The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #108042   Message #2244947
Posted By: JohnInKansas
25-Jan-08 - 05:39 PM
Thread Name: BS: Constitutional ammendments we could use
Subject: RE: BS: Constitutional ammendments we could use
We could press for ratification of the outstanding 27th ammendment, although it should be clarified before adoption:

"If any citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive or retain any title of nobility or honour, or shall, without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office or emolument of any kind whatever, from any emperor, king, prince or foreign power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them."

The useful part is in question:

"This amendment, submitted to the States in the 11th Congress (in 1810), said that any citizen who accepted or received any title of nobility from a foreign power, or who accepted without the consent of Congress any gift from a foreign power, ... would no longer be a citizen There is some debate about whether this amendment was actually ratified or not, mostly by those who put forth ... that if it had been, most (if not all) legislators who are lawyers, and who use the title "Esquire" would no longer be citizens, and hence, no longer be able to serve in Congress. This amendment is still outstanding.

"Congressional research shows that the amendment was ratified by twelve states, the last being in 1812."

More recent ammendments have included a time limit for ratification by the states. This one did not, so it remains "pending."

(maybe I'm just joking) ?????

John