Constitution Project

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The Constitution Project is a non-profit organization that works on building bipartisan consensus around major constitutional and legal problems. Founded and led by President Virginia Sloan, a lawyer and former House of Representatives staff member, the Constitution Project consists of seven initiatives: War Powers, Death Penalty, Liberty and Security, Constitutional Amendments, Courts, Right to Counsel, and Sentencing.

1 Constitutional Amendments Initiative
2 War Powers Initiative
3 Death Penalty Initiative
4 Liberty and Security Initiative
5 Courts Initiative
6 Right to Counsel Initiative
7 References

[edit] Constitutional Amendments Initiative

This initiative, co-chaired by former Congressman Mickey Edwards (R-OK) and former White House Counsel and Former D.C. Circuit Chief Judge Abner Mikva, raises awareness about the value of a stable Constitution and the dangers of "tinkering" with that document through excessive amendements.^[1]

[edit] War Powers Initiative

Co-chaired by former congressmen Mickey Edwards (R-OK) and David Skaggs (D-CO), the War Powers Initiative has issued a report, Deciding to Use Force Abroad: War Powers in a System of Checks and Balances, that calls for more active, informed participation by Congress in decision-making about use of U.S. armed forces. The report calls for specificity in declarations of war and authorizations of force, and opposes blanket authorizations such as the one under which President George W. Bush initiated the Iraq War. It also calls on Congress to replace the War Powers Act with less ambiguous, more practicable legislation.^[2]

[edit] Death Penalty Initiative

The Death Penalty Initiative includes opponents and advocates of the death penalty, but all members "agree that the risk of wrongful executions in this country has become too high." ^[3]

[edit] Liberty and Security Initiative

The Liberty and Security Initiative is the Constitution Project's response to a range of privacy and individual liberty concerns stemming from the September 11 attack and the War on Terror. the initiative focuses on four broad areas: military tribunals and the military's role in homeland security, First Amendment and government secrecy, detention and criminal justice, and privacy and technology.

Along with the Center for National Security Studies, the Constitution Project filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit arguing in support of a Michigan judge's decision to invalidate the National Security Agency’s warrant-less electronic surveillance program. ^[4]

[edit] Courts Initiative

Co-chaired by former FBI Director and federal judge William S. Sessions and former Congressman Mickey Edwards (R-OK), this Initiative began as a response to calls for more legislative oversight of the courts. The Initiative maintains that courts require independence in order to work properly, and it has released a report entitled Ten Principles for Preserving Courts’ Role in American Democracy.

[edit] Right to Counsel Initiative

With former Vice President Walter Mondale as its honorary chair, this initiative seeks ways to ensure that indigent Americans can have fair access to counsel when criminally accused.