Ad-Hoc Committee on the Constitution

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

HEADQUARTERS OF THE
CONSTITUTIONAL AD-HOC COMMITTEE

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Members
Harry S Truman of Indiana, Chair
N. C. Yankee of North Carolina
Tmthforu of Kansas

[tmthforu94]

Signing in, looking forward to working with everyone. I have some ideas that I'll be placing in here as soon as I am able.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Signing in as well.

[tmthforu94]

Link to constitution: https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=236720.0

For starters, I want to commend everyone, especially Truman, who worked so hard to pass this constitution. They did a great job, and now that the constitution is live and running, I think this committee will continue the good work by ensuring its continued success and evaluating how it is working.

A couple of items I wanted to bring up for discussion:

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Perhaps I'm reading this incorrectly, but by my interpretation, this legalizes slavery by allowing it to be used as punishment for a crime. I don't think there should ever be a circumstance where such an act is permitted.

I have some issues with Article III, Section 5:

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I'm not sure if Clause 2 should be in here. If one house disagrees with the amendment the other house did, if they don't vote for it, it fails and has to be reintroduced. I would prefer the implementation of Conference Committees to work out disputes - if they are unable to find a solution that both houses like, only then does it fail.  It might also be good to add in a provision saying a bill that isn't signed for seven days automatically becomes law. I think that might be more appropriate in the constitution than in statue.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

Prison is a form of involuntary servitude. Because you are compelled to live under confinement under a set of rules, which can include labor, against your will for the duration of your sentence.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

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Perhaps I'm reading this incorrectly, but by my interpretation, this legalizes slavery by allowing it to be used as punishment for a crime. I don't think there should ever be a circumstance where such an act is permitted.

The comma after "slavery" establishes it as a separate phrase from "involuntary servitude," to which the modifier "except as punishment for crimes..." applies. As such, slavery is not permissible under any circumstances, while involuntary servitude may be prescribed as a penalty for illegal activity only.

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I'm not sure if Clause 2 should be in here. If one house disagrees with the amendment the other house did, if they don't vote for it, it fails and has to be reintroduced. I would prefer the implementation of Conference Committees to work out disputes - if they are unable to find a solution that both houses like, only then does it fail.

I don't think that clause ii is incompatible with the idea of conference committees, but I would be willing to consider an amendment to clarify such.

It might also be good to add in a provision saying a bill that isn't signed for seven days automatically becomes law. I think that might be more appropriate in the constitution than in statue.

Agreed - it was an oversight that such was omitted.

[tmthforu94]

Understood, thanks to both of you for clarifying that.

I'll work on language for amendments on Section 5 and also adding something about "the seven days" rule.

Something else - after having some discussions with various members of Congress, I think we need to begin critically evaluating the bicameral legislature and what steps should be taken going forward to ensure we have a strong, functioning legislative body.

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I agree on adding the provision about unsigned laws, it was present in previous constitutions and certainly should be added into this one.

As for conference committees and dovetailing with the statement about the bicameral system, I will support anything that makes the bicameral system work better. I would prefer we exhaust all the alternatives before abandoning this system.

[tmthforu94]

One thing we'll also need to add in is a clause about swearing in. Originally I was OK with the regional senators doing their own thing, but as we have seen it in action, I think it confuses things when we have half of our senate turning over throughout the month at a key time at the end when we're trying to finish off the session. The People elect a group of 15 people to represent them for a session, and barring resignations, I think it is best when you have the same 15 people. So I would personally prefer mandating that regional senators also swear in on the first Friday of the month (or the last Friday of the month to speed things up).

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I agree with Tmth - the present arrangement is a recipe for chaos. As for the fix, here's an amendment I drafted (based on the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution):

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Thoughts?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Thoughts?

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

I would recommend including that it be Eastern Standard Time.


Granted it is only a minor concern, but it really helps if both chambers run on a standard basis year round so that both terms and votes are not impacted by a time change.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

I would recommend including that it be Eastern Standard Time.

Good point. I've amended the proposal accordingly.