Six amendments How and why we should change the Constitution

Known for his eclectic decisions while serving on the US Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010, Stevens, who previously authored Five Chiefs (2011), proposes six amendments to the Constitution in this thin book. Four would reverse "judge-made rules" by permitting the commandeering of state officials for federal purposes, prohibiting partisan gerrymandering, limiting campaign contributions, and eliminating state sovereign immunity. Stevens would also abolish capital punishment and limit Second Amendment gun protections to individuals in state militias. Stevens joins a long and growing list of individuals who would rewrite some or all of the Constitution. His proposals are succinct. He avoids discussion of such hot-button issues as legislative or judicial term limits or balanced budgets and does not assess the difficulty of the constitutional amending process, although he has elsewhere indicated that this process might also need reform. Stevens proposes adding language to both the Second and Eighth Amendments, apparently in preference to adding revisions to the end of the document. Illustrated with depictions of gerrymandered districts and fellow jurists. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. --John R. Vile, Middle Tennessee State University

Stevens (Five Chiefs), the liberal Justice who retired in 2010, aims "to avoid future crises before they occur" with his new book, which proposes a half-dozen changes to the Constitution that would "nullify judge-made rules" endorsed by the Court's powerful conservatives. Two of Stevens's proposed corrections tackle constitutional issues that are largely impenetrable to the layman. One would help state officials enforce federal law when in response to disasters. The other would eliminate sovereign immunity which currently allows states and related agencies and officials to avoid civil or criminal charges. Stevens wants to eliminate gerrymandering, which would prevent any one political party from using geographic jujitsu to gain or maintain political power. He suggests modifying the Citizens' United decision that underscores corporations' right to donate to political candidates. His most provocative arguments address the death penalty and gun control. He dismisses retribution as an anachronism and underlines the problem of "fallibility" of executing innocent people. As for the Second Amendment, he argues that private ownership of guns is permitted only "when serving in the militia." Stevens's deceptively slim volume packs a wallop as it illuminates current controversies in constitutional law. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.