Pozen on The Common Law of Constitutional Conventions @ColumbiaLaw @CalifLRev

David Pozen, Columbia University Law School, is publishing The Common Law of Constitutional Conventions in the California Law Review. Here is the abstract.

Professor Jill Lepore's Jorde lecture paints a rich portrait of state constitutional conventions as engines of democratization during the 1800s and issues a dire warning about the United States' ongoing amendment drought. Citing their unfamiliarity, however, Lepore declines to consider federal constitutional conventions as a possible corrective. In this response Essay, I argue: first, that Lepore's marginalization of Article V's convention mechanism is in tension with her own historical and normative account; second, that while Lepore's wariness of conventions is entirely understandable given the state of our politics—and entirely commonplace among progressives—it carries significant risks of its own; and third, that constitutional conventions are not as unfamiliar as they might seem and that our long experience with this institution at the state level supplies guidance as to how a federal convention might be made less scary and more legitimate. If we wish to revive the Framers' "philosophy of amendment" and reclaim popular control over fundamental law, we must figure out how to operationalize that philosophy through credible procedures. The common law of constitutional conventions is a vital resource for this task.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Warden on The Louisiana Constitution of 1974: A Reflection @DerekWardenSJD @SU_LawReview48

Derek Warden, Louisiana Supreme Court, is publishing The Louisiana Constitution of 1974: A Reflection in volume 51 of the Southern University Law Review. Here is the abstract.

The year 2023 marks fifty years since the last full constitutional convention in Louisiana. Next year, 2024, will mark the fiftieth anniversary of our state's constitution. This essay reflects on that document and our shared constitutional history. It calls upon Louisiana law schools and journals to celebrate, in its fiftieth year, the document, the framers, and all those whose faith holds the document in existence.

Download the essay from SSRN at the link.