When the protective hand of Reconstruction lifted from Alabama in the late 19th century, it didn’t take long for the landowners of South Alabama and the North Alabama industrialists to reconfigure state government back to their liking. In an odd alliance, carpetbaggers and plantation owners opened the doors of Alabama’s capitol for their first special interest groups and, in the process, disenfranchised the freed slaves of South Alabama and the North Alabama hillbillies. Their weapon was but a single document, the Alabama Constitution of 1901, a political infection that has festered here ever since. It has prevented most city and county governments from controlling their own destinies. It causes the poor to pay taxes instead of the rich. And with each passing election cycle, new amendments — 777 all total — have stretched it until now it is the longest constitution in the world.

Tonight Alabama Citizens for Constitution Reform will host another screening of It’s a Thick Book, a 45-minute documentary about Alabama’s constitution. Filmed and produced by Homewood High graduate Lewis Lehe, the documentary engages the Alabama forefathers, explaining the flaws in the gargantuan document and teasing out its more sinister motives. The screening tonight will be at the Virginia Samford Theatre at 6 p.m. For those who can’t make it, there will be another opportunity next month on May 22 at the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute. Also, free DVDs of the movie are available at ACCR’s website: www.constitutionalreform.org