The Constitution

Factual Questions
1

Okay, a girl I’m trying to convince to sleep with me is helping her little sister with an assignment, and she (the little sister) had this bonus question: What two amendments to the constitution were proposed but never ratified? Any ideas?

2

From a site on Constitutional Law at Emory University:

[sub]If you get laid off this, I want photos.[/sub]

3

Also, the ERA was never passed.

4

There have been hundreds of amendments proposed which were never ratified. The perennial anti-flag-burning amendment, for example. I recall reading about one proposed in the mid 19th century that would have changed the name of the country to the United States of Earth.

(cue “I’m Just an Amendment” from The Simpsons)

5

The 27th Amendment thing was very odd, to sit for 203 years before being passed. I remember my disbelief over reading about it.

6

There are literally hundreds of amendments which have been proposed and to which nothing has happened. Perhaps the teacher was referring to those passed by Congress and submitted to the states, but which were not ratified. The House says there are currently six congressionally approved, non-ratified amendments:

http://www.house.gov/house/Constitution/Amendnotrat.html

Of particular interest to you may be the third paragraph on that page.

7

Dillon v. Gloss (1921) notes that four ammendments made it partially through the ratification process. One of these was actually ratified in 1992, and another was intended to protect slavery, and could thus be considered dead. This leaves two, which were ratified by one less than the required number of states. Since these were proposed before it was the practice to impose a time frame for ratification, they are theoretically still able to be ratified. Doesn’t note what the ammendments would have said, however.

8

The ERA died as it made the rounds of the states, as did an amendment to abolish child labor. I don’t know that those are “the” two, however, as there have been hundreds proposed over the years that have never made it to inclusion.

Possibly the reference was to two amendments Madison drafted which were not adopted as part of The Bill of Rights. One of these became the 27th Amendment, and the other is still out there in the ether.