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 consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

Richard Shelby Richard Craig Shelby (born May 6, 1934) is an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Alabama from 1987 to 2023. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986 as a Democrat, Shelby switched to the Republican Party i ...

( R- AL) and Representative

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 Blac ...

(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 chief justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama from 2001 to 2003 and again from 2013 to 2017, each time being removed from office for judic ...

and his attorney

Herb Titus Herbert William "Herb" Titus (October 17, 1937 – June 20, 2021) was an American attorney, writer, and political candidate. He was the Constitution Party (United States), Constitution Party's nominee for Vice President of the United States, ...

, 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 In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. 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 a prerogative writ in England, 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 monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

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 and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

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

First Amendment First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

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 governed by Christians and based on their understandings of biblical law. Extents of rule and ways of acquiring governing ...

by conservative

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

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 congressional caucus of conservative members of the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives. In November 2024, Representative August Pfluger was elected as the chair of the RSC, ...

, a

caucus A caucus is a group or 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 ...

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 is the legislative branch of the government of the 43rd State of Idaho and is bicameral, consisting of the upper chamber of the Idaho Senate and the lower chamber of the Idaho House of Representatives. The state of Idaho ...

.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