I have written several articles on postings related to Reform in America. A list of links have been provided at bottom of this article for your convenience. This article will, however address additional areas rife for reform.
Note: The original plan for reform can still be found by going to the links in the bottom. I have looked over my original plan and amended it. I am now over 20 years older, and hopefully a little more experienced. I have removed some of my more extreme ideas from my reform plan. I now know that they just won’t work. Hopefully this revised plan will foster some interest in the appropriate forums. This plan of reform is for the Federal Government and the Court System.
COURT
There are entirely too may levels for the convicted criminal. An individual with money can keep his case in the court for years. People are on death row for up to 10 years or more. In California they may never be executed. This is ludicrous as well as costly. My belief is that one appeal is sufficient, provided it is one that is guaranteed to be fair and impartial. My plan is a simple one. Set up a system of District Appellate courts based on population. Between 10-20 courts ( if this number it too small, it could be increased. These courts would handle all criminal appeals. A criminal convicted of a crime could chose any one of these District Courts for his appeal. This would ensure that he would get a fair trial. Also there needs to be a time limit set for the appeal. This could be worked out later, but I feel that 1 to 2 years should be sufficient. This goes the same for death row inmates. With only one appeal per convicted criminal there will be fewer cases and less of a glut in the court system. There will be no longer a stay of execution. The State Governor should not have this power. By wielding this power, he is saying that he is above the law. The Supreme Court System will stay in place and will function as normal. But they will no longer hear criminal appeals. They will be concerned with Constitutional Cases and Cases involving the Rights of the People. Special cases can however be referred to the Supreme Court by the District Appellate Courts. I also feel that there should be an age limits for the court system. Eighty years of age should be a good age for retirement.
LEGISLATURE
I believe that the House term should be increased from 2 to 4 years. There will be a limit of terms that can be served in the politicians life time (5 terms). The Senate limit will be set for 4 terms. This will insure that politicians will not become entrenched in Congress, and eventually develop the God Complex. It will also cut down on graft and corruption.
EXECUTIVE
The Executive Branch needs a little reform as well. The areas that need to be addressed are as follows: the way the President is elected, the term of office, the number of terms and the role of the Vice-President in the government. The President should serve one 6 year term only. This will make the President more effective. He will not have to worry about spending his last year of his first term running for office. The extended term will allow him to develop a continuity in his Presidency. He will be able to accomplish more, because the Legislative Branch will be more stream lined and efficient. The role of the vice-President will be changed. He will have more designated tasks, so he can be better prepared for the presidency in case of emergencies. This will force the Presidential Hopeful running for office to choose an individual he can work with, instead of one that is just popular. When the President is away on official business, the Vice-President will head the Cabinet meetings .When the President is at the White House, he will have the role of a Senior Cabinet Member. An excellent position for him would be to head a Cabinet Position over-seeing Law Enforcement in the United States. He could keep an eye on the Law enforcement departments, FBI and so on. This is only a suggestion. But one thing is certain, the Vice President should play a greater role in the running of the government.
Addendum
Instead of editing my above posting, I am presenting some modifications to my ideas above.
We need a national referendum to eliminate all the politicians in Congress, both The Senate and The House of Representatives. This would eliminate all the corrupt politicians. Then we need to change up the system. Make both houses have 4 year terms, with a 4 term limit set on them. The 2 year term is simply too short, all they do in the House is run for office. The six year term is too long for the Senate, people forget what the politician’s campaigned for when they ran for office, The Supreme Court justices should be evaluated every ten years for job performance by their peers, to see if they are fulfilling their duties and are protecting the constitution. If not they should be removed. We also need to set a 9 justice limit to prevent court packing. Our government is no longer responsive to the people. We also need to limit the campaign contributions to just $1000 total per person or business to the candidate. We can’t have billionaires buying our politicians.
Articles on Reform
https://common-sense-in-america.com/2020/08/12/postal-service-reform/