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Colorado "Scarlet Letter" Provision Found Unconstitutional

Term Limits

On January 20, 1998, a unanimous Colorado Supreme Court ruled against a voter approved constitutional amendment that directed state and congressional representatives to support a term limits amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The overturned Colorado provision, known as Amendment 12, also instructed non-incumbent candidates to sign a pledge to support term limits. Legislators or candidates who failed to follow these directives would be identified on primary and general election ballots with the words "disregarded voter instructions on term limits" or "declined to take pledge to support term limits" next to their names. In its unanimous ruling, the state's Supreme Court said, "Our holding should not be read as a condemnation of the congressional term limits. Instead, we conclude that the manner in which Amendment 12 seeks to accomplish that objective violates Article V of the United States Constitution because it attempts to usurp our elected representatives' exclusive authority to amend the United States Constitution using explicit mandate and coercion. By completely taking away our elected representatives' discretion in fulfilling this constitutional duty, Amendment 12 runs contrary to the principle of representative government." Colorado's Amendment 12 is similar to measures passed in AL, AR, ID, ME, MO, NE, NV and WY. To see the full Colorado decision, click here Colorado.

Jennie Drage Bowser tracks term limits, and may be reached at 303-364-7700 or elections-info@ncsl.org.

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