Idiot? Insane? No way, voters may say.
-
- October
- 22
Offensive language in the New Jersey state Constitution may be changed when voters go to the polls Nov. 6, according to the Associated Press.
The language that has some people fuming reads like this: “No idiot or insane person shall enjoy the right of suffrage.�
The Constitution was adopted in 1844, and times have changed, say advocates for the mentally and physically disabled.
The language stigmatizes mental and physical disability and fuels myths and stereotypes, the advocates add.
Ohio, New Mexico, Mississippi and Iowa are among at least seven other states that have the words “idiot� and “insane� in their Constitutions.
If voters approve the change, the replacement phrase will be specific about barring people who “lack the capacity to understand the act of voting.�
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 22nd, 2007 at 7:17 pm by Suzan Clarke.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
| 
You can change the word but not the condition.
What word other than ‘insane’ should be used to describe, well, insanity?
As far as the word ‘idiot’ is concerned, it has become a pejorative, but it used to just mean a person of very limited intelligence.
Neither of these is positive conditions, and changing what we call it will not make them so.
How will they judge that, anyway?
“You want to vote for Corzine? That’s certifiably nuts!”
Richard,
That’s a good point…:)
I’m not sure why people would suddenly get upset about this language now. To me, the whole issue is a big yawner. Kind of like when people make an issue of using the work “spokesman” rather than “spokesperson.” Who cares? Certainly not I.