Article V and the Law of Constitutional Conventions

Can an Article V convention be limited? While there is an emerging consensus that it can, in this paper I focus on John A. Jameson's legal treatise on constitutional conventions and the jurisprudence it spawned to help round out our understanding of both Article V in particular, and of constitutional revision more generally. Jameson's treatise was directed to the larger question of whether constitutional conventions in general could be limited. Since its initial publication in 1867, courts have relied upon Jameson's insights to build a law of constitutional conventions at the state level. Several components of this jurisprudence are particularly relevant to Article V, including the distinction between constitutional and revolutionary conventions, the distinction between amendment and revision, and the requirements of convention acts and ratification votes, in addition to the preclusion of a robust role for the electorate in the Article V convention process. This jurisprudence is readily available for courts to help guide them in determining the nature and limits of an Article V convention.