Filling Senatorial Vacancies

[Richard D. Friedman]

I doubt it's a plenary grant of authority to alter
qualifications.  Presumably the legislature couldn't authorize the governor
to appoint a 25-year-old.  So given that the state can't ordinarily add
qualifications for a Senator, I don't think the legislature can here,
either.  That passage of the amendment should probably be read only as
authorizing the legislature to provide for the appointment of a qualified
substitute.

Rich Friedman

At 02:59 PM 3/9/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>The 17th amendment says, "The legislature of any state may empower the
>executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the
>vacancies by election as the legislature may direct."  I wonder whether that
>is a grant of plenary authority to the state legislature (along the lines
>envisioned by Rehnquist, Scalia, and Thomas in Bush v. Gore).  If plenary,
>then isn't the answer  no constitutional violation?  Leaving aside the
>strain to Bush v. Gore, does Term Limits apply to filling vacancies as
>opposed to an election?  The law seems bad, indeed shameless, but I'm not
>convinced it is unconstitutional.
>
>********************************************
>John T. Parry
>Assistant Professor of Law
>University of Pittsburgh School of Law
>3900 Forbes Avenue
>Pittsburgh, PA  15260
>412-648-7006
>parry at law.pitt.edu
>********************************************
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Daniel Hoffman [mailto:guayiya at BELLSOUTH.NET]
>Sent: Friday, March 09, 2001 2:48 PM
>To: CONLAWPROF at listserv.ucla.edu
>Subject: Re: Filling Senatorial Vacancies
>
>
>South Carolina is considering a bill that would require the Governor, in
>filling senatorial vacancies, to choose someone of the same party as the
>person being replaced.
>
>Based on the Term Limits case, would such a State law not violate the
>Constitution by imposing a new, non-Art. I qualification for Senators?
>
>Daniel Hoffman