Ex-Supreme Court justice says its time to amend the US Constitution

In line with his campaign in his latest book "Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution," former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens said that the solution to address some of the major issues in the US today is to amend the country's Constitution. WWLTV.com reported that Stevens' latest book is calling for constitutional change to combat gun violence, the removal of the death penalty, restriction of political campaign spending and limitation of state independence. Moreover, he had said that a constitutional amendment could inspire members of the US Congress to be more competitive as opposed to be combative.

The 93 year-old retired judge, who will be turning a year older on Sunday, reportedly used the book as his platform to provide his expert opinion on today's justices, the complexity of the cases they face, and the potential issues to reach the court in the near future.

In an interview with USA Today, Stevens said about the constitutional amendment, "It's certainly not easy to get the Constitution amended, and perhaps that's one flaw in the Constitution that I don't mention in the book.

In his USA Today interview, Stevens made several recommendations. Among them is the change of the Second Amendment to clarify that only the state militia has the constitutional right to bear arms and not its citizens. He also proposed changing the prohibition on the Eight Amendment to include the death penalty as among the "cruel and unusual punishments" the state and the US should avoid doing. Stevens also said that the issue on campaign donations cap could be quickly resolved by removing the protection on the First Amendment on any "reasonable limits" enacted by the states or by Congress on campaign spending.

Addressing the issue of surveillance programs that has been conducted for years by the US government, Stevens said lawmakers could vote to put in a stipulation that allows Congress to require the performance of federal duties in emergencies by states to reduce the risk of a national catastrophe.

Despite the promising aspects of the constitutional changes, Stevens is doubtful that it could happen very quickly.

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former Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, US Supreme Court, Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution, US Congress

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