If at first you don't succeed...try and try again. That's seemingly the attitude behind a new bill to rewrite the Alabama constitution. Alabama has the longest, most amended constitution in the country, and now there’s yet another move to start over from scratch.
Written in 1901, Alabama’s constitution stands as the longest in the nation with nearly 800 amendments.
"It’s just antiquated. It hinders us. In order for this state to move forward aggressively, then we're going to have to have a document that reflects all the input that all our people can provide for us,” said Senator Rodger Smitherman.
Smitherman is sponsoring a bill that would allow Alabama citizens to vote on whether to have a constitutional convention to rewrite the constitution.
"There are so many conflicting pieces of it. The old constitution may state one thing, then the amendments may state another and then you always have room for interpretations," said Smitherman.
And while some may agree, others say rewriting it altogether is way too risky.
"We’re afraid of losing the protections that we have. We’re afraid of who's rewriting it. I would say those are our primary concerns,” said Eagle Forum Executive Director Brooklyn Roberts.
Roberts feels that special interest groups could influence politicians to rewrite it in a way that harms the public.
"We agree that there are things in the constitution that need to be addressed, but we don't want to take the risks involved with a wholesale rewrite,” said Roberts.
It’s an option that's been talked about for years and this time, it might very well happen.
"It may take pushing by everybody to get it but we're not going to give up. We’re going to keep moving forward,” said smitherman.
Smitherman says the good thing about this year, is that the bill is being considered a lot earlier in the session than it has in the past.
This essentially gives the Senate more time to consider it and possibly vote on it.
