Dangerous and Untested: NO to a Convention of States

I urge you to oppose SB 1310 (Trent), HB 1442 (Smith), and any similar bills, which establish procedures for an Article V Convention. I oppose any attempt to call an Article V Constitutional Convention in the United States or set up procedures for such a call. Throughout the over 230-year history of the United States Constitution, an Article V convention has never been called. The unknowns surrounding a constitutional convention pose an unacceptable risk, particularly in the current polarized political climate. The risks are as follows: THREAT OF A RUNAWAY CONVENTION: There is nothing in the Constitution to prevent a constitutional convention from being expanded in scope to issues not raised in convention calls passed by the state legislatures, and therefore could lead to a runaway convention. INFLUENCE OF SPECIAL INTERESTS: An Article V convention would open the Constitution to revisions at a time of extreme gerrymandering and polarization amid unlimited political spending. It could allow special interests and the wealthiest to rewrite the rules governing our system of government. LACK OF CONVENTION RULES: There are no rules governing constitutional conventions. A convention would be an unpredictable Pandora’s Box; the last one, in 1787, resulted in a brand-new Constitution. We risk the possibility that the process would be used to undo hard-won civil rights, civil liberties advances and environmental protections and undermine basic rights extended throughout history. THREAT OF LEGAL DISPUTES: No judicial, legislative, or executive body would have clear authority to settle disputes about a convention, opening the process to chaos and protracted legal battles that would threaten the functioning of our democracy and economy. APPLICATION PROCESS UNCERTAINTY: There is no clear process on how Congress or any other governmental body would count and add up Article V applications, or if Congress and the states could restrain the convention’s mandate based on those applications. UNCERTAIN RATIFICATION PROCESS: A convention could try to re-define the ratification process (which currently requires 38 states to approve any new amendments) to make it easier to pass new amendments, including those considered at the convention. This happened in 1787, when the convention changed the threshold necessary for ratification. Simply put, an Article V constitutional convention is a dangerous and uncontrollable process that would put Americans’ constitutional rights up for grabs.