Retired Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens was interviewed by USA Today, and the liberal former judge believes the Constitution needs some serious amending:
His main focus is on a half-dozen issues that he believes have been wrongly decided or avoided — issues that can best be addressed by altering a document that’s been amended only 18 times in history, and just once since he joined the court in 1975.
“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,” he said during a wide-ranging interview with USA TODAY in his chambers at the court. Noting his book’s half dozen proposed amendments, he mused, “Maybe I should have had seven.”
Stevens, 94, proposes several changes to the Constitution. Among them, a clarification that the 2nd Amendment only applies to state militias, and that ordinary citizens do not possess the right to bear arms.
Actor James Woods sees Stevens’ proposals as another salvo against individual liberty:
Former justice: Amend the Constitution http://t.co/EFptqJ0jhA In short further the quiet erosion of individual liberty and states' rights.
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) April 21, 2014
Some who replied to Woods were sarcastically surprised Stevens would have taken an oath to support and defend a Constitution that he apparently believes has quite a few flaws, one of which is that it’s just too darned difficult to alter:
@RealJamesWoods He thinks a flaw is that the Constitution is difficult to amend? Oh boy, thank God he wasn't a Founding Father.
— ♱ Mr. Will ♱ (@Dudeteronomy) April 21, 2014
@RealJamesWoods Sad that a former SC Justice thinks making the Constitution hard to change is a "flaw".
— NS to you (@sleepinwarrior) April 21, 2014
@RealJamesWoods Scary that a Supreme Court Justice has such contempt for the Constitution he took an oath to support. http://t.co/lDZoVcACPC
— Kim Jong-unthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) April 21, 2014
https://twitter.com/tiffanylance/status/458369449406390272
@RealJamesWoods I didn't move to this country for this !! 🙁 I came here for freedom !
— Tina Smith (@AmeriWelsh) April 21, 2014
@RealJamesWoods Just as wrong off the bench as he was on it.
— TheFracDog (@TheFracDog) April 21, 2014
@RealJamesWoods don't let these types take state rights away. Be proactive.
— Scott Leikam (@ScottLeikam) April 21, 2014
https://twitter.com/rickswift/status/458360536779223041
@RealJamesWoods GP At least Stevens calls for an amendment rather than usual liberal method of Justices rewriting Cconstitution on the fly.
— The Gormogons (@Gormogons) April 21, 2014
@RealJamesWoods Mr. Woods, thanks for being a high-profile voice for liberty and the founding principles.
— James Gregory Hass (@JGregoryHass) April 21, 2014
Stevens was the third-longest serving justice in U.S. history, USA Today noted.
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