ursula: bear eating salmon (Default)
Ursula ([personal profile] ursula) wrote2004-07-12 12:51 pm

and a historical note

Though naturally I am not in favor of any such action, the Constitution of the United States has, in fact, been amended to remove people's rights. This was known as Prohibition.
ext_18428: (Default)

[identity profile] rivendellrose.livejournal.com 2004-07-12 01:14 pm (UTC)(link)
Wow, that's a very good point. MoveOn.org really does need to do a bit more research before they write these things up, don't they? *headdesk*

[identity profile] loveschak.livejournal.com 2004-07-12 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
You're right---it really grates on me when activists claim that the Constitution has never been amended to remove rights. There are two less clear examples aside from the 18th Amendment.

Also, one could say that the 11th Amendment removed the right of people to sue states in federal court. This point is debatable, since it is usually understood that the Constitution never intended for people to sue states in federal court and that the 11th Amendment was only passed to formalize this position after the Supreme Court erred in ruling that people could.

One could also interpret the Presidential Term Limits Amendment (the 22nd) as limiting the right of the people to elect a president of its choice.