Or at least my ideas for amendments. Crafting any change to the constitution requires careful thought to limit unintended consequences.

1. Equal Rights Amendment. Already written but needs to be revised to include sexual orientation: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex or sexual orientation.”  In fact, why don’t we just clearly include everything: gender, race, religious affiliation, national origin.

2. Term Limits. Until recently, I’ve not been a great fan of term limits because I thought people should elect anyone they want. But recently I’ve become convinced that the power of the incumbency is too great an obstacle to proper functioning of our republic. So, 18 years in the House and Senate; 12 in the White House (yes, that adds a third term).

3. Abolish the Electoral College. The president and vice-president will be elected by popular vote. Recently, I read about a way to effectively abolish the Electoral College that doesn’t require an amendment or Congressional action. States have the right and power to apportion electoral votes as they see fit as determined by state law. So, each state could enact a law to give the entirety of the electoral college votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the popular vote.

4. Corporations Are Not People. Override Citizen’s United and any decisions in inferior courts that led to Citizen’s United.

5. Repeal the Second Amendment. I’m not proposing we ban guns. I’m proposing that owning them not be a constitutional right and thus ownership can be regulated like any other hazard.

6. Independent Redistricting. I’m not sure what system will work best – they all have pitfalls. But I propose to ban legislators picking their voters. Let’s get back to voters picking legislators.

7. Replace the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments. Replace them with something that more clearly defines free speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, equal rights, due process. I don’t propose we restrict or expand these rights and freedoms, just make them less susceptible to bizarre Supreme Court interpretation. See Citizen’s United. All enumerated rights shall clearly state applicability. I.e., rights granted to citizens only, to legal residents, to anyone on US soil. In no case shall a US citizen be deprived of rights under the constitution including that of habeas corpus. I.e., no indefinite detentions without a prompt hearing before a judge.

8. Constitutionalize Marbury v Madison. The constitution doesn’t actually give the Supreme Court the final say on what is and what isn’t constitutional. Make it so.

9. Article III Judges. There shall be nine justices of the Supreme Court. No fewer, no greater. Justices of the Supreme Court and all inferior federal judges are limited to a single 18 year term on any particular level of court (including all justices and judges currently sitting when the amendment gets adopted). The president shall have the power to fill any Article III vacancy without Senate consent after a time period has passed and the Senate has not voted on a valid nomination. Confirmation of a Supreme Court justice shall require at least 60 votes in the Senate; all others require a majority vote. If a nominee gets a vote but fails to garner sufficient votes for confirmation, the time clock for nomination and confirmation resets. A nominee for a seat on the Supreme Court shall be limited to those judges currently sitting on one of the eleven Federal Circuit Courts of Appeals (with a new 18-year term limit). A nominee for a seat on one of the eleven circuit courts shall be limited to judges currently sitting on a federal district court or one of the state highest courts. All nominees for federal court shall be members in good standing of a state bar. The nine members of the Supreme Court shall choose one of their group to be Chief Justice for a term to be specified (i.e., someone gets to be Chief for say, two years, then goes back to being an associate justice).

10. Citizenship. Anyone born in any state of the union, or the District of Columbia, shall be a citizen at birth. Anyone born with at least one biological parent a US citizen shall be a citizen at birth. These will be defined as ‘natural-born citizens”. Anyone born in a US territory shall not be a citizen at birth unless a parent is a citizen of one of the states or DC. Note: At present, people born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the US Virgin Islands are ‘natural-born’ citizens. I propose that these territories and the other territories can decide for themselves if they want to become US states and until they do, anyone born there will not be a natural-born US citizen. Anyone who serves honorably on active duty in any of the armed forces – including the Coast Guard – for a set length of time (12 years?) shall gain citizenship, as will their spouse provided the spouse also meets the time requirement. Children born to an active-duty service-member will be granted citizenship when the parent gets it.

11. District of Columbia. DC shall gain full representation in the US House and the Senate. Citizens of the district shall have full voting rights in presidential elections.

12. Census/Representation. A census shall be conducted every ten years to count the number of citizens and permanent residents in each state. The census shall not ask nor determine any other demographic count. Someone else can determine the whole population of the US if we want that number. Representation in the US House shall be apportioned according to each state’s number of citizens at the time of census.

13. Presidential Pardons. The president shall have the power to pardon any person, with exceptions, for any criminal conviction, federal or state. The president shall not have self-pardon power, nor the power to pardon any person closely associated with the president. The Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia shall have original jurisdiction to determine whether a person is closely associated to the president but that group shall include all current and former members of the president’s administration.

14. Cabinet Positions. Upon resignation or removal of a Senate-confirmed member of the cabinet, the current Senate-confirmed deputy shall assume the duties and responsibilities of the office until a Senate-confirmed successor is appointed. If no Senate-confirmed deputy is currently in office, the Speaker of the House shall appoint an acting deputy who will assume the duties of the cabinet member until a Senate-confirmed successor is appointed.

15. Immigration. There shall be a statute of limitations for deportation of ten years. I.e., anyone who resides in the US illegally for ten continuous years shall be granted legal resident status regardless of their criminal status otherwise. This is not to grant immigration amnesty to ex-Nazis and other heinous criminals just because they eluded notice for ten years but to prevent people who have been here for a long time and who have done nothing wrong other than cross the border earlier in their lives from being ripped away from their families and deported to a country they don’t know. It will also encourage long-time illegals to fully become part of our society.

16. Federal Elections (President/Vice-president, US House, US Senate, US Constitutional Amendments). The US Federal Elections Commission shall conduct, regulate and monitor all federal elections. State and local elections may attach to the federal elections but in no instance will any election for federal office or amendment to the US constitution be governed by state law (note that I am also calling for getting rid of the Electoral College so state apportionment of electoral votes becomes a non-issue). A federal state-specific voter ID card will be created and administered by the US Federal Elections Commission. No one shall vote in a federal election except upon presenting a valid voter ID, except for marking a provisional ballot when there’s a dispute as to eligibility of the voter. Federal voter IDs shall be available to all citizens upon showing proof of state residency (criteria determined by the FEC) at specified federal and state offices. No undue travel or financial burden shall be imposed for obtaining an ID card or to vote. A federal voter ID card shall be valid proof of state residency and voting eligibility for state-wide offices and questions. States can still require something with proof of current address for local elections and questions. States can also set up federally approved mail-in elections, such as Oregon has.

17. Federal Elections Part II. All eligible voters are required to vote absent good excuse as determined by the FEC or Congress. Good excuses shall be very liberal. Federal election days will be state and federal holidays. All federal elections will provide for at least a two-week early voting period.

18. War Powers. The US Congress shall retain the sole power to declare war. The president shall have the power to initiate and conduct hostilities as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces pending an Act of Congress to declare war, terminate hostilities or authorize limited armed conflict. Declaration of war shall require, at a minimum, initiation of the draft. In no case shall the National Guard of any State be federalized into active duty in the US armed forces unless a declaration of war has been issued by Congress. All citizens shall register for the Selective Service upon their 18th birthday. Upon declaration of war by Congress, all permanent residents of the US between 18 and 35 years of age shall register with the Selective Service.