A public debate is slated for Thursday, February 6, 2020 at 5 pm MST in the Lincoln Room of the Idaho Legislature. This forum will offer both sides the opportunity to discuss the merits of the proposed Article V Constitutional Convention, or Convention of States, now being pushed through legislatures across the country.  

A constitutional convention could put all our rights at risk. With no rules or guidelines laid out in Article V of the Constitution, there are no ground rules for how a convention would play out and no one knows what this would look like because it has been 240 years since it was last deployed – and that ended up drafting the Articles of Confederation into what we now know as the Constitution of the United States.  

Guard the Constitution founder Shawn Meehan and constitutional scholar Robert Brown will be discussing the Article V convention option in the U.S. Constitution and they hoped to be joined by Convention of States’ Mark Meckler. 

In an interview with The Record-Courier, Meehan said of Meckler, “His campaign of misinformation has graduated to accusing opponents of being liars. As those opponents, we felt it time for us to exercise our moral right to insist Mr. Meckler show up and defend his accusations.”    

Brown adds, “When Mark Meckler elevated his roadshow to amend the Constitution into slandering opponents, Shawn and I agreed, we had to directly engage. Will Meckler who up with evidence to back his attacks, or will his absence reveal the truth?”  

Guard the Constitution confirmed that it’s invitations to Convention of States national and Idaho offices were delivered January 6th and 7th respectively.  

Article V proponents, such as Meckler, argue that a national convention (which they call a Convention of States) is needed to propose amendments to the Constitution to make sure the federal government follows the Constitution. But Meehan disagrees and says, “Honest students of our Constitution know that the Founders never said to amend it to enforce it, so it is time to provide Mr. Meckler a simple way to present information in an attempt to prove his accusations. We look forward to Mr. Meckler changing his history of ducking debates after throwing accusations by showing up to support his comments.”  

“We have yet to receive a response,” Meehan said. “Should COS fail to participate, the debate will become an interactive class. Robert tested a system which moved his congressman from a 50 percent to 90 percent constitutional voting record in six months. We look forward to seeing our fellow Americans in Boise and via the live internet stream as we show them proof of what the Founders really said about guarding the Constitution.”  

Find the full Record-Courier article here.