Voters to decide on ‘idiot’ clause in Iowa law
October 13th, 2008From the Des Moines Register, AP/Chicago Tribune:
A measure on the Iowa ballot next month will ask voters to remove the term “idiot” from the state constitution.
Using language that has been in place since 1857, the Iowa constitution says a person who is an “idiot or insane person” is prohibited from voting. If the measure is approved, that portion will be changed to read “a person judged mentally incompetent.”
Rep. Betty Grundberg, a Republican from Des Moines who has a daughter with mental illness, has been pushing for the constitutional amendment since 1997. “I think what we have to do is recognize that people with disabilities are normal people except that they have a disability,” she said. “You don’t call people idiots.”
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