UA Student Group Organizes Statewide Reading of Alabama Constitution

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama branch of Students for Constitutional Reform will be reading the Alabama Constitution over two days, Tuesday-Wednesday, Oct. 24-25, on the steps of Reese Phifer Hall.

The reading of the Alabama Constitution will begin at 8 a.m. and will be led by Matthew Lewis of Prattville, UA junior and ASCR president.

Some 40 students and community members are expected to take part in the reading of the document that will continue through the night Tuesday, Oct. 24 and all day Wednesday, Oct. 25, concluding that evening.

This is the second year the UA student group has read the lengthy document. This year, the grassroots student effort will be replicated at several other colleges at the same, said Lewis, a double major in political science and history and a student fellow in UA’s Blackburn Institute.

“After last year, we wanted a bigger event,” Lewis said. ASCR coordinated with Alabama Citizens for Constitutional Reform to get several colleges across the state to read the state constitution on the same date as well.

“Last year we saw a dialog with members of the media as well as students and others, but we’re trying to get more. We want people to really get involved in trying to make the state aware of the problems with our state constitution,” Lewis commented.

The Alabama Constitution was written in 1901 and is the longest constitution in the United States with 777 amendments, he noted.

Along with trying to raise awareness about the length of the constitution, ASCR wants to call attention to the outdated amendments and language.

UA student Sarah Kate Sullivan, ASCR vice president, chair of the Blackburn Institute, a member of the Capstone Men and Women, and director of the student tutoring program Hang TYMERs added, “Other than the racist language still in our state constitution, we have so many amendments because we don’t allow counties home rule. Without this ability, our state constitution has rules about mosquito control in counties, dung removal and other equally absurd things.”

For more information or to get involved with the reading contact Lewis at lewis132@bama.ua.edu , online go to http://bama.ua.edu/%7Eascr/ .