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The Alabama Constitution is the basic governing document of the U.S. state of Alabama. It was adopted in 1901 and is the sixth constitution that the state has had. At over 360,000 words, the document is 12 times longer than the average state constitution, 40 times longer than the U.S. Constitution, and is the longest still-operative constitution anywhere in the world (The Constitution of India, the longest national constitution, comes in at approximately 117,000 words).

About 90 percent of the document's length comes from its 771 (as of 2005) amendments. About 70 percent of those amendments cover only a single county or city, and some deal with salaries of specific officials (e.g. Amendment 408 and the Greene County probate judge). This gives Alabama a large number of constitutional officers.

The Preamble runs:

We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution.

Notable features

The inordinate length is both because of and the cause of heavy centralization of government power in the state capital, Montgomery, leaving very little authority to local units. Counties cannot even legislate on local issues, requiring the state legislature, and ipso facto uninvolved parts of the state, to pass local laws. The same holds true for taxation. A large portion of the state's tax code is written into the constitution, necessitating its amendment over minor taxation issues. This can (and has) resulted in times when a local county or municipality voted overwhelmingly for a tax or bond issue, but it was voted down by those outside the affected areas (and as such, would not have been significantly affected).

Besides taxation, the constitution includes many provisions that are dealt with in the statutes by most other states.

Size and local relevance

The document has been amended for such diverse topics such as:

The Legislature has also been forced to amend amendments that often concerned similarly trivial matters (Note that many other examples of this are listed here under different sections because they have more import there than in this general list):

Some amendments state what should seem blatantly obvious:

  • A municipality within Madison County has no authority outside of its boundary (Amendment 531).
  • People are allowed to hunt and fish so long as they obey all laws (Amendment 597).
  • Section 97 prohibits deceased officials from receiving a salary.

The paper has also been falsely amended at least once ("Amendment" 587). This may be the reason why it has no Amendment 621, skipping from 620 to 622, however Amendment 693 is also missing. There is also a strange "additional" amendment, Amendment "26A". The reason for this unusual nomenclature is unknown.

Discrimination

The document has been heavily criticized for racist elements, as the constitution deliberately disenfranchised Black American voters. Originally it outlawed interracial marriage (Section 102), however this provision was removed in 2000 by Amendment 667. The constitution still requires racially segregated education in the state (Section 256). Numerous Supreme Court decisions make these provisions moot. However, the continued existence of these provisions is seen by some in Alabama as an embarrassment to the state. A proposal to strike the segregation requirement was defeated narrowly in 2004 (MSNBC).

The constitution Section 177 denied women the right to vote by confining voting rights to "male citizens"; this was unenforceable under the 19th Amendment until Amendment 579 was substituted, which contained no reference to gender.

Impropriety of parts

The constitution includes many provisions that are either wholly or partly archaic in their wording or are inappropriate for inclusion in a constitution; many of these have also been rendered unenforceable by federal laws and court rulings. For instance:
  • Section 86 mandates that "The legislature shall pass such penal laws as it may deem expedient to suppress the evil practice of dueling" (Other State constitutions have anti-dueling provisions, see the article on duelling).
  • Section 90 gives instructions on the proper method of annexing foreign territory.
  • Section 191 deals with "the evils arising from the use of intoxicating liquors at all elections."
  • The rather wordy Section 244 deals with granting of free railroad tickets to elected officials.
  • Section 245 prohibits railroads from misleading customers as to their rates.

Efforts to remove or amend these have so far proved unsuccessful.

Normal parts

Amendment 557 is Alabama's version of the Victims' Rights Amendment

See also

External links

1901 in law | Government of Alabama | State constitutions of the United States

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Alabama Constitution".

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