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Editorial August 19, 2001 Now we're getting down to business: The grass-roots group that supports constitutional reform has adopted a vehicle to replace the state's repressive and reprehensible document. Call a constitutional convention, the group says. That road is not without peril, but it is a road at least someone is willing to travel. It's certainly a highway state legislators have avoided. They've been too easily distracted by the roadside trinket shops of the special-interest groups to get from here to there. Legislative inaction hasn't dissuaded civic and business leaders and - most importantly - the public from calling for reforming the 1901 document that was put in place to aid the powerful and to hold down everyone else. Under current law, the Legislature could rewrite the constitution to make it a document that speaks to the needs of the 21st century. It could, but it hasn't. And unless Montgomery freezes over in August, it probably won't. So Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, the ad-hoc group of public-spirited people who are leading the fight for reform, said last week that the only way to get this state moving in the right direction is to let the people decide what a new constitution says. The group favors a convention where the voices of various parties and ideologies, of rural and urban residents, of blacks, whites and, indeed, all races, of the rich and the poor and those in between all can be heard and can reach a consensus on how to write a constitution that works. This is the best way, said Thomas Corts, the president of the group, to avoid the undue influence that special interests exert on legislators. Those special interests are served by the status quo. It is those same special interests that fight back any proposal that could lead to a more modern and fairer fundamental set of laws. It will, of course, be a challenge to bring together a group of citizens that does reflect the various responsible viewpoints in the state. It will be an even larger challenge to reach a consensus. But if one can be reached, Corts and others want a statewide referendum to adopt the proposed reforms. And the ACCR, by the way, is not alone in this sentiment. Historians, political scientists and legal experts generally believe a constitutional convention - made up of the people - is the best way to get the people to enact the changes they need. It's the most direct way, the way the people of 100 years ago thought it should be done - if it were to be done at all. No, it's not the only way, but the Legislature has had numerous chances to do what's right on this issue, and it has failed miserably, again and again. Now it's time for Alabama's citizens to take reform into their own hands and do what needs to be done. The 2001 regular session came and went without much progress on constitutional reform. With major elections looming in 2002 and thus providing another excuse for inaction, the citizenry must demand a convention as soon as practicable. How to get involved Citizens interested in constitutional reform may contact the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform, P.O. Box 34, Montgomery 36101. The group's Web e-mail address is accr@constitutionalreform.org. Return to: Editorials Index |
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Citizens for Constitutional Reform Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 34 Montgomery, Alabama 36101-0034 E-mail: accr@constitutionalreform.org |
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