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Legal Advice: Constitutional Law | Nebraska | Re: can congress repeal the bill of | LawGuruSo if they repeal the Bill of Rights, you're OK with that?
The Bill of Rights is part of the Constitution (specifically, it is the first ten amendments) and, like any other part of the Constitution, can only be changed by amendment or by a constitutional convention. Congress cannot accomplish either of these things by itself.
Before an amendment can be added to the Constitution it must be approved by two thirds of both the Senate and the House of Representatives and must then be ratified by three fourths of the states (which works out to 38 of the 50).
That's the theory. The reality is that Congress routinely ignores the Constitution. McCain/Feingold was a gross assault on the First Amendment. Most of the activity of most government regulatory agencies is unconstitutional. The EPA routinely violates propertyrights. The Clean Water Act is the worst example.
You actually think that might could ever happen?
it already has.
This...
...is even less likely to ever happen.A constitutional convention would have broader powers and could theoretically decide to scrap the Constitution entirely and replace it with a new one. (Many of the founding fathers expected this to happen periodically, and would be quite surprised to learn that the original Constitution remains in effect after 217 years.) The Fifth Amendment requires Congress to call a convention upon the application of two-thirds of the states, though this has never happened. Like the usual amendment process, the changes proposed by a convention would only take effect upon ratification by three quarters of the states.
So? Did you see me proposing a Constitutional convention? The last thing I want is a bunch of sleazy politicians voting on whether to revise the Bill of Rights.
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