Concerned about possible

U.S. constitutional convention

Feb. 1, 2018

The Declaration of Independence contains the statement, “ All men are created equal, and endowed with certain inalienable rights. Among these are the life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. To obtain these rights government is instituted, deriving its just powers from the consent of the governed.”

The preamble to the U.S. Constitution starts, “We the people.”

Winston Churchill talked about the “profound significance of human choice, and the sublime responsibility of men.”

The Utah Constitution, Section 2 says, “All political power is inherent in the people; and all free governments are founded on their authority for their equal protection and benefit; and the people have the right to alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require.

Section 27 of the Utah Constitution, a section titled “Fundamental Rights,” says: “Frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is essential to the security of individual rights and the perpetuity of free government.”

There is in a Utah legislative committee a bill calling for a constitutional convention supposedly to limit federal government expenditures and require a balanced budget.

If this idea passes three-fourths of the states, such a convention could rewrite the constitution as the original founders did the Articles of Confederation.

By the means of this power, we as a nation are in danger of losing rights enumerated in the Constitution with the hope of limiting the federal government. Why should the federal government  honor a new restraining law where it now ignores the restraints of the present Constitution.

Fundamental rights have been eroded by the negligence and ignorance of the people, enabling government bureaucracies to gain power.

This is a natural occurrence due to the nature of government. The bureaucrats are hired full time to regulate and enforce. The politicians who are supposedly there to protect our freedoms are more interested in getting elected by catering to special interests. They are interested in preserving their power over the people, but the people do have the power to vote them out of office.

The judicial branch is in the same mode. They have circumvented people’s rights and created many laws controlling every aspect of public and personal life.

For instance, in the final instructions to a jury, the judge will read the instructions, “If you find the defendant broke the law you must find him guilty.”

This statement strips the jury, the “people’s representatives,” of the power to negate laws of the Legislature by their own conscience or in consideration of the circumstances.

This power is set by the tradition of trial by a jury of your peers and expressed in the Utah Constitution Section 15, which says, “The jury shall have the right to determine the law and the fact.”

The people err from ignorance. Schools need to teach principles of freedom and responsibility. I am encouraged by the self education found in Internet use, rather than the traditional thought which is contrary to freedom and people’s self interest, namely larger government.

Frank M. Crowther

Ephraim