Former Justice Stevens: Change 2nd Amendment to Improve Constitution

Former Justice Stevens: Change 2nd Amendment to Improve Constitution

by AWR Hawkins 22 Feb 2014

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/02/22/Former-Justice-Stevens-Amend-2nd-Amendment-To-Improve-The-Constitution

Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens has released a new book focused, in part, on "improving" the Constitution through amending the Second Amendment--by making the rights protected therein applicable only to a militia instead of the citizenry at large.

Stevens' book is titled Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution.

As written, the text of the Second Amendment is: "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."

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, Stevens believes recent court decisions--notably District of Columbia v Heller (2008) and McDonald v Chicago (2010)--placed too much emphasis on individual rights, rather than on what he believes was the Founding Fathers' primary goal: namely, to answer "the threat that a national standing army posed to the sovereignty of the states."

His solution is to amend the text of the Second Amendment so that it reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms when serving in the militia shall not be infringed."

In other words, the protection of the right becomes collective and is only protected for those serving in the militia.

Among the many problems with Stevens' idea is the often overlooked fact that the Second Amendment did not create a right when it was ratified in 1791. Rather, the Founding Fathers created the Second Amendment to protect a portion of the "certain unalienable Rights" with which man was "endowed by [his] Creator."

The rights protected by the Second Amendment are individual rights, as are the rights that are protected, but not created, by the First, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments, among others.

John Paul Stevens

John Paul Stevens was a justice for the U.S. Supreme Court, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, David Barron, Michael J. Gottleib, Kate Shaw, Richard B. Kapnick, Preeta Bansal, Christopher J. Meade, and Cliff Sloan were his clerks.

Note: David Barron was John Paul Stevens’s clerk, and the principal deputy at the Office of Legal Counsel for the Barack Obama administration.

Michael J. Gottleib was John Paul Stevens’s clerk, and is an associate counsel for the Barack Obama administration.

Kate Shaw was John Paul Stevens’s clerk, is married to Christopher Hayes, and an associate counsel to the president for the Barack Obama administration.

Christopher Hayes is married to Kate Shaw, the host of MSNBC, and was a fellow at the New America Foundation.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the New America Foundation, the International Rescue Committee, and the Aspen Institute (think tank).

George Soros was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Harold E. Ford Jr. is an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, a political commentator at MSNBC, and a 2008 Bilderberg conference participant (think tank).

Richard B. Kapnick was John Paul Stevens’s clerk, and is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

James S. Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Lester Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).

Preeta Bansal is a fellow at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was John Paul Stevens’s clerk.

Christopher J. Meade was John Paul Stevens’s clerk, and partner at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.

Cameron F. Kerry was an associate at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr, John F. Kerry’s brother, and is a fellow at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

John F. Kerry is Cameron F. Kerry’s brother, the secretary at the U.S. Department of State for the Barack Obama administration, and married to Teresa Heinz Kerry.

Teresa Heinz Kerry is married to John F. Kerry, and an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank).

Lee H. Hamilton is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and David F. Hamilton’s uncle.

David F. Hamilton is Lee H. Hamilton’s nephew, a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit, and was a canvasser for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

John Paul Stevens was a judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.

Sidley Austin LLP was the legal adviser for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN).

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP, and the attorney for ACORN vs. Illinois State Board of Elections.

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was the plaintiff for ACORN vs. Illinois State Board of Elections.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

R. Eden Martin is counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Richard B. Kapnick is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and was John Paul Stevens’s clerk.

Cliff Sloan was John Paul Stevens’s clerk, and is a director at the American Constitution Society.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations.

Faith Elizabeth Gay was an attorney at Sidley Austin LLP, and is a director at the American Constitution Society.

Janet Reno is a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society, and was attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice.

Eric H. Holder Jr. was a board member for the American Constitution Society, and is the attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice for the Barack Obama administration.