Alabama’s House of Representatives elected again to keep the state from moving forward.
Why make progress when we’ve got a 109-year-old constitution that has been amended more than 800 times?
Why make progress when that same constitution features such dynamic and relevant laws that make incestuous marriage legal, forbids people from playing dominoes on Sunday, and makes it illegal to sell peanuts after sundown in Lee County.
That’s right. Once the sun sets, keep the peanuts to yourselves or face the long arm of the law.
Questioned about this law in the past, Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones snickered, said it’s legit, but reassured that his department wouldn’t press the issue.
After all, there is trafficking of other illegal interests that are of far greater concern.
We haven’t praised Rep. Demetrius Newton (D-Birmingham) for much in the past, but we give this House veteran a tip of the hat for sponsoring a resolution that called for a referendum to be held during the Nov. 2 general election, giving Alabama voters the opportunity to vote for or against a convention to rewrite the constitution.
Instead, the House voted against Newton’s bill, 58-32. It’s not the first time. In fact, voting down a convention has become a Statehouse tradition.
Alabama’s constitution will live to see a 110th birthday, and probably more.
Opponents of the resolution issued concerns about regulation of such a convention and the potential for special interests to become involved. Both are very legitimate concerns.
Special interest groups have had their tentacles in Montgomery politics for years, so it’s easy to see how money and power could certainly infiltrate a simple convention.
How can we have a clean constitutional convention if we can’t have clean government?
But ethics reform continues to be a major issue in the gubernatorial campaign and there’s a good reason to believe politics in Alabama will continue to clean its act in the future.
That said, we believe a constitutional convention can be held and regulated properly if a proper set of checks and balances are made and the entire convention is done completely in the open — with every single addition made to a new constitution put before the public for debate.
Lawmakers claim government in Alabama is cleaning itself. That said, there should be no reason for concern.
It’s time for a new constitution with relevant laws.
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