Opinion ID: 1843606
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Legislature is Aware of the Educational Problems

Text: That the other branches of government are aware of the plight of public education in Alabama is plain from a reading of some addresses given by former Governors John Patterson and George Wallace and present Governor Fob James. [9] Based on my reading of those addresses and after a cursory reading of some of the history of gubernatorial and legislative efforts to address what has been described as a continuing crisis in public education, I believe that the other two branches are not only aware of the crisis in public education but have proposed their own plans for solving it. Consequently, it would seem that the mere fact that the plaintiffs here sought the aid of the judiciary in addressing the problem should offer an opportunity for intergovernmental cooperation not create an interbranch conflict of such magnitude that attention becomes focused on the conflict rather than on solving the problem. In short, the fact that the plaintiffs have asked for a declaratory judgment should not be materially different from the procedure sometimes used by the Governor and the Legislature in seeking an advisory opinion from the Justices of this Court, as permitted by Ala. Code 1975, § 12-2-10. There is another reason why I would not affirm the Remedy Order. This case does not involve a situation where the interbranch conflict is being played out between a superior and an inferior division of government. The interbranch conflict is between equals, and when the power to interpret the law the power, in the famous words Marbury v. Madison , to say what the law is, conflicts with executive or legislative power, that conflict is between equals, and when the judicial interpretation of what the law is creates such a confrontation, a situation could develop where the executive branch says to the judicial branch, as President Jackson reportedly did, John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it. [10]