A Runaway Convention is Impossible

Convention of States is a national organization that is working to use Article V of the U.S. Constitution to rein in the federal government. The COS Delaware team has gotten our resolution, SCR 100, proposed in the Delaware legislature. 

One of the questions we sometimes hear about is that of a runaway convention. This is not a valid concern because the Constitution is a masterpiece of checks and balances including safeguards in Article V itself.

It takes 38 state legislatures to approve any proposed amendments before they become part of the Constitution. Needing the support of 38 legislatures means that at least twice that number of legislative bodies (House and Senate in each state) must approve an amendment for it to become law. 

Finally, Article V has been used to pass all 27 of our Constitutional Amendments. So this has been done many many times and there has never been a rogue amendment.

Professor Robert Natelson, a renowned Constitutional scholar who wrote a book titled "The Law of Article V" said, “There are far more checks on a runaway convention than on a runaway Congress.”- which is what we have now.