The 17th Amendment & Sovereignty

James Madison in Federalist Paper 43 stated: "To provide for amendments to be ratified by three fourths of the States under two exceptions only."; he was extremely definitive on the point!

I submit the wordage cannot be construed to suggest that selection of U.S. Senators is All or None in this matter. The "Consent" clause reads "no State", singular as an individual, not group or Several! An exception to compliance is pointed out by James Madison! That was obvious intent the law framers put forth! An obvious exception to amendments! A states' Right to suffrage in the U.S. Senate must not be deprived!

"The Constitution was written to be understood by the voters; its words and phrases were used in their normal and ordinary, as distinguished from technical meaning; where the intention is clear, there is no room for construction, and no excuse for interpolation or addition." Martin v. Hunter's Lessee, 1 Wheat 304; Gibbons v. Ogden, 9 Wheat 419 (1821); Brown v Maryland, 12 Wheat 419; Craig v. Missouri, 4 Pet 10; Tennessee v. Whitworth, 117 U.S. 139; Lake County v Rollins, 130 U.S. 662; Hodges v. United States, 203 U.S. 1; Edwards v. Cuba R. Co., 268 U.S. 628; The Pocket Veto Case, 279 U.S. 655; Justice Story on the Constitution, 5th ed., Sec 451; Cooley's Constitutional Limitations, 2nd ed., p. 61,70.

I submit three fourths may ratify the amendment & comply with it, but I submit the other states may reject & not comply. The "Consent" clause is an enumerated state Right that must not be deprived! This is the only exception to amendments in effect!

"It is elementary that the same statute may be in part Con- stitutional and in part unConstitutional, and, if the parts are wholly independent of each other, that which is Constitu- tional may stand while that which is unConstitutional will be rejected." Pollock v. Farmer's L. & T. Co., 1894, 158 U.S. 601.

The "Consent" clause is Written Inviolate by the framers! In a Republic, Rights cannot be infringed upon by the majority!

No Ratification Means No "Consent"! -- No "Consent" Means No 17th Amendment Compliance Required!

A state must Ratify the amendment to "Consent" to "be deprived of its voting Rights in the Senate."

"No State, Without Its Consent" Is The Lost Key!

States withholding "Consent" should appoint Senators!

The 17th amendment Is Not Constitutional as applied!

Application of the 17th amendment to states that did not ratify it also violates Constitution Article IV Sec 4:

"The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, "

Alexander Hamilton in Federalist Papers 59 & 60 explains state legislatures Right to voting & voice in the Senate!

Further:
".... It is a misfortune incident to republican government, though in a less degree than to other governments, that those who administer it may forget their obligations to their constituents, and prove unfaithful to their important trust. In this point of view, a senate, as a second branch of the legislative assembly, distinct from, and dividing the power with, a first, must be in all cases a salutary check on the government. It doubles the security to the people, by requiring the concurrence of two distinct bodies in schemes of usurpation or perfidy, where the ambition or corruption of one would otherwise be sufficient. This is a precaution founded on such clear principles, and now so well understood in the United States, that it would be more than superfluous to enlarge on it. I will barely remark, that as the improbability of sinister combinations will be in proportion to the dissimilarity in the genius of the two bodies, it must be politic to distinguish them from each other by every circumstance which will consist with a due harmony in all proper measures, and with the genuine principles of republican government." - Federalist No. 62, The Senate, For the Independent Journal, Alexander Hamilton or James Madison

Bouviers Law Dictionary of 1856

SUFFRAGE, government. Vote; the act of voting.

USURPATION, government. The tyrannical assumption of the government by force contrary to and in violation of the constitution of the country.

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The United States Government Is Supposed To Be -
A Republic!

Not A Democracy!

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In A Republic, Rights Cannot Be Infringed Upon -

By The Majority!

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How To Use The 17th Key!

Efforts to repeal the 17th amendment may be premature. Efforts to convert states that did not ratify the 17th, back to lawful selection of Senators, must be the priority now!

As I suspect, along the way other states will discover they did not ratify the 17th either. So once more than 12 states discover they did not ratify the 17th (excluding Alaska & Hawaii), truth about the 1913 ratification will be exposed! The 17th will then be null & void ab initio! No repeal effort needed, Speaker of the U.S. House can declare it dead!

"An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation as though it had never been passed." Norton v. Shelby County, 118 US 425

"Acts generally lawful may become unlawful when done to accomplish an unlawful end and a Constitutional power cannot be used by way of a condition to attain an unConstitutional end." Gomillian v. Lightfoot, 364 U.S. 339.

"The values of the Framers of the Constitution must be applied in any case construing the Constitution. Inferences from the text and history of the Constitution should be given great weight in discerning the original understanding and in determining the intentions of those who ratified the Constitution. The precedential value of cases and commentators tends to increase, therefore, in proportion to their proximity to the adoption of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or any other amendments." Powell v. McCormack, 395 US 486, 547 (1969)

Find each state's 17th amendment ratification documents! Divide & Conquer, take one state at a time to solve this!

Take this matter to the state gov'ts, Not the federal gov't!
Tag All People & Sovereignty Movements Possible!

This is a "Federal Question" of "Great Public Importance"!
- Yet this is a "State Question" of 'Sovereign Magnitude'!

Each states' governor & attorney general should be asked if the state complies with the U.S. Constitution for selecting U.S. Senators in reference to the "Consent" clause & 17th amendment! State Supreme Court action may be needed. Ultimately U.S. Supreme Court action many be necessary!

Until states regain voting Rights in the U.S. Senate, state sovereignty cannot be recovered, which is a large battle now engaged in by many of the Several states across the country! Direct power of voting in the Senate is necessary to nullify unConstitutional federal mandates!

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U.S. Senators are now bought & paid for by special- interest lobby! They should work for the states!

If members of the U.S. Senate were still appointed by the Several states;

Would treaty ratification be quite as dangerous to American sovereignty & laws?

Would U.S. Supreme Court Justice confirmations be quite as threatening to us?

Would there be much need for states & People to suffer legislation such as The Patriot Act, Real ID, & FISA? And now the U.S. Senate threatens us with the new PASS Act! PASS means Patriot Apprehension, Search & Seizure!

Would there be much need for the present state sovereignty movements? - Maybe Not!

The loss of State Sovereignty is directly related to the 17th amendment! Another pillar like the 9th & 10th!

What else might improve if just some of the Several states reclaimed the U.S. Senate?

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Some People suggest only repeal of the 17th amendment will do, & refuse to consider applying the "Consent" clause for the states against the 17th amendment. If I use what wealth I hold today to plant crops, & raise livestock so I could have something to eat, how long must I wait to eat those crops & livestock? If I use some of the wealth to buy something to eat until harvest time, would I not survive until those crops & livestock are ready? And if those crops fail or the livestock dies, then what? We must & we can eat until those crops & livestock are ready. But we must prepare for the future as well! We can do both & we must!

Repeal of the 17th amendment is a must, but a long term project. Immediate recovery of voting in the U.S. Senate by some of the Several states can be done much sooner! The possibility of the 17th collapsing due to exposure of being fraudulently ratified may even happen if states that did not ratify stand up to be counted now! Think about it!

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Historical Documents

The unanimous Declaration of July 4th 1776

The Federalist Papers

The Constitution of the U.S.A.

The Bill Of Rights

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Related Publications

Repeal the Seventeenth Amendment
by Thomas J. DiLorenzo 2005

States must force 17th Amendment showdown
by Devvy Kidd 2005

U.S. Sup Ct Justice Antonin Scalia is hot on the 17th!
Defend Our Freedoms 2009: "Meeting Justice Scalia"
by Atty Orly Taitz
"Right after that he went into the issue of the 17th amendment. He stated that today the Congress and the Senate are not accountable to the states and can do whatever they please. He stated, that when the rules of the game were changed in 1913, when the senators were no longer chosen by the state legislature, but rather elected, therefor they are not accountable to the states, cannot be recalled by the state and that is why there is such an overreaching power by the federal government. The way I understood it, is that maybe the 17th amendment needs to be repealed ..." Orly

Important - 17th Amendment!
by Samuel Howell Jr. 29 April 2009

I submit nullification was part of the States' duty in suffrage. Law - legislation, could be stopped before the fact, providing effective nullification! The Jeffersonians Were Right After All by Thomas E. Woods 2009

Tenth Amendment Center on state sovereignty

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Support Groups

The National 17th Amendment Group

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"The Constitution is a written instrument. As such, its meaning does not alter. That which it meant when it was adopted, it means now." South Carolina v. United States, 199 U.S. 437, 448 (1905).

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"The human race has a gift ... that sets it above all the other creatures that abound upon this planet: The gift of thought, of reasoning, of understanding. The highly- developed brain. But the human race has ceased to develop. It struggles for petty comfort and false security; there is no time for thought. Soon there will be no time for reasoning, and Man will lose sight of the truth.", "The Sixth Finger", written by Ellis St. Joseph and Joseph Stefano, The Outer Limits, broadcast 14 October 1963

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Consider this webpage the equivalent of a pint of blood. I give this pint of blood to a life desparately in need! Somebody please take this pint of blood & run with it to that life in need while there is still time. If you cannot run the entire distance, pass this pint of blood to another & encourage them to run for that life in need! A Paul Revere Ride must be & can be successful if everybody tries just a little bit to do what they can! It is not necessary for me or any one person to run the entire distance with this pint of blood! I cannot anyway! However, I can provide this pint of blood for somebody else to deliver! Would I then be successful in saving that life in need?

This pint of blood may not save the life in need! But it may prolong that life until more blood or surgery is available!

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Suffering What You Think You Know That Ain't So Can Be Cured! - I Find Reading Helps! - But You Must Understand What You Read! - Think About It!