Constitutional Amendment

In its first vote on campaign finance reform since the current furor over big money in politics erupted, the Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly killed a constitutional amendment that would have let restrictions be placed on campaign spending without violating the free-speech doctrine. The 61-38 vote against the measure fell well short of a majority, much less the necessary two-thirds requirement for approving proposed constitutional amendments and sending them to the states for consideration.

The Times editorial board offended some liberal readers when it urged a no vote on Proposition C , which asks voters in the city of Los Angeles to “instruct” local members of Congress to support a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision. One commenter asked: “Did the Koch Bros already buy the Times and I missed it?” As our editorial noted, The Times was critical of Citizens United when it was handed down. But we raised several objections to Proposition C: It wouldn't be binding; it was “vague and question-begging” and didn't provide the actual text of a proposed constitutional amendment; and its sweeping assertion that corporations "do not have the constitutional rights of human beings” could be interpreted to say that corporations could be stripped of constitutional protections that have nothing to do with political speech - such as the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

School officials in the South Bay, still reeling from funding losses in the state budget signed by Gov. George Deukmejian last week, say they will take a close look at a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at ending the Legislature's chaotic, 11th-hour method of adopting budgets each year.

Re "A make-or-break family ruling," March 18 If every politician would follow through on their oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution, the same-sex couple profiled in this article, whose marriage is recognized in Massachusetts but not by the federal government, would have no problem. Regardless of one's religious convictions, homosexuals are protected by the equal-protection provisions of the Constitution, period. Anyone with questions just has to read the document. You cannot deny benefits to someone because the Sunday school teacher doesn't like him. Those who disagree need to seek a constitutional amendment.

President Bush, declaring that "support for the First Amendment need not extend to desecration of the American flag," called Tuesday for a constitutional amendment to prohibit such protest. "Flag burning is wrong. . . . As President, I will uphold our precious right to dissent, but burning the flag goes too far and I want to see that matter remedied," he said. By stepping into the highly emotional issue that was opened last week when the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects the burning of the flag as a form of free speech, Bush joined a political clamor that mirrored last year's presidential campaign in which he successfully turned a spotlight on his support for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Veterans groups, conservative organizations, local politicians and a television commentator launched a nationwide petition drive Saturday to support a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit desecration of the American flag. But the newly formed National Save the Flag Coalition is not canvassing neighborhoods for signatures--it is relying on a national 900 telephone number to attract supporters. During a press conference in Burbank on Saturday, organizers blasted the U.S.

In a move fraught with political overtones, the state Senate on Thursday approved a proposed ballot measure to overhaul the way in which legislative and congressional districts are redrawn after the present census. A 28-4 bipartisan vote sent the constitutional amendment, sponsored by Sen. Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), to an uncertain fate in the Assembly.

Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, wanting greater authority to promote his reforms, Tuesday pushed through the Supreme Soviet a proposed constitutional amendment providing for a new, U.S.-style presidency over objections by liberals that the position would be far too powerful.

Christian evangelical groups got tripped up in a rare display of disunity Monday over a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right of religious expression in public places such as high school graduations. The disagreement stemmed from a clash over strategy, not the substance of their proposed amendment, which also would permit government aid to parochial schools.

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) has proposed a constitutional amendment that would deny U.S. citizenship to children born in this country of illegal immigrants. Gallegly, in legislation introduced Tuesday, proposed that only children born to mothers who are citizens or legal residents be granted citizenship--a move that he said would save taxpayers billions of dollars a year in welfare payments.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio has become one of the most prominent elected Republicans to announce his support for same-sex marriage, a "change of heart" that he said began when his son told him that he was gay. Portman, who was on Mitt Romney's shortlist of potential running mates in 2012, told CNN on Thursday that he views his new stance as consistent with his political philosophy, "including family values, including being a conservative who...

Mississippi forgot something. Fully 148 years after the end of the Civil War and the U.S. end to slavery, the state has officially ratified the 13th Amendment ban on the practice. The state thought the amendment had already been ratified by its Legislature. Turns out it hadn't, at least in the eyes of federal record-keepers. "It was never transmitted to the national archivist to be put on the record," Pamela Weaver, spokeswoman for the Mississippi secretary of state, told The Times.

DENVER - Two hedge-fund partners - monogrammed shirts, taut Windsor knots, cuff links - step into a hipster cafe called Sputnik on an unorthodox mission. They are meeting a business consultant to discuss a way to boost share prices at one of their portfolio companies, which sells indoor garden kits for tomatoes, herbs, flowers and salad greens. Their idea is to tap into a new market, one they need to be discreet about for fear of blemishing the publicly traded company's reputation: Marijuana.

California may be best known for its full platters of ballot measures served up every election season, which have in the past tried to push roomier accommodations for chickens and permission to grow pot. But this November, voters in states across the country will be asked to weigh in on initiatives on the ballot that range from the high-profile -- approving gay marriage -- to the plain odd, such as the South Dakota initiative that would make it...

It's puzzling that people are shocked that, on abortion, the Republican platform contains no exceptions for rape or incest or to protect the health of a woman. "The question of abortion is one of the most difficult and controversial of our time. " That sweet reason is from the 1976 Republican platform , three years after Roe vs. Wade, which ruled that a woman's right to abortion is protected by the Constitution. The platform went on in the same moral-relativist vein. "There are those in our Party who favor complete support for the Supreme Court decision," and those who want that decision "changed by a constitutional amendment.

WASHINGTON -- In the middle of a rambling conversation on the website Reddit on Wednesday afternoon, President Obama proposed the idea of a constitutional amendment to overturn the Supreme Court's 2-year-old Citizens United decision. Obama suggested that an effort to amend the U.S. Constitution would “shine a spotlight” on the after-effects of the decision, which paved the way for today's unlimited political expenditures by political action committees. Asked by a member of the Reddit community what he would do to end the influence of money in politics, Obama wrote that, “Over the longer term, I think we need to seriously consider mobilizing a constitutional amendment process to overturn Citizens United (assuming the Supreme Court doesn't revisit it)

Former Sen. J. William Fulbright expressed disappointment with his successors in government, saying it is a "great tragedy" that politicians have shifted their attention from world events to debate a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning. The 85-year-old Democrat from Arkansas invited reporters to his home Monday to call for greater funding for the scholarship program that bears his name and has helped nearly 180,000 students worldwide attend universities in other nations.

The chairman of the House Budget Committee proposed Tuesday that Congress should commit to big tax increases and severe cuts in popular federal programs if it adopts a constitutional amendment requiring the U.S. government to balance its budget. Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Carmel Valley), fighting a lonely battle against the balanced-budget amendment, said the House should approve an enforcement mechanism to make sure that any such constitutional change actually eliminates the record-high deficit.

To the relief of families who dread annual tuition increases, a growing number of public and private colleges are moving to freeze those bills so that students pay the same amount in their freshman through senior years. The idea is to give students and parents some financial stability at a time of other economic worries and mounting student debt. The predictability pleases Joshua Deal, 19, of San Diego. He is a junior at Northern Arizona University, one of the estimated 40 schools in the nation that offer such guarantees.

Voters in North Carolina on Tuesday approved Amendment One, a fiercely debated and highly restrictive amendment to the state constitution that defines marriage as the legal union of a man and a woman. The amendment not only outlaws same-sex marriage - already illegal in the state - but bans civil unions and domestic partnerships for gay or straight couples. Family law experts say it will threaten domestic partnership health benefits for local government workers and strip unmarried couples, both gay and straight, of their rights to make financial or emergency medical decisions for an incapacitated partner.