In line 8 the recommendation would read:
"It shall be the policy of this State that
the state government shall, by appropriate
action, conserve, enhance, improve and pro-
tect the natural resources and environment,
and scenic beauty of the State."
THE CHAIRMAN: May I state it as I
have it? This is a substitute, I take it, for
lines 8, 9, 10 and 11: "It shall be the policy
of this State that the state government
shall, by appropriate action, conserve, en-
hance, and protect the natural resources
and environment, and scenic beauty of the
State."
Is that correct?
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: Yes, Mr.
Chairman.
THE CHAIRMAN: The Chair recog-
nizes Delegate Hardwicke to speak to the
amendment.
DELEGATE HARDWICKE: Mr. Chair-
man, Members of the Committee of the
Whole: It seems to me that if the Chair-
man of the Committee on General Provi-
sions had considered this to be a policy
matter, I certainly would go along with
him, but now we have written into the rec-
ord of this Convention that the Committee
considers that it is a mandate to the legis-
lature, which if the legislature does not act,
the court can frame.
Now, I think that the members of this
Convention should take a rather dim view
of courts enacting legislation, and it seems
to me that what was really meant, or what
ought to be meant is that this is a matter
of policy, and is a matter of policy both in
the executive branch and in the legislative
branch of the government.
For that reason, in my amendment I
have suggested the language, "the state
government shall," which leaves it open to
either the executive or the legislative
branch, and the phraseology, "appropriate
action," again leaves it a matter of time in
the remedy that is sought so that there is
maximum flexibility in the policy statement.
Now, it is true, it does not go very far
with regard to compelling action, but I
do not think we can go very far. I think
that all that we can do is frame a declara-
tion of principle in this area, and that is
what I have sought to do in my amend-
ment. I hope that this amendment will be
favorably acted upon, Mr. Chairman, and
members of the Committee.
THE CHAIRMAN: Does anyone desire |
to speak in opposition to the proposed
amendment?
Delegate Scanlan.
DELEGATE SCANLAN: I speak in
opposition to Delegate Hardwicke's amend-
ment, though I have some sympathy for
his attempt to clarify what became unclear,
I believe, in the previous discussion.
I am against both his amendment and
the original proposal.
I believe in either case they are merely
exhortations. They do not rise to the level
of constitutional principles.
Now, there are other exhortations equally
noble in their motive and in their aim that
perhaps might be considered. Some might
urge that we put in a statement or exhorta-
tion that the legislature shall guarantee
decent housing. I would think that that
would have a higher claim to the attention
of this body than the one now before you.
But my point is, no matter how noble the
aspirations or the exhortations that the
various groups have—and I certainly sym-
pathize with the conservationists, and I
hope that everything they aspire to in this
statement is ultimately done by the legisla-
ture of this state—I do not believe the ex-
hortation to that effect has any place in
the constitution.
You can look at the old constitution and
see exhortations, the one in which the legis-
lature was exhorted to guarantee the purity
of the election laws. I suggest that the
presence of that or the absence of that ex-
hortation had no effect whatsoever on the
ultimate involvement of the present Cor-
rupt Practices Act.
In their own way these statements of
principles, these directions to the legisla-
ture that "thou shall", are almost as in-
sulting as some of the "thou shall not's"
that from time to time we suggest be laid
upon the legislature.
There is no question that the legislature
under the expanding judicial interpretation
of the general welfare has the power to
do everything that they are exhorted to do
in this statement.
As for the question of judicial enforce-
ment, I think it is perfectly clear that there
would be no court in this State or in any
State that would ever have the power to
force the legislature to pass a law, which
I gather was somewhat implied in some of
the discussion that preceded the introduc-
tion of Delegate Hardwicke's amendment, |
