I mentioned amending the U.S. Constitution the other day. USConstitution.net has lots of neat info on the U.S. Constitution, including (obviously) the text of the document and all 27 amendments in various formats, pictures, history, and debate. I particularly enjoyed their FAQ, which naively assumes that a FAQ list actually ought to be a list of questions that are asked of them by people, which makes for a fun read, if only for the kinds of questions asked.

Q6. "During class today, we were discussing Amendment 15. Is it true that it will expire in the year 2008?"

A. There is no expiration date on the 15th Amendment. Don't worry, the right of citizens to vote regardless of color is safe. Unfortunately, people are hearing the myth of the "Expiring Right to Vote" and spreading it as if it was true.

The rumor is that the 15th Amendment would expire in 2007 or 2008. The origins of this rumor appear to stem from the enforcement arm of the 15th, the Voting Rights Act. The Act was passed in 1965. Certain portions of the Act, which allow the federal government to take special actions against jurisdictions that refused to enact the Act, were to have expired, but have been extended several times, last in 1982 for 25 years by President Reagan. If, in 2007, these special actions are allowed to expire, it will likely be because no one deems them necessary any longer. If they do expire, and a court decides they are required once more, a court order can place them back into effect. This "expiration date" notwithstanding, the 15th Amendment is still in place. For more information, see the Department of Justice site.

The 27 amendments and their ratification data are also interesting. You may or may not know that the 27th amendment, "No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened," was ratified in 1992. But I didn't know that it was proposed by the First Congress in 1789. Only six states ratified it by 1800, then Ohio in 1873, then the rest (for a total of 40 out of 50) between 1978 and 1992. In contrast, the 26th Amendment, "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age," was proposed by the Ninety-second Congress on March 10, 1971, and ratified by 39 out of 50 states by July 1 of the same year.