Paradox of Self-Amendment by Peter Suber South Dakota Current constitution: 1889 AC: Article 23 Prior constitutions: none AC amended? Yes. AC §§1, 2, and 3 were each amended November 7, 1972. Comment. Attempts to amend AC §§1 and 3 were defeated on November 3, 1964 and November 3, 1970. An attempt to amend AC §2 was defeated in November of 1916. Article 6, §26 of the Bill of Rights declares that the people "have the right in lawful and constituted methods to alter or reform their form of government in such manner as they may think proper." Tennessee Current constitution: 1870 AC: Article 11, §3 Prior constitutions: 1834 AC: Article 11, §3 1796 AC: Article 10, §3 AC amended? Yes. The 1870 AC was replaced by the current AC by an act of convention in 1953. Comment. Articlce 1, §1 of the Declaration of Rights recognizes "an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper." Article 11, §16 entrenches the Declaration of Rights in strong language: it "shall never be violated on any pretence whatever. And to guard against transgression of the high powers we [the people] have delegated, we declare that everything in the bill of rights contained, is excepted out of the General Powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate." (See comment on Delaware, above.) Nevertheless, the following sections of the Declaration of Rights have been altered, either through direct use of the AC, or through succeeding constitutions, not counting mere numbering changes: §§3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 33, and 34. The 1870 constitution declares in its preamble that it was drafted and ratified under the authority, not of the AC, but of Article 1, §1 of the Declaration of Rights of the 1834 constitution, which contained a right to alter or abolish similar to that spelled out above. Texas Current constitution: 1876 AC: Article 17 Prior constitutions: 1869 AC: Article 12, §50 1866 AC: Article 7, §§37-38 1861 AC: Article 7, §37 1845 AC: Article 7, §37 AC amended? No? Comment. Article 1, §2 of the Bill of Rights declares that "subject to this limitation only [that there shall be a republican form of government], they [the people] have at all times the inalienable right to alter, reform, or abolish their government in such manner as they may think expedient." Utah Current constitution: 1895 AC: Article 23 Prior constitutions: none AC amended? Yes. AC §1 was amended November 9, 1970, effective January 1, 1971. Comment. Article 1, §2 of the Declaration of Rights asserts that the people "have the right to alter or reform their government as the public welfare may require." Vermont Current constitution: 1793 AC: Chapter 2, Art. 68 Prior constitutions: 1786 AC: Chapter 2, Art. 40 AC amended? Yes. The original 1793 AC (which had been numbered Chapter 2, Article 43) was repealed and replaced by the 25th Amendment in 1870. Virginia Current constitution: 1970 AC: Article 15 Prior constitutions: 1902 AC: Article 15, §§196-97 1870 AC: Article 12 1864 AC: none 1851 AC: none 1829 AC: none 1776 AC: none AC amended? No. Comment. The early Virginia constitutions were drafted by conventions called by the legislature; the 1870 constitution was drafted by a convention called by the federal Congress under the Reconstruction Acts. 186