Along with choosing candidates for U.S. senator, governor, attorney general, legislative seats, judgeships, and other offices, Alabama voters will decide the fate of 10 statewide amendments on November 8.
The amendments are proposed changes to the Alabama Constitution that will appear on the ballot because the Legislature passed bills to put them there. It takes a majority of yes votes for any amendment to be added to the constitution.
In addition to the amendments, Alabama voters will decide whether to ratify the Alabama Constitution of 2022, a recompiled version of the Constitution of 1901, which has been amended almost 1,000 times.
The recompilation removes repealed sections and amendments and folds viable amendments into the applicable sections. It organizes local amendments by county and topic and removes racist language from several sections. Voters authorized the recompilation in 2020.
You can read the recompiled constitution and documents about how it was developed on the Legislature’s website.
Amendment 1
Amendment 1 would change Section 16 of the constitution, which concerns the right to bail.
Section 16 says people charged with a crime other than a capital offense are eligible for bail. It says bail amounts cannot be excessive.
Amendment 1 would add a dozen charges that could make a person ineligible for bail: Murder (other than capital murder), kidnapping, rape, sodomy, domestic violence, human trafficking, burglary, arson, and robbery, all in the 1st degree, as well as aggravated child abuse, sexual torture, and terrorism.
Amendment 1 is named Aniah’s Law in recognition of Aniah Blanchard, a college student from Homewood who was abducted and murdered in 2019. The man charged in her death was out on bond after being charged with several violent crimes. Blanchard’s parents and stepparents spoke at the State House in support of the legislation.
A companion bill passed by the Legislature will take effect if voters approve Amendment 1. The companion bill outlines the process for a pretrial detention hearing that will be required if a prosecutor asks a court to deny bail for a person charged with one of the listed crimes. The defendant could testify, call witnesses, cross-examine witnesses, and present evidence to show they should be granted bail. The judge would rule on the prosecutor’s no-bail request within 48 hours of the hearing and would have to state the reasons if bail is denied.
Rep. Chip Brown, a Republican from Mobile County, sponsored the bill for Amendment 1 and the companion bill on the pretrial detention hearings. Both bills passed the House and Senate without an opposing vote.