Sooner or later it happens. Sometimes it’s from the Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform. Other times it’s a reading by the numerous student organizations spread across this state, examples from the University of Alabama and University of Alabama at Birmingham being the most prominent in my mind at this writing. And every once in a while it’s merely the act of a curious individual that can’t believe the bizarre legend that surrounds that twisting and turning maze at the center of our grand state. Yes, it is inevitable. If you live in the great state of Alabama, you will come face to face with it, the great hydra himself brought forth in ink and paper.
Be it read, spoken or merely hinted to; you will experience the Alabama State Constitution.
As with all things decidedly Alabama, on the surface it seems almost common place, simple, to the untrained eye (mainly those that still think being from Alabama consists of over-alls, football, NASCAR and a unique lack of shoes.) even a little hokey. “Politics is full of red tape? The devil you say!” they will tell you with cynical glee and a snide smile to put you in your place. Oh foolish rednecks! How naive! Let me tell you this, those people are fools. They have learned their bitterness from a textbook, lacking the true experience to grasp the depths of true madness.
The Alabama State Constitution is well over 360,000 words long and contains 777 amendments. Let’s put that into context; that is 12 times longer than the average state constitution in the United States. It is 40 times longer than the actual Constitution of the United States of America. The Alabama state constitution is the longest still operating constitution on the entire planet! Only the constitution of India comes close at 117,000 words.
Think about that for a second. The state of Alabama’s constitution is 2.62 times more complicated than a document that is in charge of a country with a population of over one billion people! Alabama’s population in comparison is a paltry four million. It’s big, real big.
But as we all know size isn’t everything, though the sheer bulk of this document should ensure its unwieldy nature, its how your use it. Alabama’s constitution was designed in 1901 with the purpose of consolidating government power in the state capital and removing voting rights from African American, poor Whites, and anyone else that may cause the special interest groups in Montgomery any problems. The original intent of the document was so successful that by 1903, the number of African American registered voters dropped from 181,000 to only 4,000 and over 40,000 whites lost their right to vote as well. While these travesties of the past have been rectified throughout the years, The Alabama Constitution is still a document that cements all of the state’s power firmly in the hands of the state legislature, leaving little if any power to individual counties and cities. This is quite possibly one of the world’s greatest ironies considering Alabama’s vicious adherence to states rights. Alabama will fight to the death for California’s right to legalize marijuana, thought it may not entirely agree with it. But when it comes to a county’s right to adjust taxes and local laws, well you have to go to the capital to do it. Alabama is only one of 13 states that do not allow counties to make decisions at a local level.
Leash laws, rodent control, and billboard regulations are just the tip of the iceberg when looking at laws that have squeaked their way into our State’s Constitution. Bingo laws have been specifically designated in separate amendments for Jefferson, Madison, Montgomery, Mobile, Etowah, Calhoun, Morgan, Russell, Lowndes, and Limestone counties. That is TEN separate amendments specifically for bingo! Mosquito control taxes have three separate amendments alone! One to instate the taxes, another to remove a single word (“tangible”) from the taxes, and a third amendment to expand its money use to “other general health purposes.” I don’t know what those purposes are, but over half of the money collected for mosquitoes no longer needs to be used to get rid of those specific pesky varmints.
Another issue that rears its ugly head in the Alabama Constitution is the classic problem of taxes. The wealthiest one percent of Alabamians pay 4% of their income for state taxes, while the poorest of Alabama families pay upwards of 11% of their income to the state. Now while you think about the poorest of our state, let me remove a veil of comfort for those who think that a rich man’s 4% is enough. The beginning taxable income in the state of Alabama is $4,600 dollars. You need some more contrast? In Mississippi, a family does not have to being paying income taxes until they make $19,000 a year! The IRS doesn’t take taxes until your break the $20,000 mark! Alabama is also one of the few states that still collect sales taxes on groceries and prescription drugs, including milk and baby aspirin. How’s that yacht felling now?
One of the greatest examples of the damage the Alabama State Constitution has done to our state was the recent debate over removing racist language from the document. Now typically this would be a slam dunk, who wants racist language in their constitution? How better can Alabama break away from its dark past than by removing the very text that has been a blight on us for so many years? Well kids, it’s not that easy here.
When the debate began raging over removing the text, something happened. While studying the document, a theoretical loop hole was found that could have allowed the state government to alter earmarks on education taxes. Real or imagined, the story spread and by the time it was over, it was so over blown that many voters, white and black, ended up not voting for the amendment in fear that the legislature would use that loop to take even more of that $4,600 dollars away or even worse take what little money goes into education away form it.
Now I know the cynicism is dripping from your lips. Your want to label the entire state a bunch of racist, fascist, backwards monsters is boiling up to appease whatever inadequacies you have about yourself. But the fact of the matter is you don’t understand the monster. You don’t understand the power of the monster and how the mere shadow of its strength, imagined or not, can affect the entire state. We wrestle with the hydra everyday and the only way to truly kill it is to remove all 777of its heads. We have a long way to go.
