In a unanimous decision, the court rejected all three arguments. The first argument is invalid because wording was almost the same as the Fifteenth Amendment. Each used the same method of adoption so one cannot be valid and the other invalid. The second argument, that certain state legislatures did not have the power to ratify based on their own constitutions, is rejected because they were ratifying an amendment to the federal Constitution, and so is a federal function. The Court ruled the third argument a moot point because two other states after Tennessee and West Virginia (Connecticut and Vermont) who followed their own procedures would have been enough to ratify the amendment. But in addressing the substance of the argument, the Court went on to point out that the Secretaries of State of Tennessee and West Virginia each accepted the ratification by the legislatures making the ratification by those two states valid. The Nineteenth Amendment gave women the right to vote but "Lesser" made it certain the right could be used even in states where the state constitution did not allow it.
Ken Adam
Sir Kenneth Hugo Adam (born Klaus Hugo Adam; 5 February 1921 – 10 March 2016) was a German-born British movie production designer. He was born in Berlin. Adam was best known for his set designs for the James Bond movies of the 1960s and 1970s, as well as for "Dr. Strangelove". He won two Academy Awards (1975, 1994) and two BAFTA Awards (1964, 1965).
Adam died in London on 10 March 2016, aged 90.
Lloyd Shapley
Lloyd Stowell Shapley (June 2, 1923 – March 12, 2016) was an American mathematician and economist. He was known for his work on mathematical economics and especially game theory. Since the work of von Neumann and Morgenstern in 1940s, Shapley has been thought by many experts as the very creator of game theory.
With Alvin E. Roth, Shapley won the 2012 Nobel Prize in Economics "for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design". In recent years, he worked at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Shapley was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He studied at Princeton University and at Harvard University. Shapley died on March 12, 2016 in Tucson, Arizona from complications of a broken hip. He was aged 92.
Ray Griff
Raymond "Ray" Griff (April 22, 1940 – March 9, 2016) was a Canadian country music singer-songwriter. He was from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Griff began songwriting in the early 1960s. Griff moved to Nashville in 1964 to pursue his music career full-time. His first records as a singer were released in the late 1960s. Griff had his first hit, "Patches", a remake of the Clarence Carter soul hit in 1970 which peaked at No. 26 in "Billboard".
Griff recorded for the small country label Royal American and later moved on to Dot Records without much success. His stint at Capitol Records from 1975-1979 was more successful, racking up eight more country top 40 hits, the most successful being 1976's "If I Let Her Come In" which peaked at No. 11.
Griff died in Canada from pneumonia after going through surgery on March 9, 2016. He was aged 75.
Naná Vasconcelos
Naná Vasconcelos (2 August 1944 – 9 March 2016) was a Brazilian percussionist, vocalist and berimbau player. He was known for his work as a solo artist on over two dozen albums, He worked with Pat Metheny, Don Cherry, Egberto Gismonti, Gato Barbieri and Milton Nascimento. He was born in Recife, Brazil.
Vasconcelos died in Recife, Brazil from lung cancer on 9 March 2016. He was aged 71.
Richard Davalos
Richard Davalos (November 5, 1930 – March 8, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as Aaon Tusk in "East of Eden" and as Blind Dick in "Cool Hand Luke". He was born in The Bronx, New York. His career began in 1953. He retired in 2008.
Davalos died on March 8, 2016 at a hospital in Burbank, California. He was aged 85.
Article Seven of the United States Constitution
Article Seven of the United States Constitution explains what needs to happen for the Constitution to be approved. It says that nine states need to ratify the Constitution before it takes effect. To ratify the Constitution, a special group in each state called a Convention would have to approve the Constitution.
In Simple English, this means: The approval of nine states' Conventions will be enough to make this Constitution official in those states.
Before the United States Constitution was passed, the United States had another constitution called the Articles of Confederation. These Articles made the United States into a confederation. The legislature of the confederation government was called the Congress of the Confederation.
After a few years, the Founding Fathers decided the United States needed a new constitution and a new form of government. They formed a group called the Constitutional Convention to write a new constitution. The group finished its final version of the Constitution on September 17, 1787. Three days later, the Convention gave its suggested Constitution to the Congress of the Confederation to get its support.
The Congress debated a lot about the Constitution. Members of Congress did not agree on whether Congress should support the new Constitution or not. On September 28, the Congress came to a compromise. They decided just to give the states the Constitution and let them vote on it. Congress would not suggest that the states pass the Constitution, or that they not pass it. This way, the decision would truly be up to the states; no state would be affected by Congress's opinion.
In 1787 and 1788, there were debates across the United States about the suggested new Constitution. Each state's Convention would have to vote on the Constitution. For a state to ratify the Constitution, more than half of the members of its Convention would have to vote for the Constitution.
On December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the suggested Constitution. All 30 of the members of its Convention voted for the Constitution.
On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to approve the Constitution. Now that nine states had ratified the Constitution, it became the highest and most important law of the United States. The United States would have a new form of government, based on the ideas set out in the Constitution.
However, four states still had not approved the Constitution. These states were Virginia, New York, North Carolina, and Rhode Island. If they did not approve the Constitution, they would not be a part of the new government of the United States.
The Congress of the Confederation decided that the United States would start using the new Constitution on March 4, 1789. Before that day, Virginia and New York ratified the Constitution. However, when the first United States Congress gathered on March 4 to form the new government, North Carolina and Rhode Island still had not approved the Constitution. After the new Congress added the Bill of Rights to the Constitution, though, North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified the Constitution.
The Constitution was ratified by the states in this order:
Roberto Perfumo
Roberto Alfredo Perfumo (3 October 1942 – 10 March 2016) was an Argentine footballer and sports commentator. He was nicknamed "El Mariscal". He was thought as one of the best Argentine defenders ever. Perfumo played for Racing, River Plate and Brazilian team Cruzeiro. With the national team, he played the 1966 and 1974 World Cups.
Perfumo died at 73 from a skull injury after falling from a stairway in Buenos Aires on 10 March 2016.
Aldo Ferrer
Aldo Ferrer (April 15, 1927 – March 8, 2016) was an Argentine economist and policy maker. Ferrer was one of the leading figures of economic nationalism in Argentina. He served as Minister of Economy from 1970 through 1971. He later served as an ambassador to France from Argentine. He served as ambassador from 2011 through 2013. He was born in Buenos Aires.
Ferrer died in Buenos Aires on March 8, 2016. He was aged 88.