It’s 2040, US has new constitution, both left and right agree it’s a little better. What’s in it?

[Blue3]

Scenario:

-It’s 2040, and the U.S. government has new constitution.

-Both the left and right agree it’s at least a little better than the current constitution. (Obviously there will be holdouts in each group, but overall the broad consensus is at least some progress was made that had a wide appeal).


What’s in it?

[brucejoel99]

The WY Rule, 18-year-old eligibility for all offices in exchange for an age cap on all offices set at the age of life expectancy, the Speaker being a House member, 3 Senators with 1 elected every 2 years, snap elections for unelected Presidents, 1 Supreme Court justice for each appellate court, & all nominations & territorial/federal statehood requests shall be given an up-or-down vote.

[Del Tachi]

Semi-presidential system with a less powerful Senate

[brucejoel99]

Preamble:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this new Constitution for the United States of America.

Article I - Declaration of Certain Constitutional Rights & Principles
All laws in force before or at the adoption of this Constitution, not inconsistent therewith, and all rights, actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts of the United States, or of any State, or of persons or bodies corporate, shall be as valid against the United States, or any State, persons, or bodies corporate, under this Constitution, as under the former Constitution; the Government of the United States shall continue in existence and exercise its jurisdiction under the former Constitution until the Government provided in this Constitution is organized in pursuance of the establishment thereof; and all persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States shall be encouraged and protected in the enjoyment of the privileges, immunities and estates which they were accustomed to enjoy, or could of right have enjoyed, under the former Constitution, and the laws of the United States, or of any State, which shall have been made in pursuance thereof.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside; Provided that for the purposes of this Constitution, the several Territories and the District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall be treated as though they were States; and the exercise of the rights and powers conferred under this Constitution shall be by the people of the several Territories and the District constituting the seat of government, and as shall be provided by the Congress. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed; no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances; and neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned; but neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People; and the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People.

The Congress shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation.

Article II - Suffrage:
The right of citizens of the United States of the age of eighteen years or over to vote for all offices to be elected by and on all questions submitted to them shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, or sex; but no person who has been lawfully adjudicated to be not of sound mind shall be permitted to vote; and no person who is incarcerated in a correctional facility upon a felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction resulting in incarceration in a correctional facility shall be permitted to vote until such person is discharged from the facility, upon which such person's right to vote shall be restored; but the right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President, Senators or Representatives, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

When the right of citizens of the United States to vote at any election for President, Senators or Representatives, the executive or judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the inhabitants of such State, being eighteen years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

The Congress shall have power to enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation.

Article III - Qualification for Office:
No person shall hold any civil office or public trust under the United States, or under any State, unless that person shall have attained to the age of eighteen years, and been five years a citizen of the United States; but no person shall hold any civil office or public trust under the United States, or under any State, if that person shall have attained to the age of life expectancy; except that the holder of any executive office or public trust under the United States, or under any State, may serve after attaining the age of life expectancy to serve out their applicable commission or elective term of office; and that the judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, may serve after attaining the age of life expectancy to complete an annual term.

No person shall hold any office, civil or military, or public trust under the United States, or under any State, if such person has been lawfully adjudicated to be not of sound mind or if such person is incarcerated in a correctional facility upon a felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction resulting in incarceration in a correctional facility; Provided that such an incarcerated person's right to hold any office, civil or military, or public trust under the United States, or under any State, shall be restored upon such person's discharge from the facility; and no person shall hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; but Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The President, Senators and Representatives hereafter mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all officers, civil or military, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States, or under any State.

No person shall hold any civil office or public trust under the United States or any State unless at the time of taking such engagement that person shall hold no other such civil office or public trust; and if any such person shall, after election and engagement, accept any other such civil office or public trust, their office shall be immediately vacated; but this restriction shall not apply to any person appointed to take deposition or acknowledgment of deeds, or other legal instruments, by the United States or any State.

No Senator or Representative, or Member of the several State Legislatures, shall during the time for which they were elected, be appointed to any civil office under the Authority of the United States, or of any State, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any civil office under the United States, or of any State, shall be a Member of either House or of the several State Legislatures during their continuance in office.

Article IV - Elections:
The term of the President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this Constitution had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof, but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.

The times, places and manner of holding elections for President shall be determined by the Congress; Provided that such times shall be the same throughout the United States.

[brucejoel99]

Article V - Legislative Powers:
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding. The Congress shall pass all laws necessary to carry this Constitution into effect.

The legislative power herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own Members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent Members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member. Each House shall keep a verbatim journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for ten or more days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second year by the People of the several States by ranked choice vote; Members shall, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State and district in which they shall be chosen, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State. The number of Representatives shall ensure that the standard representative-to-population ratio shall be that of the smallest State; Provided that each State shall have at least one Representative. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; Provided that the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker, who shall be a Member, and other officers.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of three Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof by ranked choice vote, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of this Constitution, they shall first take into consideration the election or term of any Senator chosen validly as part of the former Constitution, and they shall then be divided as equally as may be into three classes: the seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second Year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and when vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; Provided that the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. The Majority Leader of the Senate shall be President of the Senate, their designee shall be President pro tempore in their absence, and the Senate shall choose their other officers.

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States; but no law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened; except that annual adjustments for inflation and cost-of-living shall be provided for. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President: if they approve they shall sign it, but if not they shall return it, with their objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays excepted) after it shall have been presented to them, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if they had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by them, or being disapproved by them, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills, but if a bill for raising revenue, having been passed by the House of Representatives and transmitted to the Senate at least four weeks before the end of their session, is not passed by the Senate without amendment within four weeks after it was so transmitted thereto, the bill shall, unless the House of Representatives directs to the contrary, be presented to the President, notwithstanding that the Senate had not consented to the bill; and if any bill other than a bill for raising revenue is passed in identical form by the House of Representative in two successive sessions (whether of the same Congress or not), and, having been transmitted to the Senate at least four weeks before the end of their session, is not approved by the Senate in each of those sessions, that bill shall, upon receipt of its lack of approval for the second time in the Senate, unless the House of Representatives directs to the contrary, be presented to the President, notwithstanding that the Senate had not consented to the bill; Provided that this provision shall not take effect unless at least six months has elapsed between the date of the introduction in the first of those sessions of the bill in the House of Representatives and the date on which it passes the House of Representatives in the second of such sessions; and that the House of Representatives may, if they think fit, on the passage of such a bill through the House in the second session, suggest any further amendments without inserting the amendments in the bill, and any such suggested amendments shall be considered by the Senate, and, if agreed to thereby, shall be treated as amendments made by the Senate and agreed to by the House of Representatives; but the exercise of this power by the House of Representatives shall not affect the operation of this section in the event of the bill being rejected by the Senate.

The Congress shall have the power:

• To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; Provided that no tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State, all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States, and no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law, with a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money to be published from time to time;
• To lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration; but no capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken;
• To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
• To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; but no preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another;
• To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
• To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
• To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
• To establish Post Offices and post roads;
• To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
• To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; Provided that there shall exist at least one seat on the Supreme Court for each constituted appellate tribunal inferior to the Supreme Court;
• To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
• To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
• To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
• To provide and maintain a Navy;
• To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
• To provide for the organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
• To exercise original legislation over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards and other needful buildings;
• To dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; but nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State;
• And to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof; Provided that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it; that no bill of attainder or ex-post-facto law shall be passed; and that no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any Monarch, Prince, or foreign State.

[brucejoel99]

Article VI - Executive Powers:
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America, who shall be the Head of State, and the Government, which shall be headed by a Prime Minister.

The President shall hold their office during the term of four years and be elected by the People of the United States by ranked choice vote. They shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, see to the respect for and enforcement of the Constitution and the stability of the institutions, ensure the regular operations of the public authorities and the continuity of the Government, and serve as the guarantor of the nation's independence and the integrity of its territory.

The President shall choose a Prime Minister supported by an absolute majority in the House of Representatives as established on the basis of the electoral results of those elected in the chamber, and the President shall preside over the Council of Ministers, but they shall terminate the duties of the Prime Minister upon the latter's submission of the Government's resignation. They shall commission all the officers of the United States, and negotiate and sign all international treaties, conventions and agreements and submit them to the House of Representatives for ratification. They shall accredit ambassadors and special envoys to foreign powers, and shall receive ambassadorial letters of accreditation and other public ministers.

The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States, and, as such, shall have the power to declare war, and negotiate and sign peace treaties with the approval of the House of Representatives; Provided that no soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law; and they shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

The President shall, after deliberation in the Council of Ministers, following approval of the House of Representatives, appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; Provided that they shall have the power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the House of Representatives, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session, and that, in the event that a nomination transmitted by the President to the House of Representatives is not approved nor disapproved by the House of Representatives within one hundred and twenty-five days of such transmission, the nominee shall be appointed and take office as if such nomination had been advised and consented to by the House of Representatives; but if such one hundred and twenty-five day period ends when the House of Representatives is not in session, such period shall be extended until the fourth day following the day on which the House of Representatives reconvenes; and the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of their death or resignation, or if, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President-elect shall have died, the Prime Minister shall become Acting President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of their term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Prime Minister shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President nor a Prime Minister shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Prime Minister shall have qualified.

In case a President and Prime Minister shall be unable to qualify, thereupon the Congress shall forthwith cause a notification thereof to be made to the People specifying that the President shall be chosen by the People within twelve weeks preceding the 20th day of January then next ensuing; Provided that there shall be the space of nine months between the date of such notification and the 20th day of January then next ensuing, but if there shall not be the space of nine months between the date of such notification and the 20th day of January next ensuing; and if the term for which the President last in office was elected shall not expire on the 20th day of January next ensuing, then the Congress shall specify in the notification that the President shall be chosen by the People within twelve weeks preceding the 20th day of January in the year next ensuing thereafter.

Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that they are unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office, and until they transmit to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Prime Minister as Acting President.

Whenever the Prime Minister and a majority of the Council of Ministers transmit to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Prime Minister shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that no inability exists, they shall resume the powers and duties of their office unless the Prime Minister and a majority of the Council of Ministers transmit within four days to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office, the Prime Minister shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of their office.

The President shall have no powers other than those accorded to him by this Constitution, but they shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as they shall judge necessary and expedient. Before they enter on the execution of their office, they shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," and they shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which they shall have been elected, except that annual adjustments for inflation and cost-of-living shall be provided for, and they shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them.

With the approval of the President, the Prime Minister shall choose the members of their Council of Ministers and shall go before the House of Representatives to obtain a vote of confidence in their Government, for which an absolute majority of the House of Representatives shall be required to pass. The Prime Minister shall execute the regulatory power of the United States, but they may never suspend, or interpret the laws, or refrain from executing them; and, in concert with the President, shall be responsible for national defense. The Prime Minister and the Ministers shall appear before the House of Representatives, or the Senate, to support bills or transmit recommendations on behalf of the President, and shall be jointly responsible for the acts of the President and of themselves, and for enforcement of the laws in the areas of their competence.

In case of the removal of the Prime Minister from office or of their death or resignation, the Government shall remain in place and maintain their present jurisdiction until the assumption of the functions by their successor; and in such cases, the President shall choose an Interim Prime Minister from among the members of the ministerial cabinet if necessary to attend to the formation of a new Government within a time period not passing four weeks.

Article VII - Judicial Powers:
The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office, and for which annual adjustments for inflation and cost-of-living shall be provided.

The judicial power shall extend:

• to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; but shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any Foreign State;
• to all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;
• to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;
• to controversies to which the United States shall be a party;
  
• to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against themselves, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against them; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed six hundred dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Article VIII - Impeachment:
The President, Prime Minister and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment. All persons holding and enjoying any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States who shall be impeached shall thereby be suspended from office until judgment in such case has been rendered.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President or Prime Minister is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside, but shall have no vote during such proceedings unless they be equally divided; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present and eligible to vote, but judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend fuather than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States, with the party convicted nevertheless being liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.

Article IX - The States:
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the Legislature, or of the executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; ; Provided that in the event that the application for statehood of the Legislatures of the several Territories or the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States, the Congress is neither approved nor disapproved by the Congress within one hundred and twenty-five days of such application, the Territory or District shall be admitted into this Union as if such application had been approved by the Congress; but if such one hundred and twenty-five day period ends when the Congress is not in session, such period shall be extended until the fourth day following the day on which the Congress reconvenes; and no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex-post-facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws, with the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, to be for the use of the Treasury of the United States, and all such laws being subject to the revision and control of the Congress; nor shall any State, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State, and the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; but a person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive authority of the State from which they fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, shall be prohibited.

Article X - Constitutional Amendments & Revisions:
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

The Congress, whenever the House of Representatives and the Senate shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution for submission to the People; and shall prescribe the times, places and manner of holding the People's vote for approval; any amendment thus proposed, if then approved by a majority of the People voting thereon, shall become a part of the Constitution; Provided that majorities of the People ratify in more than one-half of the States.

The Congress, by a vote of three-fourths of the members elected to each House, may at any time propose the question, "Shall there be a convention to draft a new Constitution?" to the People. The question shall then be submitted to the People in such manner as the Congress shall direct. Prior to a vote by the People on the holding of such a convention, the Congress, or the President if the Congress fails to act, shall assemble information on constitutional questions for the People. If three fifths of the People voting on said question shall vote to hold a convention, the Congress during its next session shall provide by law for the election of delegates to such convention. The number of delegates elected to such convention shall be equal to the number of Members of the House of Representatives and shall be apportioned in the same manner as the Members of the House of Representatives. No Constitution agreed upon by such convention shall take effect until the same has been submitted to the People and approved by a majority of those voting thereon.

Article XI - Implementing Article:
The ratification of the People, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so bound by the same; Provided that majorities of the People ratify in more than one-half of the States; and that the establishment of this Constitution shall not take effect until two years after the 3rd day of January following the ratification of the People.

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, April 29, 2036.

[brucejoel99]

Will now post a mockup similar to the above, but retaining the Presidential and Senatorial structures.

[brucejoel99]

Preamble:
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this new Constitution for the United States of America.

Article I - Declaration of Certain Constitutional Rights & Principles
All laws in force before or at the adoption of this Constitution, not inconsistent therewith, and all rights, actions, prosecutions, claims, and contracts of the United States, or of any State, or of persons or bodies corporate, shall be as valid against the United States, or any State, persons, or bodies corporate, under this Constitution, as under the former Constitution; the Government of the United States shall continue in existence and exercise its jurisdiction under the former Constitution until the Government provided in this Constitution is organized in pursuance of the establishment thereof; and all persons subject to the jurisdiction of the United States shall be encouraged and protected in the enjoyment of the privileges, immunities and estates which they were accustomed to enjoy, or could of right have enjoyed, under the former Constitution, and the laws of the United States, or of any State, which shall have been made in pursuance thereof.

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside; Provided that for the purposes of this Constitution, the several Territories and the District constituting the seat of government of the United States shall be treated as though they were States; and the exercise of the rights and powers conferred under this Constitution shall be by the people of the several Territories and the District constituting the seat of government, and as shall be provided by the Congress. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed; no law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances; and neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned; but neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the People; and the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People.

The Congress shall have the power to enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation.

Article II - Suffrage:
The right of citizens of the United States of the age of eighteen years or over to vote for all offices to be elected by and on all questions submitted to them shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State on account of race, color, previous condition of servitude, or sex; but no person who has been lawfully adjudicated to be not of sound mind shall be permitted to vote; and no person who is incarcerated in a correctional facility upon a felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction resulting in incarceration in a correctional facility shall be permitted to vote until such person is discharged from the facility, upon which such person's right to vote shall be restored; but the right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, or for Senators or Representatives in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

When the right of citizens of the United States to vote at any election for President, Senators or Representatives, the executive or judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the inhabitants of such State, being eighteen years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.

The Congress shall have power to enforce the provisions of this article by appropriate legislation.

Article III - Qualification for Office:
No person shall hold any civil office or public trust under the United States, or under any State, unless that person shall have attained to the age of eighteen years, and been five years a citizen of the United States; but no person shall hold any civil office or public trust under the United States, or under any State, if that person shall have attained to the age of life expectancy; except that the holder of any executive office or public trust under the United States, or under any State, may serve after attaining the age of life expectancy to serve out their applicable commission or complete their elective term of office; and that the judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, may serve after attaining the age of life expectancy to complete an annual term.

No person shall hold any office, civil or military, or public trust under the United States, or under any State, if such person has been lawfully adjudicated to be not of sound mind or if such person is incarcerated in a correctional facility upon a felony conviction or a misdemeanor conviction resulting in incarceration in a correctional facility; Provided that such an incarcerated person's right to hold any office, civil or military, or public trust under the United States, or under any State, shall be restored upon such person's discharge from the facility; and no person shall hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof; but Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The President, Senators and Representatives hereafter mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all officers, civil or military, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States, or under any State.

No person shall hold any civil office or public trust under the United States or any State unless at the time of taking such engagement that person shall hold no other such civil office or public trust; and if any such person shall, after election and engagement, accept any other such civil office or public trust, their office shall be immediately vacated; but this restriction shall not apply to any person appointed to take deposition or acknowledgment of deeds, or other legal instruments, by the United States or any State.

No Senator or Representative, or Member of the several State Legislatures, shall during the time for which they were elected, be appointed to any civil office under the Authority of the United States, or of any State, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any civil office under the United States, or of any State, shall be a Member of either House or of the several State Legislatures during their continuance in office.

Article IV - Elections:
The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3rd day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this Constitution had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.

The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representatives shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof, but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.

The times, places and manner of holding elections for President and Vice President shall be determined by the Congress; Provided that such times shall be the same throughout the United States.

[brucejoel99]

Article V - Legislative Powers:
This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance thereof; and all treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any thing in the Constitution or laws of any state to the contrary notwithstanding. The Congress shall pass all laws necessary to carry this Constitution into effect.

The legislative power herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its own Members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent Members, in such manner, and under such penalties as each House may provide. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a Member. Each House shall keep a verbatim journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judgment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal. Neither House, during the session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for ten or more days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.

The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second year by the People of the several States by ranked choice vote; Members shall, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State and district in which they shall be chosen, and the electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State. The number of Representatives shall ensure that the standard representative-to-population ratio shall be that of the smallest State; Provided that each State shall have at least one Representative. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State, the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; Provided that the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker, who shall be a Member, and other officers.

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of the Vice President of the United States and three Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof by ranked choice vote, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislatures. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of this Constitution, they shall first take into consideration the election or term of any Senator chosen validly as part of the former Constitution, and they shall then be divided as equally as may be into three classes: the seats of the Senators of the first class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second Year, of the second class at the expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that one third may be chosen every second year; and when vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies; Provided that the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct. The Vice President shall be President of the Senate, and the Majority Leader of the Senate shall be President pro tempore in the absence of the Vice President, but the Senate shall choose their other officers.

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States; but no law varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened; except that annual adjustments for inflation and cost-of-living shall be provided for. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a law, be presented to the President: if they approve they shall sign it, but if not they shall return it, with their objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that House shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law; but in all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays excepted) after it shall have been presented to them, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if they had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.

Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by them, or being disapproved by them, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.

The Congress shall have the power:

• To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States; Provided that no tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State, all duties, imposts and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; but no money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made by law, with a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money to be published from time to time; and the President shall annually prepare and propose to the Congress a consolidated operating and capital improvement federal budget;
• To lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration; but no capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid, unless in proportion to the Census or enumeration herein before directed to be taken;
• To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
• To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; but no preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in another;
• To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;
• To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
• To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;
• To establish Post Offices and post roads;
• To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;
• To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; Provided that there shall exist at least one seat on the Supreme Court for each constituted appellate tribunal inferior to the Supreme Court;
• To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offenses against the law of nations;
• To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;
• To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
• To provide and maintain a Navy;
• To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;
• To provide for the organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
• To exercise original legislation over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of Government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards and other needful buildings;
• To dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; but nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any particular State;
• And to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof; Provided that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it; that no bill of attainder or ex-post-facto law shall be passed; and that no title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any Monarch, Prince, or foreign State.

[brucejoel99]

Article VI - Executive Powers:
The executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. They shall hold their office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected by the People of the United States by ranked choice vote; Provided that neither of them shall be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves.

In case of the removal of the President from office or of their death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice President-elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of their term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President nor a Vice President shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that they are unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office, and until they transmit to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that no inability exists, they shall resume the powers and duties of their office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of their office.

Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

Before they enter on the execution of their office, they shall take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of the United States; they may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and they shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

The President shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and they shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments. In the event that a nomination transmitted by the President to the Senate is neither advised and consented to nor denied advice and consent by the Senate within one hundred and twenty-five days of such transmission, the nominee shall be appointed and take office as if such nomination had been advised and consented to by the Senate; but if such one hundred and twenty-five day period ends when the House of Representatives is not in session, such period shall be extended until the fourth day following the day on which the House of Representatives reconvenes; and the President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.

The President shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as they shall judge necessary and expedient; they may, on extraordinary occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission all the officers of the United States.

Article VII - Judicial Powers:
The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office, and for which annual adjustments for inflation and cost-of-living shall be provided.

The judicial power shall extend:

• to all cases, in law and equity, arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority; but shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any Foreign State;
• to all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls;
• to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction;
• to controversies to which the United States shall be a party;
  
• to controversies between two or more States; between a State and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign States, citizens or subjects.

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make.

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have directed.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against themselves, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against them; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed six hundred dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Article VIII - Impeachment:
The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment. All persons holding and enjoying any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States subject to a case of impeachment shall be suspended from office until judgment in such case has been rendered.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President or Vice President is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside, but shall have no vote during such proceedings unless they be equally divided; and when the Vice President is tried, they shall have no vote. No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members present and eligible to vote, but judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States, with the party convicted nevertheless being liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.

Article IX - The States:
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the Legislature, or of the executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence.

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; ; Provided that in the event that the application for statehood of the Legislatures of the several Territories or the District constituting the seat of Government of the United States, the Congress is neither approved nor disapproved by the Congress within one hundred and twenty-five days of such application, the Territory or District shall be admitted into this Union as if such application had been approved by the Congress; but if such one hundred and twenty-five day period ends when the Congress is not in session, such period shall be extended until the fourth day following the day on which the Congress reconvenes; and no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex-post-facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility.

No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws, with the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, to be for the use of the Treasury of the United States, and all such laws being subject to the revision and control of the Congress; nor shall any State, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not admit of delay.

Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of every other State, and the Congress may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof.

The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States; but a person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall on demand of the executive authority of the State from which they fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime.

The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, shall be prohibited.

Article X - Constitutional Amendments & Revisions:
The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate.

The Congress, whenever the House of Representatives and the Senate shall deem it necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution for submission to the People; and shall prescribe the times, places and manner of holding the People's vote for approval; any amendment thus proposed, if then approved by a majority of the People voting thereon, shall become a part of the Constitution; Provided that majorities of the People ratify in more than one-half of the States.

The Congress, by a vote of three-fourths of the members elected to each House, may at any time propose the question, "Shall there be a convention to draft a new Constitution?" to the People. The question shall then be submitted to the People in such manner as the Congress shall direct. Prior to a vote by the People on the holding of such a convention, the Congress, or the President if the Congress fails to act, shall assemble information on constitutional questions for the People. If three-fifths of the People voting on said question shall vote to hold a convention, the Congress during its next session shall provide by law for the election of delegates to such convention. The number of delegates elected to such convention shall be equal to the number of Members of the House of Representatives and shall be apportioned in the same manner as the Members of the House of Representatives. No Constitution agreed upon by such convention shall take effect until the same has been submitted to the People and approved by a majority of those voting thereon.

Article XI - Implementing Article:
The ratification of the People, shall be sufficient for the establishment of this Constitution between the States so bound by the same; Provided that majorities of the People ratify in more than one-half of the States; and that the establishment of this Constitution shall not take effect until two years after the 3rd day of January following the ratification of the People.

Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the States present, April 29, 2036.