Section 1 — Affirmative Duty of Maintenance
All constitutional rights, guarantees, and protected systems impose an affirmative duty of maintenance upon the state.
Maintenance includes the obligation to preserve functional capacity, accessibility, effectiveness, and continuity sufficient to realize the substance of the right, not merely its formal or nominal existence.
Section 2 — Prohibition of Regression
No right, guarantee, or protected system shall be diminished in practice through neglect, defunding, administrative delay, procedural obstruction, or indirect withdrawal. Regression includes any action or omission that predictably or materially reduces access, effectiveness, or reliability below a previously established level.
Section 3 — Burden of Justification
Where a reduction in capacity, scope, or effectiveness is alleged, the burden rests with the state to demonstrate that no regression has occurred, or that any temporary limitation is strictly necessary, narrowly constrained, time-limited, and promptly remedied. Fiscal constraint, political preference, or administrative inconvenience shall not constitute sufficient justification.
Section 4 — Temporary Measures
Temporary limitations on capacity may be permitted only where required to prevent greater harm, and only for the minimum duration necessary. All temporary measures must include a defined restoration timeline, accountability mechanism, and publicly reviewable justification.
Section 5 — Enforcement and Standing
Any person shall have standing to challenge alleged regression under this Amendment. Courts shall evaluate claims based on functional impact and foreseeable harm, not solely on formal compliance or stated intent.
Section 6 — Construction
This Amendment shall be construed to preserve continuity, prevent erosion of rights through attrition, and ensure that constitutional guarantees remain materially real and operational across time. Ambiguity shall be resolved in favor of maintenance, continuity, and human dignity.