{news} Courant: Mike DeRosa on constitutional convention

[David Bedell]

I think Mike is right in principle, but if direct initiative passes, we
better be as well organized as the conservatives.  Am I correct that
referendum can automatically override legislation, but does not override the
state constitution?  In that case, we need to make sure minority rights are
safeguarded in the constitution (gays, immigrants, prisoners, etc.) .

What if the mob votes to kill all the lawyers?  ;-)

http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-rally0929.artsep29,0,7725388.story

PUBLIC POLICY
Rally Pushes Constitutional Convention

By DANIELA ALTIMARI

September 29, 2008

Former state Rep. John Woodcock defines himself as a progressive Democrat
who favors gay rights; Peter Wolfgang is a conservative whose main job is
battling same-sex marriage.

They wouldn't seem to agree on much. But Woodcock and Wolfgang have found
common ground on a question that will appear on the November ballot: Should
the state hold a convention to amend the state constitution? They both say
yes because they want to see the constitution reworked to allow for
something called "direct initiative," a mechanism that permits citizens to
force a vote on matters of public policy.

"This is about opening up democracy and sharing power," said Woodcock, who
served in the legislature in the 1980s and now teaches at Central
Connecticut State University. "It's an establishment vs. the people issue."

Opponents of direct initiative say it would clog government with endless and
expensive referendums on a host of arcane matters. Gay-rights activists say
it will become a tool for those who want to quash the rights of same-sex
couples.

The question has drawn its most vocal support from conservative groups who
feel shut out of the circles of power at the Capitol. They include the
anti-gay-rights Family Institute of Connecticut, which Wolfgang leads, as
well as advocates of tougher penalties for criminals, critics of eminent
domain and taxpayer activists.

But it has also piqued the interest of some progressives who are similarly
frozen out by the state's political elite. "We shouldn't be afraid of
democracy," said Mike De Rosa, head of the Green Party in Connecticut. The
party hasn't taken an official position on the question, but De Rosa said it
deserves a look. Thirty-one states, including California and Massachusetts,
permit direct initiative, or a similar mechanism.

"A lot of conservative groups are looking at it from their own ideological
paradigm," De Rosa said. "We see it as an opportunity to free the system, to
open it up to more choices and more voices. That's very frightening to
people."

Neither De Rosa nor Woodcock were among the roughly 2,800 people who
attended a Family Institute rally on the north side of the Capitol Sunday
afternoon. The event aimed to drum up support for the constitutional
convention and also to "urge" the state Supreme Court to reject a lawsuit
brought by eight same-sex couples seeking the right to marry. Although
judges in Connecticut are not elected, "they do follow public opinion,"
Wolfgang asserted.

About 75 people gathered on the south side of the building in opposition to
the constitutional convention.

Copyright © 2008, The Hartford Courant