Menu Close

Articles on Constitutional amendment

Displaying all articles

People gather at the Marion County Republican Party headquarters after discussing Issue 1 on July 13, 2023, in Marion, Ohio. Maddie McGarvey/For The Washington Post via Getty Images

Ohio voters kept it easy to pass a constitutional amendment protecting abortion − but also for the majority to someday limit other rights

The recent push in Ohio to pass a constitutional amendment was seen as a move to curb abortion rights. It failed. Two scholars say the ballot measure was really about minority rights in a democracy.
The Michigan State Capitol, like statehouses around the country, has been the site of numerous abortion policy battles. Brandon Bartoszek

State battles over abortion are leading to state constitutional amendments – an option in all states and available directly to citizens in 18 states

Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, most abortion policy has been settled by states. Now, citizen-crafted constitutional amendments may be the abortion battleground of the future.
These boys working in a Georgia cotton mill were photographed in 1909. Lewis Hine/The National Child Labor Committee Collection via Library of Congress

Abolishing child labor took the specter of ‘white slavery’ and the job market’s near collapse during the Great Depression

More than a fifth of US children were working in 1900, and many Americans saw nothing wrong with that. It took decades of activism and court battles plus economic upheaval to change course.
‘Fearless Girl’ dons a pink hat on March 8, 2017, on Wall Street in New York. An inscription at the base reads, ‘Know the power of women in leadership. She makes a difference.’ AP Photo/Mark Lennihan

Could the ERA pass in the #Metoo era?

A huge majority of Americans support equal rights for women. Is now the right time to get an amendment passed?
Baby Lurky, whose family was displaced by Boko Haram in the northeast region of Nigeria, sleeps at a camp in Adamawa State. Reuters/Afolabi Sotunde

Nigeria’s constitution holds the key to protecting internally displaced people

The rise in the number of people fleeing Boko Haram terror calls for urgent amendments to Nigeria’s constitution to provide legal protection to the country’s millions of internally displaced citizens.
Giving constitutional status to an Indigenous advisory body would give Indigenous Australians a say about laws that directly affect them. AAp/Tracey Nearmy

Putting words to the tune of Indigenous constitutional recognition

Proposals for constitutional recognition of Indigenous people are gaining momentum but also raising legal concerns. Here is a form of words to create an advisory council that overcomes those concerns.
In Samuel Roth’s time, there was no Constitutional protection for expression deemed subversive, obscene or indecent. Columbia News

An American Charlie Hebdo?

In 1957, publisher Samuel Roth spent his 63rd birthday in federal prison. His appeal denied by the United States Supreme Court, he would end up serving every day of his five year sentence. The crime? He…
Has the Gillard government fully thought through its referendum on recognition for local government? AAP/Lukas Coch

Referendum chaos - do ministers really know what they are proposing?

I am not Nostradamus, but I am prepared to make a confident prediction. If the proposed constitutional amendment to recognise local government, in the form announced by press release last week, were to…

Top contributors

More