The Constitution Restoration Act of 2005 (originally "of 2004" ) is a proposed federal law filed on March 3, 2005 by

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Alabama. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat who later switched to the Republican Party in 1994, h ...

( R- AL) and

Representative Representative may refer to: Politics *Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people *House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities *Legislator, someon ...

Robert Aderholt Robert Brown Aderholt (; born July 22, 1965) is an American politician and attorney serving as the U.S. representative for since 1997. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes most of Tuscaloosa County north of the Black W ...

(R-AL). It was styled as Senate bill and House of Representatives bill . It was originally drafted by

Roy Moore Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer, and jurist who served as the 27th and 31st chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed fro ...

and his attorney

Herb Titus Herbert William "Herb" Titus (October 17, 1937 – June 20, 2021) was an American attorney, writer, and politician. He was a candidate for Vice President of the United States in the 1996 United States presidential election, 1996 U.S. presiden ...

, former vice-presidential candidate of the Constitution Party, in 1996.Judge Roy Moore Introduces Constitution Restoration Act 2004
WAFF News, February 13, 2004 The central statement of the bill is that, after passing, "the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal,

writ of certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...

, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an entity of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer or agent of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official or personal capacity), concerning that entity's, officer's, or agent's acknowledgment of

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government." In other words, the bill would limit the power of the federal judiciary specifically in religious liberty cases. The bill also states that judges or other court officials that listen to cases that meet said criteria are to be impeached and convicted. Supporters of the bills, largely

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

s, claim that the legislation re-asserts the original meaning of the

First Amendment First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and the principle of limited government power over rights of conscience and religion. Opponents of the bill have expressed concern that the bill would repeal the applicability of the First Amendment to state and local governments by rendering it impossible to appeal constitutionally questionable state decisions beyond the state level. The act has been viewed by critics as an attempt to advance the cause of

Dominionism Dominion theology (also known as dominionism) is a group of Christian political ideologies that seek to institute a nation which is governed by Christians and based on their understandings of biblical law. Extents of rule and ways of acquiring go ...

by conservative

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christian Republicans. The bills were originally introduced in 2004 in both the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate, but languished in committee. Reintroduced at the beginning of the 2005 congressional session, they were read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, where they again languished. The

Republican Study Committee The Republican Study Committee (RSC) is a study group of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. As of 2021, the Chairman of the RSC is Representative Jim Banks of Indiana. Although the prim ...

, a

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

of conservative House members of the Republican Party, allegedly promoted the passage of "protections for religious freedom" as item #10 on their list of top ten legislative priorities of 2006. In early 2006 the proposal was endorsed by panels of both houses of the

Idaho Legislature The Idaho Legislature consists of the upper Idaho Senate and the lower Idaho House of Representatives. Idaho is divided into 35 legislative districts, which each elect one senator and two representatives. There are no term limits for either cha ...

.Meghann M. Cuniff
"Religion is realm of state courts, measure says"
''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'', March 21, 2006.

References

External links

Official Senate bill text
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060827225745/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.520: , date=2006-08-27
Introducing The Constitution Restoration Act
(anti)
Curbing the Courts The Constitution Restoration Act
(pro)
Judge Roy Moore Introduces Constitution Restoration Act 2004
'' WAFF 48 News'' Proposed legislation of the 108th United States Congress Proposed legislation of the 109th United States Congress Dominion theology Christianity and law in the 21st century Freedom of religion in the United States Conservatism in the United States