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Talk:Essay:Why Recall Elections Are Essential (view source)
Revision as of 21:03, March 22, 2010
, 21:03, March 22, 2010→Seventeenth Amendment: new section
Wouldn't a state recall ability violate US Term Limits V Thornton, because it's establishing an additional qualification for membership in Congress, as well as Powell v. McCormack, because it would "result in a patchwork that would be inconsistent with the Framers' vision of a uniform National Legislature representing the people of the United States." In other words, allowing such a recall election would let voters in New Jersey recall its senators early, while the voters of New York wouldn't have that power. It would make Senate qualifications non-uniform throughout the various states. This, of course, doesn't limit the power to recall state officials, just ones whose election qualifications are specifically enumerated in the Constitution.--[[User:Whizkid|Whizkid]] 00:03, 22 March 2010 (EDT)
Wouldn't a state recall ability violate US Term Limits V Thornton, because it's establishing an additional qualification for membership in Congress, as well as Powell v. McCormack, because it would "result in a patchwork that would be inconsistent with the Framers' vision of a uniform National Legislature representing the people of the United States." In other words, allowing such a recall election would let voters in New Jersey recall its senators early, while the voters of New York wouldn't have that power. It would make Senate qualifications non-uniform throughout the various states. This, of course, doesn't limit the power to recall state officials, just ones whose election qualifications are specifically enumerated in the Constitution.--[[User:Whizkid|Whizkid]] 00:03, 22 March 2010 (EDT)
== Seventeenth Amendment ==
To the best of my knowledge (which is, admittedly, limited in this area,) there's simply no legal grounds for arguing that the recall of Senators is a federal, rather than a state, issue. As I understand it, until the Seventeenth Amendment, the means by which Senators were chosen was left to the individual states, with some gradually moving away from appointment and towards direct election. The Seventeenth Amendment standardizes this process; well and good. However, nothing in the Seventeenth Amendment touches on the issue of whether a state has the right to recall its Senators, nor the mechanisms by which this may be accomplished. That being the case, it seems obvious that Andy is correct, and the issue clearly falls under the provisions of the Tenth Amendment--it is a power that is neither specifically granted to the Congress nor prohibited to the several states.
That being the case, why is there controversy about this at all? What legal justification is there for mounting such a challenge? --[[User:Benp|Benp]] 17:03, 22 March 2010 (EDT)