Revision of Alabama Constitution Stalls

The Legislature's effort to rewrite the lengthy Alabama Constitution article by article has stalled A Senate committee delayed action Wednesday on four proposed constitutional amendments that would rewrite four articles of the Constitution. Committee members say the issue is over for now, with only seven meeting days remaining in the 2014 legislative session. The chairman of the Senate Constitution and Elections Committee, Republican Sen. Bryan Taylor of Prattville, says the process lost momentum after state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and Justice Tom Parker issued advisory opinions saying the article-by-article approach was unconstitutional. Moore says the Legislature is undertaking a rewrite of the Constitution even though it is doing it in pieces, and it is taking away the public's ability to rewrite the whole Constitution through a constitutional convention.