Dear editor: 

Recently I received an email that passionately exhorted me to be a patriot and ask my state legislators to oppose SJ 0001 — Resolution on an Article V Convention of the States. As a patriot, I had already written to these legislators asking them to support the above topic. There are patriots on both sides of this volatile issue. 

I read the email carefully and did not find its arguments compelling in the least. This  paragraph jumped out and did not survive scrutiny. “However, our Founding Fathers NEVER intended the use of an Article V Constitutional Convention to rein in unconstitutional behavior of elected officials! Rather, their intended use of this mechanism was to address errors within the text of the Constitution.” Well, if the Founding Fathers knew there were errors within the text of the Constitution, would they not have corrected them before signing it? 

When we think of the Founding Fathers, two characteristics spring to mind, and these are their humility and their wisdom. In their humility, it occurred to them that new and unforeseen realities could arise that would necessitate amendments to the original text. The ending of slavery is a prime example. Thus, they created Article V to accommodate these. In their wisdom, they caused the adding of amendments to be deliberately difficult but not impossible. Unconstitutional behavior of elected officials was indeed one of their rather long-sighted concerns. 

Later, the email states: “… the truth is an Article V Convention is a federal convention, called by the federal government to amend the federal Constitution.” Actually, Article V provides two methods of adding amendments. The first option is for Congress to do it. The second option is for Congress to get out of the way and let the states and the people do it. Two-thirds of the states must ask for it. In order for this to happen, Congress has to call a Convention of the States and declare a time and place and then leave the delegates from the various states to hash it out. Whatever the delegates decide then has to be ratified by three-fourths of the  states. This doesn’t sound like a reckless proposition to me. 

Article V has already been invoked 17 times since the original Constitution with its 10  amendments (Bill of Rights) was signed. On each occasion, Congress has passed the  amendments, numbers 11 through 27. The current issues (unconstitutional behavior of elected officials) — the Washington Swamp — are never going to be addressed by Congress. It is up to the states and the people to rein in these excesses. The Founding Fathers would approve.

Sheila Leach 

Cody