If a proposed amendment violates the Constitution, should the Supreme Court be able to block its ratification?"
A. With only one exception, an amendment to the Constitution cannot, by definition, violate the Constitution. Think it through: assume for a moment that an amendment to remove freedom of speech was ratified by the states. The amendment violates the concept of free speech embodied in the 1st Amendment, for sure. A law doing the same thing would be unconstitutional. However, since we are not talking about a law, but instead an amendment, the effect would be to negate or nullify the free speech protections. The new amendment, as a duly ratified amendment, becomes a part of the Constitution. The Supreme Court would have no power to remove the amendment, and would, in fact, have to abide by it.
In the scenario you presented, if a proposed amendment violates the Constitution, the Supreme Court does not have the power to block its ratification. This is because, by definition, an amendment to the Constitution is an alteration or addition to the existing document, and once an amendment is properly ratified by the states, it becomes a part of the Constitution itself.
When an amendment is ratified, it becomes a legally binding and enforceable provision of the Constitution. As such, the Supreme Court, as the highest judicial authority in the United States, does not have the authority to remove or nullify a ratified amendment. The Court's role is to interpret and apply the Constitution as it stands, including any amendments that have been ratified.
Even if an amendment appears to contradict or violate other provisions of the Constitution, such as the First Amendment's protection of freedom of speech in your example, it would still be considered a valid part of the Constitution. In such cases, the new amendment would effectively supersede or override the conflicting provisions, and the Supreme Court would have to interpret and apply the Constitution in accordance with the newly ratified amendment.
In summary, once an amendment is properly ratified, it becomes a part of the Constitution, and the Supreme Court does not have the power to block or remove it, even if it appears to violate other constitutional provisions.