There is a flaw in Jon Roland's position about the number of state votes required for the Original 13th Amendment (TONA) to have been ratified. The Constitution set up a two-step process. Congress proposes and votes on potential amendments. If there are enough votes (2/3rds of both houses of Congress), state legislatures then consider said amendment and vote to accept or reject. For Jon's reasoning to be valid, with each terrority becoming a state (1812, 1816, 1817, 1818 and 1819), the TONA amendment would have had to return to Congress up to five times for a new congressional vote. This amounts to changing the rules of an election after it's underway. The Supreme Court has ruled against such a scenario -- most recently when Al Gore sued in the election between himself and George Bush. Had Congress not yet voted to send the TONA on to the states, any territories that became states before it left Congress would have had the opportunity to vote and Jon Roland's reasoning would be justified. That's not the known history about the TONA. Please visit amendment-13.org for the most complete documentation anywhere on the internet about this amendment/its history.
There is a flaw in Jon Roland's position about the number of state votes required for the Original 13th Amendment (TONA) to have been ratified. The Constitution set up a two-step process. Congress proposes and votes on potential amendments. If there are enough votes (2/3rds of both houses of Congress), state legislatures then consider said amendment and vote to accept or reject.
ReplyDeleteFor Jon's reasoning to be valid, with each terrority becoming a state (1812, 1816, 1817, 1818 and 1819), the TONA amendment would have had to return to Congress up to five times for a new congressional vote. This amounts to changing the rules of an election after it's underway. The Supreme Court has ruled against such a scenario -- most recently when Al Gore sued in the election between himself and George Bush. Had Congress not yet voted to send the TONA on to the states, any territories that became states before it left Congress would have had the opportunity to vote and Jon Roland's reasoning would be justified. That's not the known history about the TONA.
Please visit amendment-13.org for the most complete documentation anywhere on the internet about this amendment/its history.
THANKS FOR THE SITE INFO WHICH IS:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amendment-13.org/index.html
JIM