Talk:Age of candidacy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Some more info to parse

Some info on the history of Age of Candidacy in the U.S. (gleaned from Google):

"In 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which forbids the states to deny the vote to anyone eighteen years or older, had no effect on the constitutionality of age requirements for holding office. Those challenging age restrictions have argued that such laws deny people under the required age equal protection of the law. These challenges have not been successful. Courts have found that holding office is not a fundamental right that states may not restrict. They have determined that age is a reasonable basis of discrimination to ensure that those serving in government possess the necessary maturity, experience, and competence to perform as effective representatives. The Framers of the U.S. Constitution set forth a number of reasons for requiring a minimum age for election to office, beliefs that are still held today. James Madison successfully argued that a minimum age of thirty should be required to serve in the U.S. Senate. He cited as his reason "the Senatorial trust," requiring a "stability of character" that could only be realized with age (Federalist No. 62). George Mason, of Virginia, suggested that twenty-five be set as the minimum age for the House of Representatives, a proposal that was adopted. He maintained that twenty-one-year-olds did not possess sufficient maturity to serve in the House, as their political beliefs were "too crude and erroneous to merit an influence on public opinions" (1 Records of the Federal Convention of 1787). James Wilson, a drafter from Pennsylvania, countered, unsuccessfully, that age requirements would "damp the effects of genius and of laudable ambition" and added that there was "no more reason for incapacitating youth than age" (1 Records of the Federal Convention of 1787)."

Kaldari 21:38, 28 March 2007 (UTC)