The search for the "way" and the "will" to reform state judicial systems has been underway at least since Roscoe Pound addressed the American Bar Association in 1906 on "The Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction." In this address, he expressed concern over the haphazard and inefficient manner in which state courts were operating and called for a streamlined court system and a means for clarifying procedures an coordinating personnel. Alabama attempted to respond to that call as early as 1912 when Governor Emmet O'Neal created a commission to study judicial reform. However, it was not until 1973 that Alabama citizens voted to replace the entire Judicial Article of the 1901 Constitution with a brand new unified judicial system. 2023 is the 50th anniversary of this achievement.
