Titles of Nobility amendment
The Titles of Nobility Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution, introduced in 1810 by Senator citizen of the United States shall accept, claim, receive, or retain any title of nobility or honour, or shall without the consent of Congress, accept and retain any present, pension, office, or emolument of any kind whatever, from any Emperor, King, Prince, or foreign Power, such person shall cease to be a citizen of the United States, and shall be incapable of holding any office of trust or profit under them, or either of them.
Had the amendment passed, it would have had little if any effect.
Some people, however, claim that it was properly ratified, and that it would have an effect. The claimed effects are:
- When someone in the United States becomes a lawyer, he or she often uses the title of "Esquire" to signify his or her status, much as doctors attach "M.D." to their names. Proponents of the Titles of Nobility amendment claim that this is "a British title of gentry". Therefore, so the argument goes, all lawyers in the United States are British gentry, and can't hold public office.
- That "honour" in the phrase "title of nobility or honour" should not be interpreted as "title of honour", but rather as "obtaining or having an advantage or privilege over another", which includes, among other things, immunities to lawsuits that various government officials hold. Thus, judges could be sued for the legal decisions that they make, and legislators could be sued for the laws they pass.
These opinions, which are espoused primarily by far-right extremist movements, have never been upheld by any court and are rejected as ludicrous by mainstream legal opinion.
See also
