Draft Constitution On Its Way Back To Territory For Reconsideration
The draft Virgin Islands Constitution is on its way back to the Territory with direction from the US Congress to reconvene the Constitutional Convention and revise the provisions deemed questionable because of their conflict with the US Constitution.
On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a Joint Resolution (SJ 33, attached) that “urges the Fifth Constitutional Convention of the United States Virgin Islands to reconvene for the purpose of reconsidering and revising the proposed constitution in response to the views of the executive branch of the Federal Government.” The Senate unanimously passed the resolution June 17.
The provisions highlighted for reconsideration mirror the comments made in a Justice Department review that was requested by President Barack Obama after he received the document in December, 2009. Those provisions include the absence of an express recognition of United States sovereignty and the supremacy of Federal law; provisions for a special election on the territorial status of the United States Virgin Islands and; provisions conferring legal advantages on certain groups defined by place and timing of birth, timing of residency, or ancestry.
It is interesting to note that while local controversy has centered on those provisions related to native and ancestral native rights, the Congress focused on the fact that the document does not recognize the supremacy of Federal law, specifically the US Constitution. This has been a sticking point since the draft document was completed, as the status of the VI as an unincorporated Territory of the United States requires that the US Constitution remain the overall governing document, irrespective of any local governing initiative.
So what happens now?
The Fifth Constitutional Convention has been asked to reconvene and reconsider those provisions noted in the joint resolution. This will require funding and Convention President Gerard “Luz” James has asked Congress for some $600,000 for Convention expenses and a public education initiative. At this writing, we are not aware of any funds that have been committed.
Whenever the funding question is resolved, the Convention will reconvene and consider the items noted in the resolution. The Convention has the option to revise the document or leave it in its current state. Once the group completes the reconsideration review, the document must be resubmitted to the President and the Congress, which then has 45 days to review and return to the Territory. Ideally, there would be a series of public meetings to explain the document to the public after which time, the document would be put to a vote.
The draft Constitution will be the topic of discussion at a session during the Emancipation Day commemoration this Saturday, July 3, at 4 p.m. in Budhoe Park.
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This will be the fifth time that the document fail. This is the worse one so far. The Congress has pointed out so many problems with it. It is a shame that so much money was wasted and the convention delegates disregarded the rule that it had to be in confirmity with the U.S. Constitution.Why do they refuse to respect the Public Law?