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Editorial
November 16, 2002

   Some opponents of writing a new constitution for Alabama aren't even willing to let the people make that decision.

   Sandra Lane Smith, president of a group called the Alabama Association for Judeo-Christian Values, has filed suit in Montgomery to try to get Amendment One thrown out. Amendment One, which passed overwhelmingly in the Nov. 5 election, ensures that any new constitution, whether written by the Legislature or a constitutional convention, be approved in a statewide vote.

   However, Smith, whose organization has little support and who knows that there is growing movement to throw out the embarrassing, archaic 1901 Constitution, claims in her lawsuit that the summary of the amendment on the ballot was vague and misleading. Maybe she had trouble understanding it, but the amendment passed with 81 percent support.

   Let's hope the courts will throw out Smith's frivolous claims and that, at some point, she and her strange group get the message.

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