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By Mike Sherman
August 17, 2001

   A group that has pushed for a new Alabama Constitution for more than a year has endorsed an elected convention to draft the document.

   Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform endorsed reform of the basic ground rules for state government adopted in 1901, but had not supported a specific method for change.

   Thomas Corts, president of ACCR, said in a Capitol news conference Thursday that with the exception of a 1973 Judicial Article that governs the courts, top-down attempts at constitutional reform have failed.

   "The people of Alabama, through a convention of their elected delegates, should be the ones to write a new constitution," Corts said.

   Corts said the power structure of the state excluded African Americans and women from the constitutional convention in 1901 and wrote a document so restrictive that it has been amended 706 times.

   "One hundred years later, we the people of Alabama can draft a document that speaks directly to our values and our needs," Corts said.

   A convention would be less susceptible to special interest groups than the Legislature, he said.

   Corts also said ACCR's board has adopted principles which should be part of any new constitution.

   A new document should keep the preamble to the 1901 constitution that invokes the favor and guidance of Almighty God, Corts said. Corts also is president of Samford University in Birmingham, which is closely affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention.

   ACCR also wants to keep the Judicial Article, which is considered a national model. Any new constitution also should contain a declaration of rights; limit government to public purposes, "including the assurance of quality education"; and home rule to allow local people to make decisions about local matters, unless those local voters prefer otherwise, Corts said. Any new document should be subject to a statewide vote, he said.

   John Giles, president of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, said, "There is no guarantee that we would not have a runaway convention with special interests lurking over Montgomery."

   He said his group favors stripping the 1901 document of racist and outdated language and using the condensed result as a starting point toward "issue-by-issue reform" debated by both legislative chambers and put to the people for a vote."

   Others dislike the convention idea.

   "If you get a new constitution in Alabama it won't be done through convention. It should be done by the Legislature with citizens approving or rejecting," Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, said.

   "I favor article-by-article change with a vote by the people on each one," Holmes said.

   Rep. Mac Gipson, R-Prattville, who supports a convention, says the Legislature has proven it will not approve even piecemeal reform of non-controversial parts of the constitution.

   Gov. Don Siegelman endorsed the concept of constitutional reform, but kept it on a back political burner until summer when he said it is the long-term hope for solution to the education funding crisis.

   Carrie Kurlander, his press spokeswoman, said Siegelman has favored a convention since 1977.

   Corts said he believes that special-interest influence on convention delegates could be reduced by increasing public scrutiny and limiting the duration of a campaign "so you wouldn't have to raise a half-million dollars to run a good race."

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