ALLIANCE
FOR CITIZENS RIGHTS
ALLIANCE
FOR CITIZENS RIGHTS
SPEECH
Delivered Before the Governor's Commission on Constitution Reform, March 7,2003
by Don Casey
My name is Don Casey. I reside at 1129, 1st Av. Pleasant Grove, Al., my phone number is 205-744-4132 and I am here representing my family and myself.
Repeating the mistakes of the past is easily accomplished for a generation that does not know its own history. The primary reason this generation is guilty of this oversight is because our governmental school system has chosen not to teach the history behind the State's constitution nor a fundamental course in government. This generation and the ones to come will suffer the consequences for our ignorance.
Shelby County recently passed "home rule." Had the voters known their history and read the content of the amendment, the outcome of the election would likely have been very different.
The Shelby County amendment is a transfer of power from the people to the legislature. Time being limited I will discuss two aspects of this transfer:
The 1901 Constitution does not grant to the legislature the power to enact a local law. But with the enactment of the supposed limited home rule for Shelby County the legislature now has the authorization to criminalize certain activity and certain conduct in Shelby County, if the activity or conduct involves... real or personal property. Not only can the legislature criminalize the acts of Shelby County residents but it also has the authority to set the penalties. To illustrate my point IF I were a resident of Shelby County residing near the Cahaba River and fertilized my lawn after the legislature had ruled such activity to be criminal, authorities would have the right to arrest me and charge me under their newly enacted criminal code. But if I resided on the Jefferson County side of the Cahaba River and fertilized my lawn, the activity would not be considered criminal.
Is my illustration more fantasy than fact? Consider the actions of the State House for the past three years before you draw any conclusion.
The State House has for the last three years unanimously passed legislation that would:
Dissolve the borders of the State of Alabama. 1
Delete 14 of the 36 rights listed in our States Constitutional Bill of Rights. One of the rights designated to be deleted determines how the State is allowed to utilize the power of eminent domain. 2
Does this mean that the legislature will criminalize the spreading of fertilizer? Perhaps not, but dissolving the borders of the State is certainly a display of irrational thinking.
Framers of the 1901 Constitution diligently sought to limit the unjust acts of the legislature. Hear the words of Mr. O'Neal from the 1901 Constitutional proceedings found on page 1778. His words spoken more that 100 years ago are still applicable today.
"There is no reform in the constitution we are now framing more important than a check upon the evils of local and special legislation."
Mr. O'Neal states that 27 State governments have found that:
"The evil of local legislation has long been recognized, not only in Alabama, but in many other States of the Union. A number of recent State constitutions have endeavored to check this tendency on the part of the Legislative Department, by absolute prohibition of local or special laws."
The next topic under the guise of home rule is the restriction on local governments funding operations. Under the Shelby County home rule amendment local government is not granted the right to raise taxes without a vote of the people. But fees and debt are a different matter.
The Shelby County Commission may, at its discretion, raise the debt ceiling to 10% of the assessed value of all taxable property within Shelby County. Who sets the value of the land in Shelby County? The County Property Tax Commissioner. The position established under Section 7 of Shelby County's home rule amendment states that: "The Legislature, by local law shall provide for the combination of the county offices of tax assessor and the tax collector into one elected position..." - Another example of the power grab by our legislature.
Will the 10% ceiling adversely affect the residents of Shelby County? The answer is a definite yes! Why do I answer in the affirmative? Because the nature of man has not changed in the last 100 years. Hear the words of the Presiding President of the 1901 Constitutional convention, Mr. Knox:
"...there is the question of the authority of county and municipal governments to create debts totally beyond the resources which must be looked to to provide payment. The framers of the present Constitution carefully stipulated a maximum rate of taxation, but made no provision against the creation of debt over and beyond the resources of the county or municipality. Consequently, improvident and unscrupulous officers have been able to impair the credit and fasten a load of debt upon cities and counties in different portions of the State, which has involved many of them in litigation and bankruptcy. Some just provision should be incorporated, limiting the power to create debt beyond the reasonable ability of the county or municipality to pay." 3
The evidence is quite clear: home rule does not empower the citizen. It was never intended to do so. The authors of the Shelby County home rule amendment knew full well what they were doing. By placing a small deceptive paragraph on the ballot, the amendment passed, leaving the voter to think that he had given the county commission more power than it previously had. When in fact the opposite was true.
So, how is the situation corrected? First by calling a moratorium on all changes to the constitution, developing an educational course in the fundamentals of government and teaching the true history of our State. Then wait for that knowledgeable generation to grow to adulthood and become voters who will have sufficient knowledge to discern the truth.
Thank you for your time.
FOOTNOTES
1. HB 46
2. HB 45
3. Page 15 of the 1901 Constitutional proceedings
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