‘Calexit’ initiative has some ideas for U.S. Constitution

SACRAMENTO >> It’s been a busy year for Californians who want to secede from the union.

A third “Calexit” ballot initiative was filed Thursday, seeking to wrest the Golden State and its humongous economy away from the rest of the nation — this time by way of the U.S. Constitution.

A new group named California Calls for a Constitutional Convention — “Cal Con Con” for short — is taking a different tack from previous independence campaigns. Instead of asking for Californians to vote for greater autonomy or independence from the U.S., Cal Con Con aims to go straight to the U.S. Constitution.

Under the initiative, California’s Legislature would ask Congress to call a constitutional convention, where state lawmakers would propose changes that would give states — not just California — “a clear and reasonable path” for “complete independence.”

But the group hopes to make a few other tweaks to the 228-year-old law of the land — before California secedes — adding language about equal pay, clean energy, making federal taxes “negotiable” and recognizing nature’s rights.

The U.S. Constitution, the group said, should include a section entitled “Human Community Laws of Nature.” It should “declare that Nature is a freely living being with inalienable rights and that no individual, business entity, government, ‘owner,’ or organization shall inflict violence or servitude on her,” according to a working document posted online.

The three ballot initiatives seeking secession — an idea that has not gained mainstream traction in California, according to a spring poll — are not in competition with one another, said Marcus Ruiz Evans, who has been involved with at least one other Calexit campaign.

Leading the new group, he said, is Clare Hedin, a San Francisco State lecturer, singer-songwriter and sound healer who was born in England.