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amendm[w83,jmc]		A judicial restraint constitutional amendment

	Amending the constitution to make the judiciary less imperial


	Many books and articles have described how the courts and
especially the Supreme Court of the United States have gradually
taken on more power than the Constitution gave them.  The following
proposed constitutional amendment is intended to reverse the process.
Since the complaint is that the judges have misinterpreted the
Constitution, it has been suggested that no amendment can correct
the situation, because it must also be subject to judicial interpretation.
However, the rival doctrines of how the Constitution should be interpreted
have been set forth by many authors and are relatively well understood
by legal scholars and the judges themselves.  The proposed constitutional
amendment chooses one doctrine in preference to the others, and the
judges will in the main understand how to interpret it.

	It has been controversial whether usurping powers of the
legislature is a proper grounds for impeachment and no judge has
been impeached on such grounds.  This amendment specifies that usurpation
is grounds for impeachement.  This and the requirements put on the
President and the Senate are the only proposals offered for
enforcement of the amendment.

	States should also pass similar amendments to their constitutions.
This is most feasible in states that allow amendment by initiative such
as California and Massachusetts.

	The following proposed text should be improved, but it
probably cannot be put into a form that seems as definite as
previous amendments without causing more legal complications
than it will correct.  While the judges could wriggle out of
any specific criticism of past decisions, they will be strongly
motivated by the impeachment clause to conform to its spirit.


Text of the proposed constitutional amendment:

	It is hereby ordered that the courts of the United States,
including the Supreme Court, interpret the Constitution strictly,
exercise judicial restraint and avoid usurping the prerogatives of the Congress
and the Legislatures of the States.  Substantial changes in the
constitutionality of long standing laws and practices
 are henceforth only to be accomplished
by the amendment procedures specified in this Constitution.

	For example, the death penalty laws of the various states,
the state laws regulating abortion, and the state laws regulating
child labor
are to be regarded as having been constitutional in the main.

	No specific court decision is automatically reversed by
this amendment, but the courts are required to bring
their decisions into conformity with its provisions.

	Usurping the powers of the Congress and those reserved for
the states by the Consititution shall be grounds for
impeachment of a judge.  The President of the United States shall
take into account conformity with this amendment in appointing judges,
and the Senate shall take it into account in confirming
appointments.  Whether the President and Senate have conformed to
this paragraph shall not be subject to judicial review.