Constitution Assignment Due Thursday, September 28, 2017 Review the Bill of Rights of the state constitution for your Case Study state and compare it with the Bill of Rights (First 10 Amendments) of the United States Constitution. 1. Make these Comparisons between the U.S. and state constitutions. ( S 1. Using the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments of the United States Constitution as your guide compare each U.S. Constitution amendment with a corresponding amendment in the state constitution. Many state constitutions use the expression “Declaration of Rights” rather than Bill of Rights Write brief statements comparing similarities and differences between each amendment in the two constitutions. Identify Rights in your state's constitution that do not match or are different from those in the 10 amendments of the U.S. Bill of Rights. 2. II. Review the entire state constitution for articles that are unusual or describe something unique to the geography, population, economy of that state. Explain the two most interesting and/or unusual articles you found and why you chose each of them. Two or three paragraphs on each article that you chose Submit your typed double spaced statements in class on Thursday, September 28, 2017. One of the surest ways of finding the state constitution for your state is to access the official web site for the state and then enter “state constitution" in the search window. As always, be sure that your name, the date and the title of the assignment are at the top of the page of the assignment. Whenever an assignment is longer than one page please print the information one-sided not back to back. Interest Groups and Citizens' Movements constitutional amendment expanding the number of schools benefitting from the proceed for example, higher education proponents successfully persuaded the voters to approve Interest groups frequently strive to “constitutionalize” their policy preferences. In Texas of the public endowment that supports state universities. Similarly, grassroots citizeng movements in the United States, often displaying a distrust of elected officials, have sought to bind officials by constitutional mandates. Indeed, referenda on proposed state constitu. U tional amendments confront voters in many states in almost every election. Growth of State Constitutional Law Along with interest groups and citizens' movements, lawyers and judges have contributed to the growth of state constitutional law. In a significant number of cases, state court judges have interpreted their own constitutions independently of the U.S. Constitution regarding civil rights and other controversies (see "Judicial Federalism" in Chapter 9). An emerging body of state constitutional law is a reminder of the legal importance of state constitutions, kill wa ing an vo sc Reformers' Influence ch at z a 1 Over the years, specific constitutional amendments have resulted in lengthy documents. The more detailed and specific a state's constitution, the more likely it is to require more longe many amendments to meet changing circumstances over time, thus leading to an even document. Constitutional reformers and “good government” groups have sought for years to take policy matters out of the state constitution. They argue that governors and legislators should not be bound by constitutional details, that they need flexibility in con fronting new challenges, and that state government should be strengthened, not weakened , in the modern era. These reform efforts have met with some success; newer state constitu- tions tend to be shorter than older ones. But it has become more difficult for reformers to convince politicians or the public that a state's constitution needs a complete overhaul. 2.2 STATE CONSTITUTIONS: AN OVERVIEW Describe the key features that state constitutions share and the limits that they place on state governments. BILL OF RIGHTS In state constitutions, written protections for basic freedoms; most resemble the Bill of Rights in the U.S. Constitution but some extend these rights. Bill of Rights All state constitutions have a bill of rights, which asserts the basic freedoms of speech, press, religion, and assembly. (See “Up Close: The Sandy Hook Shootings and the Right to Bear Arms” and “Rankings of the States: State Gun Law Restrictiveness and Firearms Death Rate.") There are frequent references to basic procedural rights, such as the writ of habeas corpus, trial by jury, protection against double jeopardy and self-incrimination, prohibitions against ex post facto laws, imprisonment for debt, unreasonable searches and seizures, and excessive bail. Most of these protections merely duplicate the guarantees of the U.S. Constitution. However, frequently one finds in the state constitutions interesting “rights” that are not found in the national Constitution. For example, the Florida Consti- tution guarantees “every natural person the right to be let alone and free from government intrusion into his private life”; Mississippi guarantees the right of crime victims to speak in court and receive restitution; Indiana prohibits “unnecessary rigor” in punishment for crime. Some state constitutions have “little ERAs”—equal rights amendments—guarantee- ing gender equality under law. Moreover, a state supreme court may place a different inter- pretation on a state constitutional right than the federal courts place on the same guarantee in the U.S. Constitution. (See “Judicial Federalism” in Chapter 9.) SEPARATION OF POWERS The constitutional allocation of powers among the three branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. Separation of Powers All state constitutions reflect the American political tradition of separation of powers, with separate legislative, executive, and judicial articles establishing these separate branches of government, and ensuring a system of checks and balances. Generally, however, state CHAPTER 2 32
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