THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 24, 1995 TAG: 9505240012
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 39 lines
The term limits movement was dealt a long-predicted and probably fatal blow by the Supreme Court on Monday. Twenty-two states had passed congressional term limits. The court has now struck down an Arkansas law and has said that neither individual states nor Congress itself has got the power to limit terms by passing mere statutes.
The Constitution defines who may serve in Congress, how long a term lasts and how members are to be elected. According to the court's 5-4 decision, to set a limit on how many terms may be served, the Constitution will have to be amended.
Legal scholars have long argued that only an amendment could limit terms, and now the Supreme Court has made it official. In his majority opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens said the court was ``firmly convinced that allowing states to adopt term limits for congressional service would effect a fundamental change in the constitutional framework.''
The necessity of passing an amendment represents a high hurdle for term limits to clear. First, a two-thirds vote in each house of Congress would be required, then 38 states would have to ratify. Since members of Congress have shown little zeal for limiting their own terms, getting two-thirds of them to agree isn't likely.
Luckily, voters have always had the power to limit the terms of members of Congress. It is a built-in part of the Constitution. And it only takes a simple majority of votes in an election to replace an incumbent with a new face. It happened last November on a large scale and will happen again whenever a majority of voters decide their senator or representative has served long enough. by CNB