A New Bill of Rights for Americans

Review by Michael Marien
Constitutional protections authored centuries ago can hardly be expected to protect citizens coping with the massive changes wrought by technological progress and other trends, according to futurist Joseph F. Coates.

Businesses constantly revise their rules to stay competitive and to enhance productivity and long-term success, so why shouldn't nation-states? The basic rules governing the United States are, for the most part, more than 200 years old. Is it time to seriously consider an update?

Futures consultant Joseph F. Coates has issued a blunt warning in a short book entitled A Bill of Rights for 21st Century America:

Many, if not most, of our problems of governance have their source in the two hundred year old Constitution and Bill of Rights, framed for their time but which, despite incremental evolution, misfit our present and our foreseeable future.

Rethinking the U.S. Constitution is a huge job, but, as a start, this fearless, fresh, and thoughtful "monograph" considers the Bill of Rights—the 10 amendments added to the Constitution in 1791 and extended in subsequent amendments. America's Bill of Rights is seen by Coates as a cornerstone of democratic thinking, a success in growing the nation, and a world model for human rights.

But times have changed, and we must consider America's new context. As enumerated by Coates, issues requiring a new or radically modified Bill of Rights include economic globalization, the changing nature of war, massive worldwide migration, changes in health and health care, the growth of intellectual property, new technologies, new crimes, new family structures and sexual norms, urbanization, and more. He also stresses the need for international cooperation on many issues such as global warming and terrorism.

Coates considers the relevance of the current Bill of Rights in light of these trends, and today's fast-paced, technology-dominated society. The First Amendment, on freedom of speech, the press, and religion, still stands as a strong safeguard of American liberty. The Third Amendment, on quartering soldiers in time of peace, is obviously no longer relevant.

Other amendments need rethinking and refinement in light of new technologies: The Second, on the right to bear arms (in light of new weapons technologies); the Fourth, on unreasonable searches and seizures (in light of the information age and our computerized society); the Sixth, on the right of a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury (in light of complex cases involving technology); and the Eighth, on cruel and unusual punishments (in light of new techniques for more intimate invasions of the mind).

Revision of existing amendments, however, is a relatively small part of this discussion-starter. The main part of the wide-ranging monograph offers extensive discussion of 10 potential candidates for addition to the Bill of Rights.

1. Family Structure and Composition acknowledges the family in both its traditional form and in recently evolving forms as legitimate, thus giving fair and equal access to benefits extended to the nuclear family.

2. Assured Employment. As automation decreases the number of jobs, every American up to age 70 would be entitled to employment commensurate with his or her skills. This amendment also guarantees the unrestricted right to form labor unions.

3. Useful Education. Because education is increasingly key to employability, every citizen and resident would be entitled to an education commensurate with his or her abilities.

4. Universal Health Care. Everyone from birth to death would be entitled to a baseline of reasonable quality care. This measure should restructure the medical system and greatly lower costs.

5. Privacy in the Information Technology Age deals with 11 areas of contemporary privacy abuse in our infotech age of abundant information gathering and storage.

6. Equality of Voters eliminates the archaic Electoral College and replaces it with direct voting for president.

7. A Reformed Judicial System replaces the adversarial system of justice with nonadversarial processes, so as to "grossly simplify vast areas of law and especially of regulation."

8. Unimpeded International Travel gives all citizens the right to freely move to or return from any other country.

9. Open Government makes all information about all meetings fully public in terms of attendees, notes, commentary, and input, thus allowing citizens to see that a wide range of ideas have been heard in regard to potential plans.

10. Freedom from Torture assures that no citizen or visitor is subjected to any form of torture, including degradation or humiliation. Anyone involved in committing an abusive act will have the next two levels of command held equally responsible.

Is Coates's proposed Bill of Rights utopian? Revolutionary? Or merely a liberal/progressive wish list? Arguably, any or all of these dismissive (or flattering) labels might apply. But this is not the hot and hyperbolic manifesto so often issued by would-be world changers or society changers. One might object to one or more of the proposed new amendments, or quibble with certain phrasings, but such objections are beside the point. Rather, this monograph is primarily a call for deliberation, for considering the changed and changing societal context.

Coates ends his reflections with several recommendations, including creating a Web page devoted to changing the Bill of Rights, as well as a series of blogs and an ongoing dialogue in the media; forming a National Commission on the Bill of Rights; encouraging state legislatures to organize committees; and getting support from 10 or 20 large foundations to facilitate understanding and discussion.

To put it another way, what would the Founding Fathers do if they were to reappear among us in the early twenty-first century? As reasonable and thoughtful leaders concerned about the common good, they would surely encourage a movement for updating their Bill of Rights (and perhaps the Constitution) for our times. And they would thank Joe Coates for initiating a long-overdue discussion based on today's emerging realities—a process that would serve the long-term national interest.

About the Reviewer

Michael Marien is editor of Future Survey. In the interests of full disclosure, author Joe Coates is a Future Survey Advisor. Also see "Updating the Ten Commandments" by Joseph F. Coates (THE FUTURIST, May-June 2003).