Issue: Right of Recall
Our Constitution contains several provisions to protect our right to a representative government, by and of the people:
- Article V provides a mechanism for amendment;
- The First Amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting the right of the people to petition the Government for a redress of grievances;
- The 10th Amendment states that powers not delegated to the federal government or prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states or to the people; and
- The 17th Amendment holds that the electors (voters) in each state shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislature.
Eleven states — Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin — have constitutional or statutory provisions for recall of all, every, or any elected officials. Together, these states have 14 incumbent U.S. Senators not standing for re-election in 2010. Successful recall petition drives could put any or all of them either on the November ballot or in a special election.
ACRU Court Activity
ACRU Files Brief Urging N.J. Supreme Court to Allow Menendez Recall Petitions
On May 10, 2010, the American Civil Rights Union filed a brief with the New Jersey Supreme Court urging the justices to affirm a state appellate court ruling ordering the Secretary of State to recognize a recall notice for U.S....
ACRU Urges NJ Supreme Court to Deny Sen. Menedez Petition to Hear Recall Appeal
Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) petitioned the New Jersey Supreme Court to hear his appeal from the ruling of a state appellate court that a citizens committee seeking a recall election to remove him from office could proceed to circulate petitions...
COMMITTEE TO RECALL ROBERT MENENDEZ v. NINA WELLS, SECRETARY OF STATE, ET AL.
February 9, the American Civil Rights Union filed an amicus brief in support of a grassroots citizens effort to petition for recall of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ). The Sussex County Tea Party and NJ Tea Parties United, which filed the...
News & Commentary
04/27/12: Wisconsin's New Aristocracy Is on the Ballot
This column by ACRU General Counsel and Senior Fellow for the Carleson Center for Public Policy (CCPP) Peter Ferrara was published April 26, 2012 on Forbes.com. Our Founding Fathers carefully eliminated in American law every special legal privilege of the...
10/28/11: An American Solution to Politicians Gone Wild
Keep government officials accountable! Learn about the New American Revolution at www.RecallTheRogues.org....
10/ 2/11: Texas Hold 'Em Unfolds in El Paso
This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published October 3, 2011 in The Washington Times. North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue spoke for many politicians on Tuesday when she suggested suspending congressional elections for two years to give the...
08/15/11: Left-Wing Wisconsin Recall Amnesia
This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published August 15, 2011 in The Washington Times. Some stories have "legs." They don't disappear after a day or so but stay in the news, especially if they help move a...
04/12/11: Waging War, Union-style, in Wisconsin
This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published April 8, 2011 on The Washington Times website. It seems like only yesterday that progressives were warning us about "politicizing the judiciary." That was after Iowa's voters declined last November...
02/23/11: Wisconsin Showdown
This column by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara was published February 23, 2011 on The American Spectator website . Nationwide, state and local government workers are paid on average 45% more than private sector workers, with an average hourly wage...
02/22/11: Time to Recall AWOL Lawmakers
This column by ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara was published February 22, 2011 on FoxNews.com. Newly elected Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has moved expeditiously to propose legislation to close the state's $3.6 billion budget deficit. But that legislation languishes in...
01/17/11: Recall Sheriff Dupnik
This column by ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight was published January 14, 2011 on The Washington Times website. A lot of people are wondering what to do about Clarence Dupnik, sheriff of Pima County, Ariz. He's the left-wing lawman who...
12/20/10: Reckless Congress Makes Case for Recall
ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight wrote this column appearing December 17, 2010 on The Washington Times website. If ever a Congress epitomized the need for more accountability, it's the 111th lame-duck gang. Sorry, that's unfair to gangsters. With most Americans...
11/19/10: New Jersey Supreme Court Rules State Constitution's Recall Law Unconstitutional
ACRU will file amicus brief when case involving effort to recall Sen. Robert Menendez is appealed to U.S. Supreme Court. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled 4-2 on Thursday that a provision in the state Constitution providing for recall of...
10/23/10: ACLU Outrage: Illinois Recall Proposal "Unconstitutional"
By ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight Buckling under constituent heat to deal with corruption exemplified by the multiple-count indictment of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D), Illinois legislators gave final approval on Oct. 15 to put a recall of governors law...
10/20/10: Recalling Senator Kent Conrad
Tea Party organizers in North Dakota go to court today in their attempted recall of four-term Sen. Kent Conrad. Oral arguments were heard this morning in the North Dakota Supreme Court in the case of RecallND v. Jaegar arising out...
08/ 4/10: Video: A Tea Party Fight Liberals Could Get Behind?
New video on NationalJournal.com: "A Tea Party Fight Liberals Could Get Behind? Liberal Groups Could Benefit If Conservative Activists Win The Ability To Recall Members Of Congress." This video is part of National Journal's effort to document the recall efforts....
07/21/10: Complaint Filed in North Dakota Supreme Court to Allow Recall of U.S. Senator Kent Conrad
On July 14, North Dakota joined New Jersey in an effort to recall a U.S. Senator. RecallND filed a complaint with the North Dakota Supreme Court claiming that the state's Secretary of State has unconstitutionally blocked a petition to recall...
05/11/10: ACRU Files Brief Urging N.J. Supreme Court to Allow Menendez Recall Petitions
On May 10, 2010, the American Civil Rights Union filed a brief with the New Jersey Supreme Court urging the justices to affirm a state appellate court ruling ordering the Secretary of State to recognize a recall notice for U.S....
04/ 6/10: Stage Set for Recall Battle in North Dakota
ACRU Responds to North Dakota Secretary of State's Denial of Citizens' Effort to Recall Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) Bismarck, ND—North Dakota is one of ten states with broad language in its constitution to recall elected officials (www.recallcongressnow.org). Yet, in a...
04/ 1/10: John Armor: Is a State-Based Recall of a U.S. Senator Constitutional?
ACRU legal counsel John Armor wrote this column appearing on the AmericanThinker.com website on April 1, 2010. Whether citizens of a state have the right to recall from office a sitting U.S. senator is no longer an academic question. The...
03/28/10: Mark Levin on RecallCongressNow.org
Here's what Mark Levin had to say about RecallCongressNow.org and ACRU CEO/Chairman Susan Carleson. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, it has been brought to my attention—you're going to like this—that there is a national effort, and a serious effort, by serious...
03/23/10: Robert Knight: As the Elites Celebrate, the Resistance to Obamacare Begins
ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight wrote a column appearing on Townhall.com on March 22, 2010. There were undoubtedly lots of hangovers in Washington, D.C. on Monday morning, remnants of the packed saloons the night before. Washington's socialists (read: Democrats), giddy...
03/18/10: Robert Knight: National Suicide by Self Execution
ACRU Senior Fellow Robert Knight wrote a column appearing on Townhall.com on March 17, 2010. Assisted suicide is still illegal in most of the United States. But Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barack Obama are doing their impression of the...
03/17/10: John Armor: Toyotas Aren't the Only Things Getting Recalled This Year
ACRU legal counsel John Armor wrote this column on March 17, 2010. On Tuesday, the New Jersey Court of Appeals cleared the way for the recall of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) to proceed. New Jersey is one of nine states...
03/17/10: Peter Ferrara: Let the Recalls Begin
ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara wrote a column appearing on FOXNews.com on March 17, 2010. A New Jersey state appellate court yesterday gave the green light for approval of the circulation of petitions in that state asking for a recall...
03/ 3/10: Peter Ferrara: Stopping the Runaway Congress
ACRU General Counsel Peter Ferrara wrote a column appearing on BigGovernment.com on March 3, 2010. The recall of New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez took a step forward yesterday with a promising oral argument in New Jersey state court. The New...
03/ 2/10: ACLU Fights for Votes for Felons
In Mississippi the Constitution forbids felons from voting for President. The ACLU brought a challenge to that law, but the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Mississippi law was legitimate under the US Constitution. This case should be contrasted with a...
02/ 8/10: Let People Decide, ACRU Says in New Jersey Recall Brief
Today (Feb. 9) the American Civil Rights Union filed an amicus brief in support of a grassroots citizens effort to petition for recall of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). The Sussex County Tea Party and NJ Tea Parties United, which filed...
02/ 3/10: John Armor: The Right to Recall the Rascals (U.S. Senators)
Do the citizens of the states have a constitutional right to recall their Members of Congress before the end of their set terms, if they become satisfied that their Members are seriously harming the interests of the people who elected them?
01/25/10: Peter Ferrara: We Really CAN Throw the Bums Out!
There is a way to fight back against a runaway Congress. Here's how it works. Over the past year, Congress has seemed to be out of control. From health care to global warming to stimulus spending, corporate bailouts, deficits, federal debt and beyond, Congressional leaders have been dismissive of alternative views, insisting that they know best. They have responded to critics with name-calling, calling them everything from "yahoos," to "Nazis," and "tea baggers."
01/ 4/10: Peter Ferrara: Washington Knows Best
This column originally appeared on The American Spectator website on December 30, 2009. The health policy atrocity that Washington Democrats are now finalizing represents an ugly new turn in American politics. From almost the founding of the Republic, we have...
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