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Kent Faulk News staff writer July 16, 2002 HUNTSVILLE — When state legislators sat down to rewrite Alabama's constitution 101 years ago, Juanita Sales' family didn't have a say in what was included. Sales is black. Blacks and poor whites were not given the same rights in the constitution as wealthier whites. While that has changed through amendments over the years, the original document is still racist, many say. "I love Alabama," said the 49-year-old Huntsville woman. "You wouldn't know Alabama loves me in reading the constitution." Sales was among nearly 100 residents gathered in Huntsville on Monday for the first meeting of the Alabama Citizens' Commission on Constitutional Reform. That group is gathering public opinion and expert advice on topics involving constitutional reform during a four-meeting tour around the state. The meeting was held at Alabama Constitution Village in the reconstructed carpenter's shop, where framers of Alabama's first constitution met in 1819. The nonprofit Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform is funding the commission's work. The 22-member commission of men and women, blacks and whites of varied occupations is not drafting a constitution, but it will give recommendations to the governor and Legislature in January on whether the constitution should be changed and, if so, how. Next spring's legislative session, which begins March 4, might be the best chance for constitutional reform in decades, said Secretary of State Jim Bennett, who is chairman of the commission. "That's our best opportunity to turn words into action," he said. Critics contend the state's constitution is too long. With 713 amendments and another 38 to be voted on in November, it's by far the longest in the nation. They say the 1901 document has created an unfair tax structure, and a number of residents at Monday's meeting said the document was framed to exclude blacks and poor whites. Gorman Houston, associate justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, said he's offended every time he has to read racist remarks by those who wrote the 1901 Constitution. "There is no need to bring that into the 21st Century," he said. Members of the commission Monday heard presentations from experts on home rule and the process Alabama could take to constitutional reform. Home rule would allow counties to decide issues such as local tax increases, zoning issues or funding projects without having to go to the state Legislature or to hold a statewide referendum. Randolph Horn, assistant professor of political science at Samford University, and James W. Williams Jr., executive director of the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama, gave the commission a draft of their recommendations on home rule. They include giving local governments, mainly counties, the power to make decisions about taxes and debt limits, Williams said. Allowing counties to form intergovernmental contracts or merge with other counties or cities also was among the recommendations. And they said provisions would be needed to provide a transition if a new constitution is written. Kenneth Freeman, chairman of the Alliance for Citizens Rights, said home rule would just about guarantee local governments would impose higher taxes and property restrictions on home owners. If residents want home rule they can and have gotten home rule through legislative acts and the vote of the people, said Freeman, who lives in Morgan County. "The constitution is not preventing home rule. The peoples' vote is preventing home rule," he said. Howard Walthall, director of the State Constitution Law Project at Samford, and Dr. Anne Permaloff, political science professor at Auburn University Montgomery, told commissioners the state has two ways it could change its constitution, through a convention or amendments, unless it voted to create another way, such as a constitutional committee. Whatever path the state took to rewrite the constitution would wind through the Legislature. Walthall suggested constitutional reform supporters go home and hug their legislators. "Unless they are enthusiastic about it or find it acceptable, it's not going to happen," he said. Return to: Editorial Index |
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| Alabama Citizens for
Constitutional Reform Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 34 Montgomery, Alabama 36101-0034 E-mail: accr@constitutionalreform.org |
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