Saturday, September 10, 2005
Amendment XXVIII
Because I used to be a law-geek in another life... let's try this one on for size:
The 28th Amendment to the Consitution
1) As of noon, January 20th, in the first calendar year following the first full November to elapse after passage of this amendment, the terms of all current members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of the United States Government shall end, including but not limited to the President, Vice President, all Cabinet Members, the Supreme Court, Senate and House of Representatives, and their specific and particular staffs and employees. All such persons whose terms have been ended by this amendment shall be ineligible for life from holding any office in any of the three branches of government noted above.
2) On the first Tuesday following the first Monday of the first November immediately prior to the January noted in section 1 above, selection of all members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branch of the government shall be held by lottery, comprised of the following citizens:
3) An impartial, public body appointed by the last sitting Congress under this amendment shall hold a public lottery on the date above noted. Officers from the Senate shall be appointed to select members of the Supreme Court; officers from the Supreme Court shall be appointed to select members of the Executive; and Governors of the particular individual states involved shall be appointed to select members of the Senate and House of Representatives; they shall select all members of the three branches of government at random in the following order:
4) All necessary staff, assistants and other employees shall be hired at the sole discretion of each individual so selected in section 3, above, without approval or oversight of any other body or individual.
5) All members selected for office per the criteria in section 3, above, shall be sworn into office at noon on the January 20th following, and their term shall expire on the January 20th six years after that date.
6) Salaries paid for each office shall be according to current Federal law, and subject to subsequent increases or decreases as determined by subsequent acts of Congress.
7) Any individual so selected for office by the above procedures may refuse to serve, provided that they serve jury duty in their local community and at current jury pay rates for that community, exclusively, for the six year term they otherwise would have served by this amendment.
8) All existing laws regarding impeachment, removal from office and succession are unchanged by this amendment, and stand as they were prior to its enactment.
9) The overturning of this amendment requires a 2/3rds vote of the Citizens of the United States; it cannot be overturned by a vote of the States or of Congress; and, in the case of the overturning of this amendment by vote of the Citizens, it shall not expire until the November preceding the expiration of the terms of office of the sitting officials last elected under its auspices, at which time such replacement rules as enacted shall take full effect.
The 28th Amendment to the Consitution
1) As of noon, January 20th, in the first calendar year following the first full November to elapse after passage of this amendment, the terms of all current members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of the United States Government shall end, including but not limited to the President, Vice President, all Cabinet Members, the Supreme Court, Senate and House of Representatives, and their specific and particular staffs and employees. All such persons whose terms have been ended by this amendment shall be ineligible for life from holding any office in any of the three branches of government noted above.
2) On the first Tuesday following the first Monday of the first November immediately prior to the January noted in section 1 above, selection of all members of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branch of the government shall be held by lottery, comprised of the following citizens:
a) All native born or naturalized citizens over the age of 18 years old who are registered to vote;
b) And who have never been convicted of any felony in any of the United States;
c) Nor have been convicted of any Federal crime;
d) Nor have ever held any office in the Executive, Judicial or Legislative branch at any time prior to the passage of the amendment.
e) Nor can concurrently hold, nor has been selected previously for, a superior office in any of the three branches of government, as outlined in section 3, below.
3) An impartial, public body appointed by the last sitting Congress under this amendment shall hold a public lottery on the date above noted. Officers from the Senate shall be appointed to select members of the Supreme Court; officers from the Supreme Court shall be appointed to select members of the Executive; and Governors of the particular individual states involved shall be appointed to select members of the Senate and House of Representatives; they shall select all members of the three branches of government at random in the following order:
a) President of the United States.
b) Vice President of the United States.
c) Cabinet members, in the following order: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Secretary of Homeland Security.
d) Any Cabinet-level positions created after enactment of this amendment, in order of creation.
e) Speaker of the House of Representatives.
f) President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
g) Nine Members of the Supreme Court, selected as follows:
i) The first person selected for this office from all eligible people selected above shall be designated Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
ii) The subsequent eight persons selected for the Supreme Court from all eligible people selected above shall be designated as Associate Justices of the Supreme Court.
h) Members of the Senate, according to the following criteria:
Lottery choices for Senate members shall be conducted on a state-by-state basis by each governor of said state, drawn in order of admission to the Union, with two members selected from each state, except that the home state of the selected President Pro Tempore shall only receive one additional member; for a total of two senators selected from each state.
i) Members of the House of Representatives, according to the following criteria:
Lottery choices for House members shall be conducted on a state-by-state basis by each governor of said state, drawn in order of admission to the Union, with that number of members selected from each state apportioned by existing rules and census figures, except that the home state of the selected Speaker of the House shall receive one fewer member.
4) All necessary staff, assistants and other employees shall be hired at the sole discretion of each individual so selected in section 3, above, without approval or oversight of any other body or individual.
5) All members selected for office per the criteria in section 3, above, shall be sworn into office at noon on the January 20th following, and their term shall expire on the January 20th six years after that date.
6) Salaries paid for each office shall be according to current Federal law, and subject to subsequent increases or decreases as determined by subsequent acts of Congress.
7) Any individual so selected for office by the above procedures may refuse to serve, provided that they serve jury duty in their local community and at current jury pay rates for that community, exclusively, for the six year term they otherwise would have served by this amendment.
8) All existing laws regarding impeachment, removal from office and succession are unchanged by this amendment, and stand as they were prior to its enactment.
9) The overturning of this amendment requires a 2/3rds vote of the Citizens of the United States; it cannot be overturned by a vote of the States or of Congress; and, in the case of the overturning of this amendment by vote of the Citizens, it shall not expire until the November preceding the expiration of the terms of office of the sitting officials last elected under its auspices, at which time such replacement rules as enacted shall take full effect.
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