Alabama’s Constitution of 1901 is the longest governing document on Earth, and some would argue that even calling it a “governing document” gives the bloated charter far more distinction than it deserves. In fact, it is a paragon of inefficiency that incapacitates local government and inhibits citizen participation while sustaining bureaucratic bigotry. There are two ways to change the rarefied thing: amend it, which voters in Alabama have done more than 800 times in the last century, or have a constitutional convention. The latter, no doubt, represents the only real chance to change the document’s fundamental flaws.\
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To educate the people of Alabama about a constitution convention process as well as engage new people in the growing Constitutional Reform Movement, a mock constitution convention will convene in the spring and summer of 2009.\’a0 The Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform (ACCR) Foundation, a non-partisan 501(c)3 organization, will work with several partner groups to support this education initiative.\’a0 While the constitution that the 2009 Mock Convention creates will have no legal status, it will help educate Alabamians about the injustices and inefficiencies embedded in our constitution and, more importantly, show the type of modernized contract that people gathered today could create.\
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Today, Monday, Dec. 15, is the deadline to sign up to serve on the Local Selection Committee (LSC) for the Mock Convention project. LSCs will help spread the word about the Mock Convention project to make sure everyone who is interested in serving as a delegate applies by the Dec. 31 deadline.\’a0 Also each LSC selects, during the week of Jan. 5, 2009, the person who will serve as their state house district’s delegate.\’a0 You can learn more about the ACCR mock convention project here. \
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The best primer out there is It’s A Thick Book, a documentary film about the Alabama Constitution of 1901, available in its entirety on the Alabama Public Television website.