U.S. Constitution

USConstitution.net 1999 Survey Results

This site has conducted an unscientific survey on various issues since July of 1998. The results, while interesting in most cases, are to be taken with a grain of salt - the results can easily be skewed by an individual or group of individuals; the sample is, by nature, not representative (because it consists only of Web users who visit my site and bother to view the survey page and submit an opinion).

This page includes results from 1999. For results from other years, please go to the Main Results Page.


Question 18, December 1999 - For the first time in several years, the Supreme Court will hear a case concerning school prayer. What is your opinion on school prayer?

Response
Count
Percentage
Schools should be required to have prayer as part of the everyday routine.
56
14.74
Schools should be required to have a moment of silence as part of the everyday routine.
48
12.63
Schools should be allowed to have a prayer or a moment of silence as part of the everyday routine, if the local community approves of it.
100
26.32
No structured time should be set aside for prayer or a moment of silence, but schools should specifically allow students to pray as they wish.
62
16.32
No structured time should be set aside for prayer or a moment of silence, but schools should specifically allow students to pray in silence.
21
5.53
Schools should not sanction prayer of any kind, but students are free to pray on their free time.
72
18.95
Prayer of any kind should be forbidden on school grounds.
21
5.53
Total
380
100.00

Question 17, November 1999 - The Supreme Court has ruled repeatedly over the last 20 years that the death penalty is constitutional ... but it is now about to rule about whether the electric chair is too cruel to be used under the terms of the 8th Amendment. Is the electric chair as a means of execution too cruel? (Please note that the results of the first ten days of this survey were lost to a hacker attack.)

Response
Count
Percentage
The electric chair is not cruel, period
99
36.53
The electric chair is cruel, but having it is a deterrent to crime, and it should remain for that reason
96
35.42
The electric chair is a cruel throw-back - is should be banned
35
12.92
The death penalty is unconstitutional, despite earlier rulings, and the electric chair, like all methods of execution, needs to be banned
41
15.13
Total
271
100.00

Question 16, October 1999 - For the first time, the Supreme Court has agreed to review a case concerning the rights of grandparents to visitation with their grandchildren, over the objections of the parents. Many states have grandparents' visitation rights statutes, allowing court-ordered visitation, but some of those states have had their laws struck by local courts. Do grandparents have a right to see their grandchildren?

Response
Count
Percentage
Grandparents should have an absolute right to see their grandchildren
116
23.67
There are too many variables for absolutism - the courts should decide on a case-by-case basis
209
42.65
The decision of the parent should be absolute
165
33.67
Total
490
100.00

Question 15, September 1999 - The Department of Justice is asking Congress to write law that would allow it to enter a private home, install software and/or hardware that could record your computer activities and preempt any encryption software you are using. Do you think that law enforcement has a legitimate concern and that it should get the legislation it is looking for?

Response
Count
Percentage
Law enforcement needs laws like this to protect us from the criminal element
20
4.77
Though this proposal is going too far, law enforcement should have some new powers for computer crime
117
27.92
There is no justification for this proposal, and we must fight against such measures to protect our rights
282
67.30
Total
419
100.00

Question 14, August 1999 - Many proposals for changing the Constitution involve the redrawing of state lines. Should the current state boundaries be redrawn?

Response
Count
Percentage
Leave all state boundaries alone
125
61.27
I think they are fine, but it could be worth looking into
37
18.14
I think they're fine, but some large states, maybe even cities, could be split off
23
11.27
States are practically irrelevant now - we definitely need to look at redrawing borders, creating larger regions
12
5.88
We should do away with states and simply have national and local government
7
3.43
Total
205
100.00

Question 13, July 1999 - How did you come to this site?

Response
Count
Percentage
AboutPolitics (Political Site of the Day)
3
.54
Ask Jeeves
3
.54
AltaVista
24
4.34
Booklist Magazine
1
.18
C|Net
9
1.63
CNN
1
.18
DogPile
5
.90
Email, link in
40
7.23
ETour
2
.36
Excite
50
9.04
InfoSeek
7
1.27
Long-timer (bookmark)
9
1.63
Lycos
6
1.08
Magazine, other
7
1.27
MSN
3
.54
NetFind
15
2.71
Netscape Directory
14
2.53
Newspaper article
4
.72
Other media source
33
5.97
Other search engine
39
7.05
Personal web page
6
1.08
Political web page
12
2.17
The Rush Limbaugh Show
125
22.60
Any Rush Limbaugh web page
27
4.88
Syllabus, college or university
1
.18
ThirdAge
63
11.39
Usenet article
7
1.27
WebBound Magazine
3
.54
WebCrawler
2
.36
Yahoo
32
5.79
Total
553
100.00

Question 12, June 1999 - What is your opinion of the 2nd Amendment?

Response Count Percentage
The 2nd protects individual rights, and there must be no restriction on gun ownership, period 329 56.43
The 2nd protects individual rights, but some governmental restriction is alright 152 26.07
The 2nd protects states' rights, and the federal government has no place regulating guns 41 7.03
The 2nd protects states' rights, but the federal government has a role in the regulation of guns 41 7.03
I have no idea who the 2nd protects; regardless, the federal government has no right to regulate guns 2 0.34
I have no idea who the 2nd protects and the federal government has a right to regulate guns 15 2.57
I'm sick of the whole issue, and have no opinion either way 3 0.51
Total 583 100.00
Subdivided Percentages - Restriction
There must be no restriction on gun ownership 372 63.81
Some restriction is alright 209 35.85
No opinion 2 0.34
Subdivided Percentages - State v Individual
Individual protection 481 82.50
State protection 82 14.07
No opinion 20 3.43

Question 11, May 1999 - The ongoing conflict in Kosovo is of great concern to a great many people. What is your opinion of the actions of the President?

Response
Count
Percentage
The President should continue on this course, regardless of what Congress says
21
1.97
The President has the authority to start conflicts like this, but the support of Congress is essential
318
29.89
The President has no authority in this area, and his acts are probably unconstitutional
725
68.14
Total
1064
100.00

Question 10, April 1999 - The First Lady, Hillary Clinton, clearly has the right to run for a U.S. Senate seat in New York, despite the fact that she does not currently live there. The question is, should she?

>
Response
Count
Percentage
No, she should not run
218
67.28
Yes, it is her right, and she should if she wishes
106
32.72
Total
324
100.00

Question 9, March 1999 - What do you think will happen on January 1, 2000?

Response
Count
Percentage
The doom and gloom are all media hype - we'll be fine
63
21.50
Everything will be OK, but something is bound to break
120
40.96
Lots of computers and machines are going to fail
63
21.50
We're all toast - the system is going down
47
16.04
Total
293
100.00

Question 8, February 1999 - Should the Constitution be amended to abolish the Electoral College and have direct election of the President and Vice-President?

Response
Count
Percentage
Yes, we should have direct elections
188
67.87
No, the layer the College provides is still important
50
18.05
No, the system works, leave it alone
39
14.08
Total
277
100.00

Question 7, January 1999 - Does the impeachment of President Clinton rise to the level of a Constitutional Crisis?

Response
Count
Percentage
No
444
59.76
Yes
299
40.24
Total
743
100.00