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By Dana Beyerle Montgomery Bureau Chief October 24, 2001 BIRMINGHAM — Gov. Don Siegelman on Tuesday called for a citizens’ constitutional convention, which was music to the ears of the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform. “A new constitution can come only from the people; it cannot come from the Legislature,” Siegelman told about 500 people attending a forum in Birmingham on the future of constitutional reform. The ACCR, organized last year to begin a grass-roots push to rewrite the 100-year-old constitution, is seeking political action between now and the 2002 elections to ensure a constitutional convention, possibly in 2004. “In the election of 2002 you’ll see constitutional reform as a major issue because you put it there,” ACCR political adviser Bill Smith told attendees, who paid $15 each to participate in what could be described as a pep rally for reform. Siegelman and other conference speakers called the 1901 constitution outdated and a barrier to education and economic development. Siegelman said the constitution prohibits lawmakers and governors from protecting education funding against economic downturns. Siegelman said special interests shouldn’t be allowed to control the convention as they can the Legislature. “It cannot be a top-down process because it has to be a process that gives power to you, the people,” he said. Mike Warren, president and chief executive officer of Energen Corp. and president of the Business Council of Alabama, said BCA members, who number 5,000, will be involved in a convention. “It [A convention] has been focused in the past on getting candidates elected and it becomes a voice when it affects business,” Warren said. Former Gov. Albert Brewer, one of the founders of the ACCR, said there are two ways to change the constitution. The first is to submit changes to voters a few articles at a time. Or, he said, the Legislature would have to pass a constitutional amendment and submit it to voters who would have to approve a convention. Voters then would elect convention members and then voters would have to approve any document produced by the convention. Tuscaloosa attorney Dennis Steverson, a former circuit judge, reminded conference attendees that the 1901 constitution was written by whites who wanted to disenfranchise blacks and poor whites. Power was centralized in Montgomery. He asked ACCR members to spread the word about reform at civic clubs, the PTA and in schools. Reach Dana Beyerle at dana.beyerle@tuscaloosanews.com. Return to: Editorials 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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