TRENTON, N.J. – In about two weeks, New Jersey voters will decide whether to eliminate insensitive phrasing in the state Constitution that characterizes people with disabilities as “idiots” and “insane.”
The offensive language, adopted in the Constitution in 1844, is aimed at barring people with limited mental capacity from voting: “No idiot or insane person shall enjoy the right of suffrage.”
At least seven other states _ Arkansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico and Ohio _ have the words “idiot” or “insane” in their constitutions to define who can vote.
Newsday/AP Story
Does changing the language cure the afflicted?