Final Constitution of the 5th Constitutional Convention
Crucians In Focus invites the public to review and comment on the attached Final Constitution of the 5th Constitutional Convention which was approved on May 26, 2009 at The Drive In (Estate Grove Place, St. Croix).
Final Constitution of the 5th Constitutional Convention
The document has been forwarded to the governor who has 10 days to forward it to President Obama. The President then has 60 days to review and forward it to the Congress with his comments. Congress then has 60 days to review the document and either return it as is or modify/amend the document, in whole or in part, as per Public Law 94-584 (full text; previously provided by Delegate Emmanuel in an opinion article). The document returned by Congress will be submitted to the people of the Virgin Islands for approval.
Please explain the definition of an Ancestral Native Virgin Islander. If a person is a descendant of an an Ancestral Native and was born between 1917 and 1932, how can he/she not be a citizen or subject of a foreign nation if the person was born outside the jurisdiction of the U.S.A.? Were there slaves living during this period? Can a natural-born Danish citizen, who is a descendant of an Ancestral Native meet the definition?
Were there any delegate with a high school diploma involved in constructing this document? It is filled grammatical errors and contradictions. Why would the delegates allow this draft to be reviewed by the public before having it proofread and analyzed by legal experts? It is an embarrassment to forward this document to the federal government. Should more federal funds be send to the VI? What kind of educational system exists in the VI? It seems like the people elected illiterate, uneducated individuals to draft a constitution. The document is a poor reflection of the people of the VI.
Please explain the definition of an Ancestral Native Virgin Islander. If a person is a descendant of an an Ancestral Native and was born between 1917 and 1932, how can he/she not be a citizen or subject of a foreign nation if the person was born outside the jurisdiction of the U.S.A.? Were there slaves living during this period? Can a natural-born Danish citizen, who is a descendant of an Ancestral Native meet the definition?
The definition is confusing. African descendants living or born in the VI may have descendants living as citizens of foreign nation. These descendants rightfully being denied rights;they are not U.S. citizens. Descendants with mixed ancestries, however, get the rights if they are U.S. citizens. If you want to take revenge against the former white colonizers, it is not effective. Also, Arabs who breed with Ancestral Natives could produce children who are eligible for the rights. Will DNA testing be required to prove one’s lineage/
Were there any delegate with a high school diploma involved in construction of this document? It is filled grammatical errors and contradictions. Why would the delegates allow this draft to be reviewed by the public before having it proofread and analyzed by legal experts? It is an embarrassment to forward this document to the federal government. Should more federal funds be send to the VI? What kind of educational system exists in the VI? It seems like the people elected illiterate, uneducated individuals to draft a constitution. The document is a poor reflection of the people of the VI.
Gumbo, this is the document you get when there is a last minute rush to complete it. Our politicians tried everything to stall the convention’s progress but it failed as they produced a document. Now the same Governor, who was the ringleader of those trying to halt the Convention’s work, is faced with submitting this document, with all its imperfections, to the President of the US. I just love it!
To God’s property:
I personally believe that the constitution is a secular document. The injection of the aforementioned clause in the preamble, something about God Almighty (I am too lazy to go back.), creates yet another controversy by making it non-secular. Plus, some people do not believe in God. To begin with such a clause presumes that everyone agrees.
With regards to your statement: “We are GOD’s property, we were put on earth to fulfill his purpose, and unless we wake up and realize that we are doomed.”
I cannot recall ever being referred to as “property,” with relation to God. This is the kind of thinking that bothers me. I am not anyone’s property. I am glad that I am a free thinking person.
Thanks puzzled, but checks and balances in reference to what? I hear G.James on the radio this morning speaking with sam topp and i’m still confused on those two issues. I have my antenna out for any discussions relate to that section of the constitution so that i can really understand it. but thank again
Now that this draft have been shredded by the panelists of Ronald’s Russell’s Talk show this past Saturday,are we now going to focus on the character of these critics? Further, it appears as if former Senator Russell is suggesting the document will be rejected by Congress. Russell implied that the Gov. has a legal ground not to forward the document. The jury still haS three days to count down. Will the Gov. forward it or not? The suspense is intense.
I am surprise that more people are not expressing their opinions publicly. Adoption of a VI Constitution would be the greatest historic moment since the transfer of the islands from Denmark to the U.S.A. Why is there so much apathy? Less than 25% of the electorate selected the delegates to this convention. Many are not acting as if they are disturbed by the draft and the fact that it has created a lot of controversies. The proponents of the document, clearly expressed their views regarding native rights during the campaign. I am wondering if some of the opponents feel that the document will not return for ratification.
Review the history of drafting a VI Constitution. The last two drafts were returned unamended by Congress. This 5th draft identified the United Nations Charter as being equally supreme to the U.S. Constitution. This is problematic;the drafters have expressed disdain for Congress’ authority. The political status issue has overwhelmed them and they have lost focus. Rather than sticking to what is explicit in the Public Law, they have decided to use the United Nations Charter. This is the first time this treaty is being applied to draft a VI constitution. Read the previous documents for yourselves
Laws are interpreted differently, according to the experiences of the interpreters. Examine the rulings of the Supreme Courts. Were all the hallmark decisions unanimous?
Let’s continue to debate. Did the Public Law explicitly stated that the United Nations Charter is an applicable treaty? Should the Gov. not forward the document? I rather discuss the answer to these questions than hear delegates insult the critics of the document. Would the Ten Commandment be a more acceptable document to the people of the VI than the 5th Constitutional draft?
With regards to checks, I believe the sub-district senators will represent a particular area of the district and they will have 4 years instead of 2 years. Those senators will have to answer to a smaller population and would be expected to vote in the interests of their district. An extension would be that the subdistrict senators would check the different branches of government more since they have to answer to a specific electorate, not the whole island as it is now.
I think that set-up is generally a good thing. However, I do not agree with the apportionment of the senators between the two districts. I would have an equal amount of senators between the two districts instead of the unbalance; St Thomas/St. John district will always have one more senator than the St. Croix district. In my opinion, we cannot check the St. Thomas/St. John district which is a worse situation. We will not be able to partially elect the St. Johnian senator and exercise our discretion. Therefore, they will not be answerable to us at all.
Does it not bother anyone that the preamble is a run-on sentence with no verb? If we are going to be taken seriously in the world, we had better not let anyone in the US see it until we have at least turned it into legible English!
It does bother me. The beginning of the preamble is not a complete sentence. Also, saying original indigenous is poor word usage. This document should not leave the territory. I’ll give the delegates a failing grade and ask that they do not take the course again.
I find it interesting that the same people that are upset about not following the U.S. Constitution in writing the VI Constitution are asking for the governor to not forward the VI Constitution, to “veto” the VI Constitution or not to sign it.
The Public Law states:
“Sec. 4. The CONVENTION SHALL submit to the Governor of the Virgin Islands a proposed constitution for the Virgin Islands and to the Governor of Guam a proposed constitution for Guam which shall comply with the requirements set forth in section 2(b) above.
Such constitutions shall be submitted to the President of the United States by the Governors of the Virgin Islands and Guam.”
There is no clause that suggests that the governor can veto, has to sign, or review, or ANYTHING except submit. The person/entity doing something in the first sentence is the CONVENTION. The only thing the governor does is SUBMIT the document to the President which is in the second sentence.
Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely want the governor to submit a constitution for approval, but this one isn’t it. This one is an embarrassment. The grammar is poor, the content is childish and in the extreme and unworthy of the Virgin Islanders…all of us.
Kenrick, thanks for explaining how the Senatorial structure will operate. I guess those who support sub-districting should be pleased.
As for the governor, he has a press conference today on WSTX AM 970 http://www.wstxam.com/ at 2:30pm today. I am curious as to how he’ll handle this, but he’s walking a fine line politically.
Lawd Harry Deh Judge, the Governor has become two branches of government!!!!!!!!!!! He is the Executive AND the Judicial Branches of government all in one. This has to go to the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands. I agree that there are issues with the document, but I do not believe that he can unilaterally make such a legal determination and NOT submit our document to the President.
With regards to the AG’s analysis, he is not quite correct on the issue of over-representation of St. John. (However, I totally disagree with the over-representation). The AG forgot about Markoe v. Legislature of the Virgin Islands. In that case and in my own words (i read it a long time ago), the 3rd Circuit refused to interfere in the apportionment of our senators because it was an internal issue. If the convention [in my opinion, wrongly] believes that St. John should have such representation, then it is OK as long as it is not very unfair.
Furthermore, the Governor speaks about Constitutions, Treaties etc, but basically it came down to the U.S. Constitution, forgetting about the other applicable laws. Clearly, there could be discrepancies between the various laws.
The plot thickens!
Kenrick,
Thank you. I was so annoyed after listening to de Wolf that I did not know what to write!!! He is not only the Executive AND Judicial branches of government, he is now DICTATOR. And Mr. AG, GO PAY YOUR CHILD SUPPORT.
From what I can interpret, the governor’s actions were not illegal. The legislation’s mentioning that the Constitution “shall comply with the requirements set forth in section 2(b) above.” before it mentions that the Governor shall forward it to the President, implies that the governor shall be the one to determine if it “complies with the requirements set forth…”
I think that if this constitution passes the the us congress should immediately pass the following laws.
1. Anyone who qualifies as an Ancestrial Native Virgin Islander shall be prohibited from holding any elected office in the US.
2. Any Ancestrial Native Virgin Islander who owns real estate in the US shall be charged a property tax surcharge in an amount such that the property taxes of all non-ancestrial native property owners in the USVI shall be paid by this surcharge.
GladtoBeYoung- Perhaps you are right. However, based on my limited understanding, I believe that the judicial branch should be the one settling the legality of his actions, not the AG. Remember, reasonable people can differ what a clause or clauses mean in a statute.
I view it a little differently, I believe that there could be conflicts with the U.S. Constitution and treaties, etc. What does one do when there are conflicts? I believe that the courts should be the ones settling the conflicts.
If I am not mistaken, there were cases where certain sections of a state constitution were found to be un-constitutional, but they didn’t throw out the whole constitution. (Dont quote me on that one, I am digging deep into my memory)
I can’t believe we allowed Dictator deJongh to kill the entire constitution because of a few sentences. I guess he’ll be embarassed when Bert Bryan carries his lame AG to court.
It sounds good. It makes for good drama. It is perhaps the proper step to take. However, the court threat is a farce!
The Govenor has stalled the Constituional Convention efforts. Luz James vows he will sue the Governor in Superior Court, requesting a writ of mandamus. This appears to be an effort in futility since the law requires the Governor to forward the document to the federal government within ten days.
The ten day window has elasped. So while a court could rule that the Governor violated the law. The court is unable to compel that the law be followed (to submit the document within ten days) since the ten day window has passed. Additionally, at the end of any ruling are two successive appeal courts. The ball is now in the hand of the Legislature.
The governor did the right thing. The constitutional convention was an embarrassment. The deciding vote on passing it came from a cellphone call from jail. I’m sure he read the final document thoroughly.