Blind Lady Justice
By Glynn Wilson –
MOBILE, Ala. — When voters go to the polls in Alabama on Super Tuesday, not only will they be voting either Republican or Democrat for their favorite candidate, Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump or one of the others.
There is an amendment to the state constitution on the ballot which is causing confusion for voters. As usual the outmoded way of changing the old state constitution leaves much to be desired.
The way we read it, a yes vote would allow district attorneys and court clerks to be included in the Alabama Retirement System along with other state employees after Nov. 8, 2016. A no vote would leave them in limbo where they are.
If the Amendment is defeated, “qualifying district attorneys and circuit clerks would not be able to participate in a state- administered retirement plan, but would remain eligible to participate in the current post- retirement supernumerary compensation system. Furthermore, retirement plans for justices or judges would not be modified.”
So if you like lawyers and want to support the courts and give officers of the court a retirement plan, vote yes.
If you hate big government and think lawyers are crooks, you might want to vote no.
Just keep in mind that these lawyers are mostly prosecuting district attorneys keeping criminals off the streets, along with the clerks who handle the day to day work of the courts.
If you want to keep good people working in the court system, you might want to vote yes.
If you think the courts should just go to hell, by all means, vote no. In other words, if you are voting Republican, you will probably want to vote no. If you are voting in the Democratic Primary, you will probably want to vote yes.
It will be interesting to see how many people vote Republican and for a Democrat. Conventional wisdom is that Alabama is a conservative, Republican state. But women and blacks voting for Hillary and new, younger voters turning our for Bernie Sanders just might make it closer than anyone thinks possible.
No matter how you plan to vote, please make the effort to vote, if you are registered. It is an essential American right.
Like Huey Long used to say, “If you don’t vote, you don’t matter.”
Read the text of the Amendment here: STATEWIDE_AMENDMENT-1
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