<P> In Coleman v. Miller, 307 U.S. 433 (1939), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the validity of state ratifications of a constitutional amendment is political in nature--and so not a matter properly assigned to the judiciary . It also held that as a political question, it was up to Congress to determine if an amendment with no time limit for ratification was still viable after an extended lapse of time based on "the political, social and economic conditions which have prevailed during the period since the submission of the amendment". </P> <P> When Watson began his campaign in early 1982, he was only aware of ratification by six states and he erroneously believed that Virginia's 1791 approval was the last action taken by the states . He discovered in 1983 that Ohio had approved it in 1873 as a means of protest against the Salary Grab Act and learned in 1984 that Wyoming had done the same 105 years later in 1978, as a protest against a congressional pay raise . Further, Watson did not know, until 1997, well after the amendment's adoption, that Kentucky had ratified the amendment in 1792 . Neither did Kentucky lawmakers themselves--in Watson's desire for a 50 - state sweep, the Kentucky General Assembly post-ratified the amendment in 1996 (Senate Joint Resolution No. 50), at Watson's request, likewise unaware that the task had already been attended to some 204 years earlier . </P> <P> In April 1983, Maine became the first state to ratify the amendment as a result of Watson's campaign, followed by Colorado in April 1984 . Numerous state legislatures followed suit . Michigan's ratification on May 7, 1992, provided what was believed to be the 38th state ratification required for the archivist to certify the amendment--Kentucky's 1792 ratification having been overlooked . </P> <P> In 2016, Zachary Elkins, a Professor in the Department of Government, became interested in Watson's story and began to document its origins . He tracked down Sharon Waite, who had left academia in the 1980s to run a citrus farm in the Rio Grande Valley . Elkins suggested to Waite that they change Watson's grade . In 2017, Elkins submitted a grade change form with Waite's signature and a grade change to "A +". The registrar approved a grade change to "A", because the university does not give grades higher than "A". </P>

Amendment 27 prevents members of congress from doing what