Retired Supreme Court Justice Wants to Rewrite the Constitution, Especially the Second Amendment

Justice Stevens: Make 6 changes to Constitution

April 21, 2014

AP - In the aftermath of the Connecticut school shootings that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead, retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens began thinking about ways to prevent a repeat.

The result is Stevens' new book — his second since retiring from the court at age 90 — in which he calls for no fewer than six changes to the Constitution, of which two are directly related to guns. Others would abolish the death penalty, make it easier to limit spending on elections and rein in partisan drawing of electoral districts.

His proposed amendments generally would overrule major Supreme Court decisions with which he disagrees, including ones on guns and campaign finance in which he dissented.

The book, Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution, is being published Tuesday by Little, Brown and Co., two days after Stevens' 94th birthday.

Stevens said in an interview with The Associated Press that the Newtown, Conn., shootings in December 2012 made him think about doing "whatever we could to prevent such a thing from happening again."

He said he was bothered by press reports about gaps in the federal government database for checking the background of prospective gun buyers. Those gaps exist because the Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that states could not be forced to participate in the background check system. Stevens dissented from the court's 5-4 ruling in Printz v. United States.

One amendment would allow Congress to force state participation in gun checks, while a second would change the Second Amendment to permit gun control. Stevens was on the losing end of another 5-4 decision in 2008 in District of Columbia v. Heller, in which the court declared for the first time that Americans have a right to own a gun for self-defense.

He acknowledged that his proposed change would allow Congress to do something unthinkable in today's environment: ban gun ownership altogether.

"I'd think the chance of changing the Second Amendment is pretty remote," Stevens said. "The purpose is to cause further reflection over a period of time because it seems to me with ample time and ample reflection, people in the United States would come to the same conclusion that people in other countries have."

Justices often say that their dissenting opinions are written with the hope that today's dissent might attract a majority on some future court.

But Stevens has gone a step beyond by proposing the constitutional changes. Asked whether the book could in part be seen as "sour grapes," he readily agreed.

"To a certain extent, it's no doubt true, because I do think the court made some serious mistakes, as I did point out in my dissents," he said. "But I've been criticized for making speeches since I retired. Writing the book is not much different from continuing to speak about things I find interesting."

A recent example is the court's decision, again by a 5-4 vote, to strike down limits in federal law on the total contributions wealthy individuals can make to candidates for Congress and president, political parties and political action committees. Stevens said the decision follows from the 2010 ruling in Citizens United that lifted limits on political spending by corporations and labor unions. Again, he was in the dissent in another 5-4 ruling.

Those cases, he said, talk about the importance of public participation in the electoral process. But this month's decision on the overall limits is "not about electing your representative," Stevens said. "It's about financing the election of representatives of other people. It's about the influence of out-of-state voters on the election in your district. It sort of exposes a basic flaw in the recent cases."

Stevens marked his 94th birthday Sunday, still in excellent health, but lately feeling his age. Speaking to AP a few days before his birthday, he said, "It's going to come and pass. I'm not sure it's something to celebrate."

Transcript of Public Hearing, Joint Committee on Regional Government, September 26, 1978, Edwardsville, Illinois, Norman Dodd, page 51, page 53

Devvy.com - "Now, the second experience that I would like to share with you, oh, and incidentally, it is the Ford Foundation's grants which are responsible for the formulation of this idea of regional government, and also the idea that given regional government, we must, in turn, develop and accept and agree to a totally New Constitution which has already been drawn up, as was mentioned just a few minutes ago."
 
[Editorial note: Let me leave Mr. Dodd's testimony for a moment. I have a copy of the New States Constitution, developed many, many years ago and refined in 1978 by the Center for Democratic Studies, a Rockefeller funded operation. This New States Constitution is to replace ours. Ask former Senatorette Nancy Kassenbaum, now married to Howard Baker - she helped draft this document. However, first a Constitutional Convention must be called and the globalists are desperate to pull a con-con.
 
They tried and failed in 1994, they will try again. Did you notice during the 105th Congress, each session these people continued to call for a Constitutional Amendment for virtually every major piece of legislation, i.e. a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution, a balanced budget amendment [another meaningless, phony ploy], an amendment to the Constitution for school prayer, for victim's rights, to fix the IRS? This is unprecedented in this century.
 
The last Constitutional Convention was in 1787. We've passed 16 Amendments to the Constitution without a con-con, so why all of a sudden do we need one for all the legislation listed above? We don't, but it's the only way they can throw out our Constitution and replace it with this Communist doctrine called a New States Constitution.]

Proposed Constitution for the Newstates of America (Excerpt)

SweetLiberty.org - This transcript of the Proposed Constitution for the Newstates of America was transferred from Col. Arch Roberts' website at Committee to Restore the Constitution.

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A CONSTITUTION FOR THE NEWSTATES OF AMERICA, from the book, THE EMERGING CONSTITUTION by Rexford G. Tugwell, published 1974 (Harper & Row: $20.00) illustrates with chilling clarity the final objective of regional governance conspirators. The goal is a corporate state concentrating economic, political and social powers in the hands of a ruling elite. "A Constitution for the Newstates of America", is the fortieth version of this revolutionary document prepared by a team of social experimenters at the CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS, Fund for the Republic (Ford Foundation), Post Office Box 4068, Santa Barbara, California 93103.
 
The Center, its first objective accomplished, has appointed socialist-oriented University of Denver Chancellor Maurice B. Mitchell as its new head and may merge with the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, a Colorado-based world government policy promotion agency.
 
Aspen Institute Chairman is Robert O. Anderson, chief executive officer, Atlantic Richfield Company; member, Committee for Economic Development (laid ground work for regional government), and advisory board member, Institute for International Education. Anderson is the principal figure in campaign aimed at seizing control of the National Rifle Association.

Constitution for the Newstates of America

PREAMBLE

So that we may join in common endeavors, welcome the future in good order, and create an adequate and self-repairing government - we, the people, do establish the Newstates of America, herein provided to be ours, and do ordain this Constitution whose supreme law it shall be until the time prescribed for it shall have run.
 
ARTICLE I

Rights and Responsibilities

A. Rights
  SECTION 1. Freedom of expression, of communication, of movement, of assembly, or of petition shall not be abridged except in declared emergency.
  SECTION 2. Access to information possessed by governmental agencies shall not be denied except in the interest of national security; but communications among officials necessary to decision-making shall be privileged.
  SECTION 3. Public communicators may decline to reveal sources of information, but shall be responsible for hurtful disclosures.
  SECTION 4. The privacy of individuals shall be respected; searches and seizures shall be made only on judicial warrant; persons shall be pursued or questioned only for the prevention of crime or the apprehension of suspected criminals, and only according to rules established under law.
  SECTION 5. There shall be no discrimination because of race, creed, color, origin, or sex. The Court of Rights and Responsibilities may determine whether selection for various occupations has been discriminatory.
  SECTION 6. All persons shall have equal protection of the laws, and in all electoral procedures the vote of every eligible citizen shall count equally with others.
  SECTION 7. It shall be public policy to promote discussion of public issues and to encourage peaceful public gatherings for this purpose. Permission to hold such gatherings shall not be denied, nor shall they be interrupted, except in declared emergency or on a showing of imminent danger to public order and on judicial warrant.
  SECTION 8. The practice of religion shall be privileged; but no religion shall be imposed by some on others, and none shall have public support.
  SECTION 9. Any citizen may purchase, sell, lease, hold, convey, and inherit real and personal property, and shall benefit equally from all laws for security in such transactions.
  SECTION 10. Those who cannot contribute to productivity shall be entitled to a share of the national product; but distribution shall be fair and the total may not exceed the amount for this purpose held in the National Sharing Fund.
  SECTION 11. Education shall be provided at public expense for those who meet appropriate tests of eligibility.
  SECTION 12. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. No property shall be taken without compensation.
  SECTION 13. Legislatures shall define crimes and conditions requiring restraint, but confinement shall not be for punishment; and, when possible, there shall be preparation for return to freedom.
  SECTION 14. No person shall be placed twice in jeopardy for the same offense.
  SECTION 15. Writs of habeas corpus shall not be suspended except in declared emergency.
  SECTION 16. Accused persons shall be informed of charges against them, shall have a speedy trial, shall have reasonable bail, shall be allowed to confront witnesses or to call others, and shall not be compelled to testify against themselves; at the time of arrest they shall be informed of their right to be silent and to have counsel, provided, if necessary, at public expense; and courts shall consider the contention that prosecution may be under an invalid or unjust statute.
B. Responsibilities
  SECTION 1. Each freedom of the citizen shall prescribe a corresponding responsibility not to diminish that of others: of speech, communication, assembly, and petition, to grant the same freedom to others; of religion, to respect that of others; of privacy, not to invade that of others; of the holding and disposal of property, the obligation to extend the same privilege to others.
  SECTION 2. Individuals and enterprises holding themselves out to serve the public shall serve all equally and without intention to misrepresent, conforming to such standards as may improve health and welfare.
  SECTION 3. Protection of the law shall be repaid by assistance in its enforcement; this shall include respect for the procedures of justice, apprehension of lawbreakers, and testimony at trial.
  SECTION 4. Each citizen shall participate in the processes of democracy, assisting in the selection of officials and in the monitoring of their conduct in office.
  SECTION 5. Each shall render such services to the nation as may be uniformly required by law, objection by reason of conscience being adjudicated as hereinafter provided; and none shall expect or may receive special privileges unless they be for a public purpose defined by law.
  SECTION 6. Each shall pay whatever share of governmental costs is consistent with fairness to all.
  SECTION 7. Each shall refuse awards or titles from other nations or their representatives except as they be authorized by law.
  SECTION 8. There shall be a responsibility to avoid violence and to keep the peace; for this reason the bearing of arms or the possession of lethal weapons shall be confined to the police, members of the armed forces, and those licensed under law.