Times Editorial
July
16, 2002
More than 100 years after Alabama's 1901 constitution
was adopted, we're back at it again, beginning the process that may
lead to a new version of the document that governs the state.
But this time, unlike 1901, there is no cabal of powerful
men with selfish interests controlling the effort. Now it's a process
open to everyone, regardless of income, class, race or gender. This
time Alabama is doing it right.
The latest phase in this effort to craft a new constitution was launched
in Huntsville on Monday by the Alabama Citizens Commission for Constitutional
Reform. Anchored by Secretary of State Jim Bennett, the 22-member
commission was here to listen to presentations by experts and the
views of citizens.
The experts explained the arguments for replacing the
old constitution, with its 713 amendments, with a new document. Top
of the list: empowering Alabama's counties with home rule. About 500
of the 713 amendments address local issues, a lopsided indication
that the document gives too little power to counties and cities while
Montgomery retains too much.
The experts also discussed how the constitution can be
revised, what other states have done and what the possible pitfalls
are. The citizens shared their hopes and concerns for Alabama, which
in some cases didn't include rewriting the 1901 Constitution.
It is also important that the commission decided to make
the first meeting at Alabama's Constitution Village, the site where
Alabama's first constitution was drafted almost 200 years ago. The
sense of history was palpable. Pictures of some of the 44 delegates
hang on the wood-frame walls. Twenty-six of them were from North Alabama
- eight from Madison County.
This commission, while representing only the very beginning
of the process, gets it right. Its members are male and female, white
and non-white. They represent a good cross-section of the state. It's
a people commission, helping Alabama to prepare for what Secretary
Bennett said is an ''eventuality'': a people's constitution.
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