Question: Richard Labunski, a journalism professor at the University of Kentucky and newspaper columnist who is notable for being an outspoken advocate for reforming the United States Constitution in his book "The Second Constitutional Convention", wrote about the United States Bill of Rights, which are the first of how many amendments to the United States Constitution?

Richard Labunski is a journalism professor at the University of Kentucky and newspaper columnist who is notable for being an outspoken advocate for reforming the United States Constitution in his book "The Second Constitutional Convention".  He has been a prominent critic of voter apathy, low voter turnout, and excessive campaign spending.  Labunski's critically acclaimed "James Madison and the Struggle for the Bill of Rights" (2006) argued that Madison was initially lukewarm to the idea of a Bill of Rights to the Constitution, but later came to energetically support the ten amendments and worked hard for their inclusion.  He has called for a Second Constitutional Convention of the United States, and argued that reform will not happen through the current system because Congress would be reluctant to "limit its own powers." <SEP>  Proposed following the oftentimes bitter 1787–88 battle over ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and crafted to address the objections raised by Anti-Federalists, the Bill of Rights amendments add to the Constitution specific guarantees of personal freedoms and rights, clear limitations on the government's power in judicial and other proceedings, and explicit declarations that all powers not specifically delegated to Congress by the Constitution are reserved for the states or the people. The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.  The concepts codified in these amendments are built upon those found in several earlier documents, including the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the English Bill of Rights 1689, along with earlier documents such as Magna Carta (1215).  In practice, the amendments had little impact on judgements by the courts for the first 150 years after ratification. <SEP> George Mason (sometimes referred to as George Mason IV; December 11, 1725 [O.S. November 30, 1725] October 7, 1792) was a Virginia planter and politician, and a delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention of 1787, one of three delegates who refused to sign the constitution.  His writings have been a significant influence on political thought and events, including substantial portions of the Fairfax Resolves of 1774, the Virginia Declaration of Rights of 1776, and his "Objections to this Constitution of Government" (1787) in opposition to ratification of the constitution.  The Virginia Declaration of Rights, which Mason principally authored, served as a basis for the United States Bill of Rights, of which he has been deemed the father. <SEP> Sanford Victor Levinson (born June 17, 1941) is an American legal scholar, best known for his writings on constitutional law and as a professor at the University of Texas Law School.  He is notable for his criticism of the United States Constitution as well as excessive presidential power and has been widely quoted on such topics as the Second Amendment, gay marriage, nominations to the Supreme Court, and other legal issues.  He has called for a Second Constitutional Convention of the United States.