[Reprinted from the Pennsylvania Order of Liberty Blog.]
Open Letter to Dwight Evans & the 23 Co-Sponsors of HB1179
Hon. Dwight Evans
512 Main Capitol Building
PO Box 202203
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2203
June 7, 2007
Dear Rep. Evans:
I am writing to commend you on your acknowledgement of the need to study our state Constitution with an eye on "contemporary conditions and the anticipated problems and needs of the people of this Commonwealth." I am also writing to commend the wisdom of removing the provisions of Article I of the Pennsylvania Constitution from such a process.
However, I take great exception to the method of study of our most fundamental law suggested within HB1179, which authorizes a 15-member Commission on Constitutional Revision appointed by the Governor and members of the General Assembly. Appointing such a Commission to launch constitutional change short-circuits the true path of sovereign power in our Commonwealth and our nation.
Constitutions are not written as two-party contracts between the governed and their governments. Rather, they are one-party documents in which citizens agree on how they will govern themselves and on what rules they wish to impose on those elected to public office. As a result, the Pennsylvania Constitution - in Article I, Section 2 - properly delineates the flow of sovereign power: from the Creator to individual citizens, and only upon their consent to elected officials.
Over the past two years, Pennsylvanians have become acutely aware of the reluctance of elected officials in all three branches of state government to adhere to the ultimate consent of the citizens - our Constitution as plainly written. As the rightful and sole owners of the document, citizens must be allowed to study and propose revisions on their own, free from any influence of those elected officials.
Surely, a Commission appointment by those same elected officials cannot be construed as anything other than overwhelming influence. Further, submitting a final report on such a Commission's findings to the General Assembly and the Governor for filtering adds even more undue influence to the process.
It is proper for elected officials to undertake internal operational rule changes. It is also proper for elected officials to task themselves with making statutory changes aimed at improving the Commonwealth. It is even proper for elected officials to suggest singular changes to our Constitution through the amendment process.
It is wholly improper, however, for elected officials to attempt to oversee a holistic review of our most fundamental law. To do so would only extend a wrong committed over 200 years ago, when the General Assembly called a convention, served as its delegates and adopted a new Constitution - all without the consent of the people or any legal authority to do so.
It is imperative at this time to attempt to lift the cloud of popular derision currently hovering over our state Capitol so elected officials can move forward with the business of governing the Commonwealth. HB1179 correctly hints at some of the underlying causalities, but implements a plan that would only make this cloud thicker and extend it further into the future.
A more proper and effective approach would be to craft and authorize an enabling act for a limited constitutional convention, submit it to the voters of the Commonwealth and allow the people to decide whether they wish to embark on a journey toward fundamental change. It is their document, after all.
I invite you to read the suggested language for just such an enabling act - the "Citizens' Constitutional Convention Act of 2007" - which I have included for your review. This language and other articles regarding the history of constitutional change in Pennsylvania are also available at our website, www.pacleansweep.com.
Sincerely,
Russ Diamond, Chair
PACleanSweep
CC: Reps. Blackwell, Cappelli, Costa, Daley, DePasquale, Freeman, Galloway, Grucela, Hanna, Kenney, King, Kirkland, Lentz, Levdansky, Mahoney, Preston, Ramaley, Raymond, Tangretti, Walko, Wojnoroski, Kortz and Hornaman.
View the Text of HB1179 (PDF)
Download the Adobe Acrobat Reader (free!)
Contitutional Convention Q & A
Citizen's Constitutional Convention Act of 2007
Russ Diamond
Hon. Dwight Evans
512 Main Capitol Building
PO Box 202203
Harrisburg, PA 17120-2203
June 7, 2007
Dear Rep. Evans:
I am writing to commend you on your acknowledgement of the need to study our state Constitution with an eye on "contemporary conditions and the anticipated problems and needs of the people of this Commonwealth." I am also writing to commend the wisdom of removing the provisions of Article I of the Pennsylvania Constitution from such a process.
However, I take great exception to the method of study of our most fundamental law suggested within HB1179, which authorizes a 15-member Commission on Constitutional Revision appointed by the Governor and members of the General Assembly. Appointing such a Commission to launch constitutional change short-circuits the true path of sovereign power in our Commonwealth and our nation.
Constitutions are not written as two-party contracts between the governed and their governments. Rather, they are one-party documents in which citizens agree on how they will govern themselves and on what rules they wish to impose on those elected to public office. As a result, the Pennsylvania Constitution - in Article I, Section 2 - properly delineates the flow of sovereign power: from the Creator to individual citizens, and only upon their consent to elected officials.
Over the past two years, Pennsylvanians have become acutely aware of the reluctance of elected officials in all three branches of state government to adhere to the ultimate consent of the citizens - our Constitution as plainly written. As the rightful and sole owners of the document, citizens must be allowed to study and propose revisions on their own, free from any influence of those elected officials.
Surely, a Commission appointment by those same elected officials cannot be construed as anything other than overwhelming influence. Further, submitting a final report on such a Commission's findings to the General Assembly and the Governor for filtering adds even more undue influence to the process.
It is proper for elected officials to undertake internal operational rule changes. It is also proper for elected officials to task themselves with making statutory changes aimed at improving the Commonwealth. It is even proper for elected officials to suggest singular changes to our Constitution through the amendment process.
It is wholly improper, however, for elected officials to attempt to oversee a holistic review of our most fundamental law. To do so would only extend a wrong committed over 200 years ago, when the General Assembly called a convention, served as its delegates and adopted a new Constitution - all without the consent of the people or any legal authority to do so.
It is imperative at this time to attempt to lift the cloud of popular derision currently hovering over our state Capitol so elected officials can move forward with the business of governing the Commonwealth. HB1179 correctly hints at some of the underlying causalities, but implements a plan that would only make this cloud thicker and extend it further into the future.
A more proper and effective approach would be to craft and authorize an enabling act for a limited constitutional convention, submit it to the voters of the Commonwealth and allow the people to decide whether they wish to embark on a journey toward fundamental change. It is their document, after all.
I invite you to read the suggested language for just such an enabling act - the "Citizens' Constitutional Convention Act of 2007" - which I have included for your review. This language and other articles regarding the history of constitutional change in Pennsylvania are also available at our website, www.pacleansweep.com.
Sincerely,
Russ Diamond, Chair
PACleanSweep
CC: Reps. Blackwell, Cappelli, Costa, Daley, DePasquale, Freeman, Galloway, Grucela, Hanna, Kenney, King, Kirkland, Lentz, Levdansky, Mahoney, Preston, Ramaley, Raymond, Tangretti, Walko, Wojnoroski, Kortz and Hornaman.
View the Text of HB1179 (PDF)
Download the Adobe Acrobat Reader (free!)
Contitutional Convention Q & A
Citizen's Constitutional Convention Act of 2007
Russ Diamond
About PACleanSweep
PACleanSweep is a non-partisan effort dedicated to reforming state government in Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit www.PACleanSweep.com.
For More Information
Russ Diamond, Chair
chair@pacleansweep.com
717.383.3025
Copyright © 2007, Pennsylvania Order of Liberty Blog; All Rights Reserved.
PACleanSweep is a non-partisan effort dedicated to reforming state government in Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit www.PACleanSweep.com.
For More Information
Russ Diamond, Chair
chair@pacleansweep.com
717.383.3025
Copyright © 2007, Pennsylvania Order of Liberty Blog; All Rights Reserved.
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