Virgin Islands Humanities Council We The People Project:

An Objective Overview of the Virgin Islands Constitutional Conventions”

The Road to the Constitution”

The first “We The People” event was a live televised forum on TV2 / Talk2 with host Attorney Amos Carty, Jr. The forum gave an objective overview of the previous Virgin Islands Constitutional Conventions. The panelists were: Mr. Basil Ottley, Jr. – political analyst, Attorney Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine – legal scholar, Dr. Ruth Beagles – former convention delegate, and Ms. Lorna Thomas – Board of Elections representative. The live forum is intended to create public awareness on the past constitutions drafted for and by the people of the Virgin Islands.

What are the components of a constitution? Is it critical that we draft, adapt and put in place a constitution? Why should we have a constitution?

Mr. Basil Ottley

A constitution establishes a framework for how the society works: who has power, how that power is distributed, the rights and privileges of the people. It gives a general sense of how a society should proceed in an organized manner through fruition.

We have a federal document (the Revised Organic Act) that even though it has been amended several times, the core document dates back to 1954, and we have changed considerably with increasing demands for accountability and so on. The only way to formally address these kinds of issues is through a constitution.

What is the significance of drafting a whole new document as opposed to the adoption of the Revised Organic Act of 1954?

Mr. Basil Ottley

If changes are to be made, they must be done through Congress, and some legislators suggested that to get the document closer to home would be to adopt the 1954 Organic Act document so that we can get approval right away and not deal with more controversial issues that have come up during past constitutions. The main objective is to move away from having to go to Congress.

Ms. Lorna Thomas

We have to petition Congress to make changes, no matter how minor or major, and despite the many changes to the Organic Act of 1954, the purpose of a constitution is to pursue the right to be self-governing.

What are some of the things that contributed to the lack of a successful constitutional convention? What do we need to improve looking to 2007?

Dr. Ruth Beagles

We need to be careful how we approach voters because we need as much participation as possible by eligible voters.

What are some of the critical issues, from the standpoint of St. Croix particularly, with regard to the movement toward more municipal governance or self-governance? Do you believe that issues affecting self-governance and the right of the individuals on St. Croix to affect decisions made on St. Croix will fuel the constitution?

Dr. Ruth Beagles

I suppose that it does… St. Croix was once under municipal government and also legislative assemblies that met in St. Thomas four times a year. Some people feel that St. Croix residence are treated like second-class citizens. We need to work together as one Virgin Islands to make the constitution work for all Virgin Islanders.

How do we make public education effective?

Dr. Ruth Beagles

We have to find ways to get voter input with positive recommendations. I feel that delegates of the fifth Constitutional Convention should articulate a vision for the V.I., then list objectives on achieving the vision and last, establish methods for evaluating the objectives by success or failure. This would give the delegates a head-ups on guidelines and parameters for the constitution.

What do you see as some of the reasons why we have failed to produce a constitution in our four previous constitutional conventions?

Ms. Lorna Thomas

Particular provisions were “hot button” issues: the governor being elected, the right to a congressional delegate and the right to vote at 18. An easy fix was Congress going back and amending the Revised Organic Act, so the pressure to state this assertively on our own behalf, and create a document, was relieved. People don’t see a pressing necessity to change the document. In 1942 the social and political pressures that were forcing us to be agitated to implement self-rule were great. Over the years there is a certain complacency that has occurred as well as a failure by delegates and legislatures to effectively inform and educate the public.

The public must realize that they are the most important stakeholders in the process. Delegates have a responsibility to the points enumerated. Lack of education and complacency is the main failure.

How does status play into this whole discussion on the constitution? What is status? Is it required that we determine our status before we adopt a constitution?

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

Status is the legal / political condition under which we exist. It may not be the one that we want—being an Unincorporated Territory of the United States. So we do not have to change our status in order to have a constitution; a constitution is the framework by which the government will be organized.

Do you believe that in the background there will still be the question of status?

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

Yes, for many people there will be. Yes, we can have a constitution without having a determination about being independent or free association, etc. because the constitution is a governance document.

Is it legally required that we must define who is a Virgin Islander?

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

No. What I found interesting is that there were no particular rights or benefits accrued to persons defined as Virgin Islanders. All rights and benefits were to United States citizens living in the Virgin Islands. No one was included or excluded based on their being defined as a Virgin Islander.

How many delegates will be elected to each district? What are the delegate requirements? And what are some of the processes involved?

Ms. Lorna Thomas

There will be 13 delegates from the St. Thomas district, 13 from the St. Croix district and 4 at-large, which will be comprised of 2 from St. Thomas and 2 from St. Croix. Requirements for the delegates are the same as for holding any public office: they must be U.S. citizens with V.I. residency for a prescribed amount of time, and June of 2007 is the deadline for delegates. This gives us a little over a year, which increases our chances of better voter education and turnout. The more ownership the public feels that they have in the process the higher the voter turnout.

What will happen once the document is returned from Congress?

Ms. Lorna Thomas

After it is finalized in July of 2008, it is then turned over to the governor. The governor then has 10 days to submit the document to the president of the United States who then has another 30 days to submit the document to Congress. This process was set up in the 1976 Act, which gave the V.I. and Guam the power to set about enacting their own constitution. This is already prescribed by public law.

Through the Territorial Clause, Congress has plenary authority over all the territories including the Virgin Islands. From a legal perspective is it very possible that the document we enact as a constitution—adopted by voters, transmitted to the president, to Congress, etc.—can still be rejected. What happens next?

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

You start the process over.

Mr. Basil Ottley, Jr.

However, Congress has never rejected what we have sent. The constitution is a very complex and mundane issue. We are lacking a level of civic education from K-12 to make people sensitive to the document that governs them, and as a result, this is not an easy subject to grasp. Every student can tell you something about the Bill of Rights, but few Virgin Islanders have even seen the Organic Act in school. They had civics, but in terms of breaking down the document that gives structure to our government, that was not done; serious discussion regarding our relationship to the United States or what that means to our development was never engaged in. If we deal with the constitution from K-12, then people can relate to it more readily. How, in three or six months, can people be ready to grasp these heavy issues?

Atty. Amos Carty, Jr.

For this reason the delegates must ensure that the public (the stakeholders) is engaged in the process, and this must involve going into the schools K-12, and that needs to happen now.

Mr. Basil Ottley

It is a heavy burden to place on the delegates who will be engrossed in trying to understand certain things for themselves especially since the qualifications do not require a legal or scholarly background.

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

I wonder if we are not putting the chicken before the egg: we are talking about engaging all of the stakeholders, but at the point where we have already begun the process. I wonder if maybe, before we even talk about delegates, there can be some way to identify what are the concerns and issues. From the last constitutional convention until now our community has changed drastically. It is almost impossible to find out what are the main issues and what people should expect, especially when things like the “constitution” is not a part of their lingo, and there are so many varieties of people who must have a say.

When the discussion came up on the constitutional convention, the cry from St. Croix was don’t delay it, let’s do it this year; we need to address the issues that a constitution would deal with. Who do you see that affecting on St. Croix?

Dr. Ruth Beagles

I believe that some things should happen before we have another constitutional convention. When I was in school, civics was taught, not any more. K-12 is a beautiful place to get started and we need to have a series of hearings because listening is what will give us (added word) the direction that we need to go in. As this program is called the “road map” to the constitution, the community must have a commission of “road mappers:” people who will invite themselves to make presentations to organizations and listen to them deal with some of the concerns. Then the information that they would collect would give delegates some kind of direction.

Would we be able to change our status based on a new constitution?

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

No because there are specific guidelines as to what the constitution can contain, and it cannot conflict with the laws of the United States because if it falls outside of the parameters set by the U.S. Congress, it can be rejected.

TV2 Caller: What party (if any) would a delegate run under; what roles should the [political] parties play?

Ms. Lorna Thomas

The parties should educate their constituents to the importance of a constitution and be involved. The law clearly states that delegates do not run under a party affiliation. Most delegates will have a party affiliation but will not be running as a Democrat, Republican or an Independent. The political parties have the same responsibility as every other civic organization, that is to educate their constituents as to the importance of the constitutional convention.

TV2 Caller: I am of the view that we need to determine status before the constitution. Suppose we vote for Free Association. This would affect the constitution, as we are presently an Unincorporated Territory. Shouldn’t we hold a status referendum first and then a constitutional convention?

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

At the point when our status changes, we amend the constitution or create a new constitution. A constitution is not a static document. No matter what your status is, it is subject to being amended through various processes, whether legislation initiative or citizens proposing an initiative, but) it is always subject to being amended.

TV2 Caller: Some of the V.I. residents may not have come out to vote out of some concern that they were not represented, invited or welcomed. Would the V.I. [constitution] follow the same pattern as the U.S., Danish or other constitutions before or after?

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

In the inalienable legislation, we are required to have a bill of rights, a republican form of government and recognize the sovereignty of the United States. Beyond that some of the constitutions that were drafted here included the right to an education, teaching cultural education and preserving our culture and so on. Whatever we wanted was included in the document as well as those things that Congress has said should be in the document.

TV2 Caller: For a regular general election, in order to vote, you must be a resident here for six months?

Ms. Lorna Thomas

No, 30 days prior to the election.

TV2 Caller: Even with this important constitution would a person still have the same 30 days before a constitutional election?

Ms. Lorna Thomas

As the legislature is currently configured, 30 days is the residency requirement.

Can we legally change our residency requirement? Can the Virgin Islands legally have a different residency requirement?

Atty. Rosalie Simmonds Ballentine

I don’t thing so because you start getting into disenfranchising people, and there can only be specific reasons for do so such as excluding felons and so forth.

Ms. Lorna Thomas

Once you start saying that you have to be a resident more that the norm to participate in this election, from a practical viewpoint of implementation, it becomes nearly impossible to prove residency. What document says that you lived here ten, fifteen, or twenty years ago? This just adds a procedural nightmare to the process that would further bog us down into discussion.

TV2 Caller statement: I am one who is not in agreement with the postponement of the constitutional convention for several reasons: What process is used to necessitate the postponement and how do we know that the same conditions won’t exist next year and would it then mean that we would postpone yet again. I agree that we would need ‘road mappers,’ but I see the ‘road mappers’ as being the delegates. We can be creative enough to set the convention up whereby the delegates can participate as ‘road mappers’ prior to convening a constitution. The delegates can attend certain classes at UVI or some sort of initiation to develop some sort of educational component to the delegation.

TV2 Caller: There is a bill that has gone through committee—the committee of rules and judiciary—26-0038, which says in essence to petition Congress to revise the Organic Act by lowering the number of voters required for an initiative to take effect. If it goes through, how do you think it will affect the outcome of the constitutional convention?

Ms. Lorna Thomas

During gubernatorial election years, we have the highest voter participation in the country. Last gubernatorial election we had over 70% come out to vote. I don’t think that the problem we have is general political complacency, especially coming out to vote. I think it comes to what we were saying; it’s a matter of engaging people in the process, and though I do understand that it would be easier to lower the required number of voters, I believe that the constitution is a very important issue, and we should have a high threshold of voter participation, so the maximum amount of people feel engaged and vote. The other issue with this proposed amendment to the Organic Act is that it lowers the requirement of participation for all referendums, and to do this just for the constitutional convention would be opening a can of worms.