ZOMBIE STATE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS MAUREEN E. BRADY* Introduction ......................................................................................... 1063 I. Identifying Zombies ................................................................. 1067 A. Core Cases ........................................................................ 1067 B. Peripheral Cases................................................................ 1069 C. Related Monsters .............................................................. 1075 II. The Dangers Zombies Pose...................................................... 1078 A. Learning from Related Contexts ....................................... 1078 B. Probing Potential Harms ................................................... 1081 1. Revival ........................................................................ 1081 2. Signaling ..................................................................... 1084 3. Error ............................................................................ 1085 III. Laying Zombies to Rest ........................................................... 1085 A. Complicating the Decision................................................ 1085 B. Broadening the Weapons .................................................. 1091 Conclusion .......................................................................................... 1095
INTRODUCTION On November 3, 2020, Alabama voters approved the opaquely named “Authorize Legislature to Recompile the State Constitution Measure.”1 As described by the state’s Fair Ballot Commission, the ballot measure would permit the Alabama legislature to “(1) remove racist language” and “(2) remove language that is repeated or no longer applies,” among other
* Professor of Law, Harvard Law School. This Essay benefited immensely from workshop participants at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Brooklyn Law School, and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. I am also deeply grateful for the comments and questions I received from the other participants in the Public Law in the States Conference at Wisconsin Law School. Special thanks to Niko Bowie, Jack Brady, Matt Nicola, Daniel Rice, and Rich Schragger for their comments on earlier drafts; to Beth Findley, Owen Hosseinzadeh, Sebastián Negrón Reichard, Ross Slaughter, Chloe Warnberg, and Thomas Weber for their research prowess; and to the members of the Wisconsin Law Review for their editorial assistance. 1. Alabama Amendment 4, Authorize Legislature to Recompile the State Constitution Measure (2020), BALLOTPEDIA, https://ballotpedia.org/Alabama_Amendment_4,_ Authorize_Legislature_to_Recompile_the_State_Constitution_Measure_(2020) [https://perma.cc/V9B6-3A4W] (last visited Oct. 8, 2020).