Text of AL SJR 39 (2010)

SJR39 1 116981-1 2 By Senators Mitchell and Beason 3 RFD: 4 First Read: 02-FEB-10 5 Page 0 116981-1:n:01/21/2010:CAJ/mfp LRS2010-532 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 APPLYING TO THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS FOR A 8 CONVENTION TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE 9 UNITED STATES. 10 11 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA, BOTH 12 HOUSES THEREOF CONCURRING, That this Legislature, pursuant to 13 Article V of the Constitution of the United States, makes 14 application to the Congress of the United States to call a 15 convention for the purpose of adopting the following amendment 16 to the Constitution of the United States: 17 Proposed Amendment 18 Section 1. This amendment may be cited as the 19 "Marriage Protection Amendment." 20 Section 2. Marriage in the United States shall 21 consist only of the union of a man and a woman. Neither this 22 Constitution, nor the constitution of any State, shall be 23 construed to require that marriage or the legal incidents 24 thereof be conferred upon any union other than the union of a 25 man and a woman. 26 Page 1 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this application by the 1 Legislature of the State of Alabama constitutes a continuing 2 application in accordance with Article V of the Constitution 3 of the United States until at least two-thirds of the 4 legislatures of the several states have made similar 5 applications pursuant to Article V. 6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That since this method of 7 proposing amendments to the Constitution has never been 8 completed to the point of calling a convention and no 9 interpretation of the power of the states in the exercise of 10 this right has ever been made by any court or any qualified 11 tribunal, if there be such, and since the exercise of the 12 power is a matter of basic sovereign rights and the 13 interpretation thereof is primarily in the sovereign 14 government making such exercise and since the power to use 15 such right in full also carries the power to use such right in 16 part, the Legislature of the State of Alabama interprets 17 Article V to mean that if two-thirds of the states make 18 application for a convention to propose an identical amendment 19 to the Constitution for ratification with a limitation that 20 such an amendment would be the only matter before it; that 21 such convention would have power only to propose the specified 22 amendment and would be limited to such a proposal and would 23 not have power to vary the text thereof nor would it have 24 power to propose other amendments on the same or a different 25 proposition. 26 Page 2 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a duly attested copy of 1 this resolution be immediately transmitted to the Secretary of 2 the Senate of the United States, the Clerk of the House of 3 Representatives of the United States, to each member of the 4 Alabama Congressional Delegation, and to each house of each 5 State Legislature in the United States. 6 Page 3