform without fair pay. Taxation is not slavery, and any person who, upon failing to pay their fair share of taxes, claims otherwise in their defense in a court of law, shall, upon being duly convicted, forfeit the protections provided for by this amendment.
Any person who has forfeited the protections of this amendment may regain them by recanting the court statements that caused them to forfeit said protections.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, except as is necessary to correct for previous inequalities that existed under the law before this amendment was adopted. Any denials of equal protection under this exception shall only be in the opposite direction of the original denial of equal protection for which the exception is correcting, and they shall be of proportionate magnitude as well. Once all historical inequalities that have existed due to this Constitution not originally containing this amendment have been corrected for, this exception shall be removed.
The provisions of this section apply to persons both in their capacities as citizens of the United States, and as citizens of the States in which they are citizens.
This section has been incorporated into the main body of the Constitution. Its number is retained for historical purposes.
Amendment XIV, Section 3 - Qualifications Against Former Members of the Confederacy, and Other Similar Such Insurrectionists
No person shall be a Senator, Representative, or Assemblyperson in Congress, or Executive Councilor, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, or be listed on a ballot for election to any of the preceding offices, who, having previously taken an oath, or affirmed to the same effect, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support, preserve, protect, or defend the Constitution of the United States, or to take any combination of any of the set of preceding actions, or similar actions, regarding said Constitution, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion or revolt against the same, or given aid or comfort to specific enemies thereof. This additional qualification for office shall be interpreted as being self-executing, meaning that no further actions are necessary for it to be effective. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each of the three Houses, remove such inability to hold office from any particular person who would otherwise be disqualified by it. On the other hand, if, upon holding votes to remove such a disability, the disqualified person fails to achieve even a plurality of votes in their favor in any of the three Houses, that person shall lose any protections against Bills of Attainder that this Constitution may have previously guaranteed to them. Court proceedings held to determine whether or not a specific person is disqualified from holding office under this section shall count as due process of law, to the extent to which it is still required.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law or by necessity, including (but not limited to) debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned, nor shall it be arbitrarily limited to amounts of dollars that are in no way tied to the status of the national economy. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave. But all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, ethnicity, color, hair texture, or previous condition of servitude, neither in terms of their own such attributes, nor those of any of their ancestors.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation, and to compel the various States to comply with it.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. The Congress shall also have the power to create and fund administrative bodies for the purposes of collecting said taxes on incomes.
This Amendment's topic has been rewritten directly in the body of the Constitution. Its number is retained for historical purposes.
This Amendment has been repealed by the Twenty-First Amendment. Its number is retained for historical purposes.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex or gender. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
This Section has been superseded by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Its number is retained for historical purposes.
The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
The article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. No person shall be listed on a ballot for election to the office of the President, who would be ineligble to hold said office under the terms of this Amendment. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District is entitled (which are calculated as if it were a State, if it is not already), but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State (if they are not already); and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
While the duly appointed Electors of the District are meeting in the District to perform said duties, they shall be granted the same immunities that Congresspeople are granted under the "Speech and Debate" clause outlined in Article I, Section 7 of this Constitution.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Should the District at any point be admitted as a State to the Union as provided under Article IV of this Constitution, this Amendment shall not be construed to give the District any number of electors that is different from that which it would have if it were any other State of a similar size.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax, or any other similar tax or fee, or for failure to meet any other requirement that requires the voter to possess a certain minimum amount of money or property that the state does not also provide them with.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation, and to compel the various states to comply with it.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of at least two of the three Chambers of Congress.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by a two thirds vote of at least two of the three Chambers of Congress that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
The right of citizens of the United States, who have reached the age of majority (which, at the time of the writing of this amendment, is defined as the age of eighteen years old, but may be changed by Congress with appropriate legislation), to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age. Congress shall have the power to enforce this law through appropriate legislation.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators, Representatives, and Assemblypersons, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex or gender.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
This amendment shall take effect two years after the date of ratification.
The Congress shall have power to limit, regulate, and prohibit the labor of persons who are under the age majority (which, at the time of the writing of this amendment, is defined as the age of eighteen years old, but may be changed by Congress with appropriate legislation).
The power of the several States is unimpaired by this article except that the operation of State laws shall be suspended to the extent necessary to give effect to legislation enacted by the Congress.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of their status in any socioeconomic caste system. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.