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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>I had hopes that Republican candidate for Sheriff, Rick Henderson, would remove the Rosa Parks fairy tale posted on his blog. It seemed briefly last night that he had. But apparently, the words of his hero, Richard Mack, are sacred and once again the ludicrous version of how a <a href="http://www.rickforsheriff.com/">constitutional sheriff</a> would have handled the issue of forcing African Americans to sit in the back seats of a public bus are proudly presented. What a steaming pile of (fill in the blank).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>“An illustration of what a constitutional sheriff should do is given below: “What would a constitutional sheriff have done in 1955?” Mack asked the crowd.<br><br>When the call came in to the Montgomery County, Ala., sheriff’s office that a black woman was refusing to move to the back of the bus – as required by law – the sheriff would have arrived on the scene and talked to Rosa Parks. “Ma’am, what’s the problem,” a constitutional sheriff would have asked her, Mack said. Told she had taken an empty seat and just wanted to be left alone, the constitutional sheriff would have sat down next to her, ridden with her to her stop – and, once off, for good measure taken her into a whites-only restaurant so she could buy sandwiches for her and her husband.<br>He’d have then escorted her home, Mack said – asked if her husband was armed and could defend his family if anyone upset by what had happened came around and threatened them – and ordered extra patrols of the house. “Remember, segregation wasn’t a tradition, it was the law of the land,” Mack said. “Rosa Parks taught us what you do with stupid laws.” Richard Mack” <</span> <span style='font-size:14.0pt'><a href="http://www.rickforsheriff.com">http://www.rickforsheriff.com</a>><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>By definition, a constitutional sheriff defends and enforces both the federal and state constitution. In Alabama that would place them in an interesting dilemma. Although there is a strong (and familiar) preamble, it rapidly goes downhill from there.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>“We the people of the State of Alabama, in order to establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution and form of government for the State of Alabama.”</span></i><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The Alabama constitution is “</span><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>At 340,136 words, . . . 12 times longer than the average <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_constitution_%28United_States%29" title="State constitution (United States)">state constitution</a>, 40 times longer than the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Constitution" title="U.S. Constitution">U.S. Constitution</a>, and is the longest still-operative constitution anywhere in the world. (The English translation of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_India" title="Constitution of India">Constitution of India</a>, the longest national constitution, is about 117,369 words long, a third of the length.) (all quoted reference to the Alabama constitution are found <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Alabama">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Alabama</a> ) <o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Further, “The extreme length of the current constitution is both because of and the cause of heavy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralization" title=Centralization>centralization</a> of power in the state government, leaving very little authority to local units. Counties cannot even legislate on local issues, requiring the state legislature, and <i>ipso facto</i> uninvolved parts of the state, to pass local laws.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The constitution addresses many issues that are dealt with by statute in most other states. The most notable issue is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation" title=Taxation>taxation</a>. Unlike most other states, a large portion of Alabama's tax code is written into the constitution. Besides prohibiting local governments from passing any <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Local_ordinance" title="Local ordinance">ordinances</a> on tax issues, this necessitates its amendment over minor taxation issues. Adding to the problem is the requirement that a proposed amendment of any sort must be unanimously approved by the legislature; otherwise it must be submitted for a statewide vote. This has resulted in local county or municipality related amendments being overwhelmingly approved in the affected area, but rejected statewide<o:p></o:p></span></p><h3><span class=mw-headline><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Discrimination</span></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></h3><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The document has been heavily criticized for discriminatory elements, many of which have been made <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mootness" title=Mootness>moot</a> by amendments to the federal constitution or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Supreme_Court" title="United States Supreme Court">United States Supreme Court</a> decisions.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>The President of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutional_convention_%28political_meeting%29" title="Constitutional convention (political meeting)">Constitutional Convention</a> stated in his <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inaugural_address" title="Inaugural address">inaugural address</a> that their intention was "within the limits imposed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_United_States" title="Constitution of the United States">Federal Constitution</a>, to establish <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_supremacy" title="White supremacy">white supremacy</a> in this State." (<a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/misc/history/constitutions/1901/proceedings/1901_proceedings_vol1/day2.html">Day 2 of 54</a>) <a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-245721.htm">Section 181</a> required the use of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Literacy_test" title="Literacy test">literacy tests</a> to enroll voters, while <a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-245720.htm">Section 180</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandfather_clause" title="Grandfather clause">grandfathered in</a> anyone who served in the military, or descended from them; these have since been outlawed by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_Rights_Act" title="Voting Rights Act">Voting Rights Act</a>. <a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-245734.htm">Section 194</a> requires the payment of 1.50 USD <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poll_tax" title="Poll tax">poll tax</a> (Worth approximately 37.74 USD by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_Price_Index" title="Consumer Price Index">CPI</a><sup id="cite_ref-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Alabama#cite_note-0">[1]</a></sup>).<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Originally it outlawed <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interracial_marriage" title="Interracial marriage">interracial marriage</a> (<a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-245637.htm">Section 102</a>), but this provision was rendered inoperative by <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loving_v._Virginia" title="Loving v. Virginia">Loving v. Virginia</a></i>. It was finally removed in 2000 by <a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-569874.htm">Amendment 667</a>. The constitution still requires <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racial_segregation" title="Racial segregation">racially segregated</a> education in the state (<a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-245806.htm">Section 256</a>). Although this provision has not been enforced since the 1960s, the continued existence of these provisions is seen by many as an embarrassment to the state. A proposal to strike the segregation requirement was defeated narrowly in 2004 <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6596687/">(MSNBC)</a>. Nearly all organizations opposing the repeal of the segregation measure pointed to a provision stating that the state did not provide a right to a state financed education. Groups opposing the repeal of this amendment claimed that repeal would lead to court decisions requiring the state to raise taxes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-245717.htm">Section 177 denied</a> women the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage" title="Women's suffrage">right to vote</a> by confining voting rights to "male citizens," but this was rendered unenforceable by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteenth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution" title="Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution">19th Amendment</a> until <a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-246422.htm">Amendment 579</a> was substituted, which contained no reference to gender.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><a href="http://www.legislature.state.al.us/CodeOfAlabama/Constitution/1901/CA-245722.htm">Section 182</a> disenfranchized all "idiots and insane persons" (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey" title="New Jersey">New Jersey</a> recently removed a similarly offensively worded phrase from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Jersey_State_Constitution" title="New Jersey State Constitution">its constitution</a>), men who interracially married and those convicted of "crime against nature" (homosexuality). “<o:p></o:p></span></p><h2><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext;font-weight:normal'>Are you getting the picture, Mr. Henderson? Again, I urge reading the Plessy v Ferguson decision which was overturned in 1954 (the year before the Montgomery bus boycott) by Brown v Board. (That ruling was ignored by all former confederate states for more than a decade.) And, while I’m thinking about it, what are your feelings about </span><span class=mw-headline><span style='color:windowtext;font-weight:normal'>Maricopa County </span></span><span class=mw-headline><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext;font-weight:normal'>Sheriff's Office and that incredible jackass, Joe Arpaio? Please answer the Arpaio question publicly on this forum as a demonstration of your willingness to be transparent to your (possible) constituency. </span></span><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:windowtext;font-weight:normal'><o:p></o:p></span></h2><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'>Rose Huskey<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>