Amendment by National Constitutional Convention: A Letter to a Senator

Article V of the United States Constitutionprovides that the Congress,...on the Application of the Legislaturesof two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposingAmendments.... This language, seemingly clear in meaning on thesurface, has spawned a constitutional controversy of significant dimensions.In short, does the Article V language authorize state applicationsfor a national Constitutional Convention limited as to subject matter,or does the Article solely recognize state applications for a general convention,to propose such amendments as seem proper to the Convention? Recently, Professor Black wrote the following letter concerningthe controversy to Senator Edward Kennedy (D. Mass.), Chairman ofthe Senate Judiciary Committee. The letter provides a valuable dissertationon the history and meaning of the applicable language of ArticleV, according to a leading constitutional scholar. In particular, the lettertakes issue with the finding of a special committee of the American BarAssociation that Article V authorizes Congress to establish procedureslimiting a Constitutional Convention to the subject matter propoundedin the state applications. The letter is reproduced as written, save forthe addition of footnotes to sources cited in the manuscrip