CONSTITUTION REVISION COMMITTEE

Just recently the former (last) Chairman of the Constitution Revision Committee (CRC) did a road trip with his dad to Key West, Florida. That's right, drove all the way there in his Dodge Nitro. He and his dad visited the Keys, Alligator Alley, and Harrah's at Cherokee, North Carolina. Sounds like a good trip. It sounded like they had fun.

He and I met up and talked about what has been happening, the last couple of weeks here, in Uncasville, Connecticut. We talked about the Tribal Council's sponsored meetings on the Minor's Trust and the Restriction of Information Ordinance. Oh, got it wrong again, I mean the Freedom of Information Ordinance. We talked again how the Tribal Council had gotten the cart in front of the horse again. Yes, the Tribal Council had again passed a law ant then had a meeting on it. Again after a petition to reject an ordinance. He was interested in what was happening in the two court cases about freedoms in the Mohegan Tribal Court system.

Then he said, something that surprised me, he said he was thinking of starting a brand new Constitution Revision Committee. He gave the impression that he was going to contact the previous members of the committee to see if they would like to rejoin. He said they would work on the things that had not been completed by the CRC. The idea I believe was that the committee would take the things that needed to be fixed directly to the membership, or they could go through the Council of Elders, like the old committee did.

The committee could brush off the old Freedom of Information Ordinance and somehow get the Mohegan Tribe to vote on it. Then there is the question of Sovereign Immunity that needs to be addressed. We still need an independent court system. Maybe there should be less members on the Tribal Council and the Council of Elders (it would take an amendment to change this). The problem of the Mohegan Tribal Government not being accountable to it's membership. The petition provision of the Constitution could be looked at. I believe, the Constitution only calls for one meeting with the membership annually by the Tribal Council, that should be fixed.

it's an interesting concept. I don't know if it would work but it is definitely worth a try. It shall be interesting to see what happens. Do we need the CRC to come back to life? Would you join? What do you think?