| Venue: | SCOTUS |
| Facts: | Arkansas has amended its constitution so that there are term limits on its reresentatives to congress. |
| Posture: | Unclear. |
| Issue: | Is this amendment constitutional? |
| Holding: | No. |
| Rule: | Permitting the states to have their own individual restrictions on their representatives would result in a patchwork and undermine the uniformity and national character that the founders envisioned. |
| Reasoning: | The qualifications for service in congress are fixed, and can't be added to. This is a federal office, so the reasoning is the same as whi states can't add qualifications for the presidency. Also, the people have the right to vote for whom they wish, and this right belongs to the people, not the states. |
| Dicta: | Thomas (dissenting): Where the constitution is silent, it raises no bar to action by the states or the people. Also, incumbants have enormous advantages. |