3_3 Amending the Constitution.notebook

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Amending the ConstitutionChapter 3 Section 3

The constitution is meant to be adaptable to the changes in our country.

Some things that have been invented in YOUR lifetime:

DVD's (1995) Viagra (1998) iPod (2001)Birth Control Patch (2002) Hybrid Car (2003)

YouTube (2005) iPhone (2007) Flash Drive KindleWii remote GPS (Garmin) TIVO

Myspace Facebook Google

All of these inventions changed our society in some way.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the United States Constitution, known as the Copyright Clause, empowers the United States Congress:

“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.”

When was the last time you bought a music CD?

How do electronic MP3 players change the way music is sold and the rights protected?

3_3 Amending the Constitution.notebook

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To keep up with the times we need to adapt our laws and (maybe) change our Constitution

Anyone can right their representative and ask them to Amend the Constitution

3_3 Amending the Constitution.notebook

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Congress sets the rules about how an Amendment is considered

Almost always, the Congress sets a time limit for the States to act

Usually seven years

3_3 Amending the Constitution.notebook

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Changes through Law and PracticeYou book talks about changes that happen through laws and practice.

Both of these are REALLY changes through new interpretations of the Constitution and ways the legislative and executive branches have tried to expand their powers

Just like any game, people also try to find ways around the rules or substitute their own rules when some rules are unclear

Example: John Tyler succeeding William Henry Harrison

Does the Vice-President become President when the President dies?

Example: Executive Agreements instead of treaties

Can the President make agreements with foreign leaders without treaties?

Example : Political Parties

Can political parties exclude people from elections?

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Supreme Court DecisionsAny time the court makes a new decision, it changes the interpretation of the Constitution

1896 Plessy v Ferguson

1954 Brown v Board of Education

"Separate but Equal"

"separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

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Judicial Activism vs. Judicial RestraintSome people believe the Supreme Court should not intervene in social issues but rather should let the political process decide social issues. These people refer to the practice

of intervening in social issues as "judicial activism"

These people believe that the Supreme Court should have "judicial restraint" meaning the Court should only make decisions based on the "traditional interpretation" of the

Constitution and should not substitute new interpretations.

Other point out that these same people will sometimes ask for "judicial activism" when it suits their purposes.

Example: Gays in the Military and Gay Marriage

Example : District of Columbia v Heller

The right to bear arms