USA > Rhode Island > A short history of Rhode Island > Part 19
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and available in all things in the law, to all intents, contents, construc- tions and purposes whatsoever, according to our true intent and meaning hereinbefore declared; and shall be construed, reputed and adjudged in all cases most favorably on the behalf, and for the best benefit and behoof of the said Governor and Company, and their successors; al- though express mention of the true yearly value or certainty of the premises, or any of them, or of any other gifts or grants, by us, or by any of our progenitors or predecessors, heretofore made to the said Governor of the Company of the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in the Narragansett Bay, New England, in America, in these presents is not made, or any statue, act, ordinance, provision, proclamation or restriction, heretofore had, made, enacted, ordained or provided, or any other matter, cause or thing whatsoever, to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding. In witness, where- of, we have caused these our letters to be made patent. Witness our- self, at Westminister, the eighth day of July, in the fifteenth year of our reign.
By the King : HOWARD.
CONSTITUTION
OF THE
State of Rhode Island,
AND
rovidence Plantations.
ARTICLE I .- Declaration of Rights.
SECTION 1. Right of the people to make and alter their Consti- tution.
SEC. 2 Object of government-How laws should be made and bur- dens distributed.
SEC. 3. Religious freedom secured.
SEC. 4. Slavery prohibited.
SEC. 5. Laws should provide remedies-Justice shall be free, com- plete, prompt.
SEC. 6. Rights of search and seizure regulated.
SEC. 7. Provisions concerning criminal proceedings.
SEC. 8. Bail, fines and punishments.
SEC. 9. Bail and habeas corpus.
SEC. 10. Rights of the accused in criminal proceedings.
SEC. 11. Debtors entitled to relief.
SEC. 12. No ex post facto law, &c., to be passed.
SEC. 13. No man to criminate himself.
SEC. 14. Presumption of innocence-Accused to be secured without severity.
SEC. 15. Trial by jury.
SEC. 16. Private property secured.
SEC. 17. Rights of fishery.
SEC. 18. Military subordinate-Martial law.
SEC. 19. Of quartering soldiers.
SEC. 20. Liberty of the press secured-Truth as a defence to libel.
SEC. 21. Right of the people to assemble, and to petition.
SEC. 22. Right to bear arms.
SEC. 23. Rule of construction.
ARTICLE II .- Electors.
SEC. 1. Of electors owning real estate.
SEC. 2. Of electors qualified to vote on adoption of Constitution- Registered voters-Qualified by dollar tax-Military duty-Who to vote for City Council in Providence, to impose a tax, &c.
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
SEC. 3. Of assessment and payment of registry tax ..
SEC. 4. Who shall not gain residence or be permitted to vote.
SEC. 5. Residents on lands ceded, &c., not electors.
SEC. 6. Power of General Assembly over elections.
ARTICLE III .- Powers Distributed. Three Departments.
ARTICLE IV .- Legislative Powers.
SECTION 1. Constitution supreme law.
SEC. 2. Two houses-General Assembly-Style of laws.
SEC. 3. Sessions of General Assembly.
SEC. 4. Members not to take fees, &c.
SEC. 5. Members exempt from arrest, &c.
SEC. 6. Powers of each house-Organization.
SEC. 7. Powers to make rules, &c.
SEC. 8. Of the journal and yeas and nays.
SEC. 9. Of adjournments.
SEC. 10. Of powers not prohibited.
SEC. 11. Pay of members.
SEC. 12. Lotteries prohibited.
SEC. 13. Debts not to be incurred.
SEC. 14. Private or local appropriations.
SEC. 15. Of valuations of property and assessments.
SEC. 16. Officers may be continued until successors are qualified.
SEC. 17. Bills to create corporations to be continued, except, &c.
SEC. 18. Of election of senators to Congress.
ARTICLE V .- House of Representatives.
SECTION 1. House, how constituted-Ratio of representation. SEC. 2. May elect its officers, &c.
ARTICLE VI .- Senate.
SECTION 1. How constituted.
SEC. 2. Governor to preside-when to vote in grand committee.
SEC. 3. May elect presiding officer in case of vacancy, &c.
SEC. 4. Secretary and other officers.
ARTICLE VII .- Executive.
SECTION 1. Of the governor and lieutenant-governor-How elected.
SEC. 2. Duty of governor.
SEC. 3. He shall command military and naval forces, except, &c.
SEC. 4. He may grant reprieves, &c.
SEC. 5. He may fill vacancies.
SEC. 6. He may adjourn assembly, in case, &c.
SEC. 7. He may convene assembly, when, &c.
SEC. 8. Commissions, how signed, &c.
SEC. 9. Lieutenant-governor, when to act as governor.
SEC. 10. Vacancies, how filled.
SEC. 11. Compensation of governor, &c.
SEC. 12. Duties of general officers.
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APPENDIX.
ARTICLE VIII .- Elections.
SECTION. 1. Governor and general officers, when elected.
SEC. 2. General officers and members of assembly, how voted for.
SEC. 3. Same subject-How votes to be sealed up, transmitted and counted.
SEC. 4. List of voters to be kept. [Obsolete.]
SEC. 5. Ballots for members of Assembly, how counted-Adjourn- ment of elections, when.
SEC. 6 .- Of voting in the City of Providence.
SEC. 7 .- If governor or lieutenant-governor not elected by the people grand committee to elect, how.
SEC. 8. In case general officers not elected by the people, how va- cancies shall be filled.
SEC. 9. Vacancies in Assembly, how filled.
SEC. 10. Majority required to elect.
ARTICLE IX .- Qualifications for Office.
SECTION 1. Qualified electors only eligible.
SEC. 2. Conviction of bribery a disqualification.
SEC. 3. Oath of general officers.
SEC. 4. Officers, how engaged.
SEC. 5. How oath to be administered to governor, &c.
SEC. 6. Holding office under United States, or other governments, a disqualification for certain offices,-except, &c.
ARTICLE X .- Judiciary.
SECTION 1. One supreme court-Inferior courts how established.
SEC. 2. Jurisdiction of courts-Chancery powers.
SEC. 3. Judges of supreme court to instruct jury-To give opin- ions, &c.
SEC. 4. Of election and tenure of office of judges of supreme court. SEC. 5 .- Vacancies, how filled.
SEC. 6. Compensation of judges.
SEC. 7. Justices of the peace and wardens, how elected-Their jurisdiction.
ARTICLE XI .- Impeachments.
SECTION 1. Impeachments, how ordered.
SEC. 2. Impeachments, how tried.
SEC. 3. What officers liable to impeachment-Effect of conviction.
ARTICLE XII .- Education.
SECTION 1. Duty of General Assembly to promote schools, &c.
SEC. 2. The permanent school fund.
SEC. 3. Donations for support of schools.
SEC. 4. Powers of General Assembly under this article.
ARTICLE XIII .- Amendments.
SECTION 1. Amendments, how proposed,-how voted upon,-how adopted.
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
ARTICLE XIV .- Adoption of the Constitution.
SECTION 1. Constitution, when to go into operation-Its effect on existing laws, charters, &c.
SEC. 2. Former debts, &c., adopted.
SEC. 3. Jurisdiction of supreme court.
SEC. 4. Exemptions of New Shoreham and Jamestown from mili- tary duty, continued.
AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
ARTICLE I. Lists of voters for general officers no longer required to be kept, &c.
ARTICLE II.
The pardoning power, how exercised.
ARTICLE III.
Sessions of the General Assembly.
ARTICLE IV.
Electors absent from the state in the military service of the United States, allowed to vote.
WE, the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- tations, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and to transmit the same, un- impaired, to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this Constitution of Government.
ARTICLE I.
DECLARATION OF CERTAIN CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND PRINCIPLES.
In order effectually to secure the religious and political freedom established by our venerated ancestors, and to preserve the same for our posterity, we do declare that the essential and unquestionable rights and principles hereinafter mentioned, shall be established, maintained and preserved, and shall be of paramount obligation in all legislative, judicial and executive proceedings.
SECTION 1. In the words of the Father of his Country, we declare, that, " the basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government; but that the con- stitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all."
SEC. 2. All free governments are instituted for the protection, safety and happiness of the people. All laws, therefore, should be made for the good of the whole; and the burdens of the state ouglit to be fairly distributed among its citizens.
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SEC. 3. Whereas, Almighty God hath created the mind free; and all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments, or burthens, or by civil incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and mean- ness; and whereas, a principal object of our venerable ancestors in their migration to this country and their settlement of this state, was, as they expressed it, to hold forth a lively experiment, that a flourish- ing civil state may stand and be best maintained with full liberty in religious concernments; we therefore declare that no man shall be compelled to frequent or to support any religious worship, place or ministry whatever, except in fulfillment of his own voluntary con- tract; nor enforced, restrained, molested or burthened in his body or goods; nor disqualified from holding any office; nor otherwise suffer on account of his religious belief; and that every man shall be free to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and to profess and by argument to maintain his opinion in matters of religion; and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect his civil capacity.
SEC. 4. Slavery shall not be permitted in this state.
SEC. 5. Every person within this state ought to find a certain rem- edy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his person, property or character. He ought to obtain right and justice freely, and without purchase, completely, and without denial; promptly and without delay; conformably to the laws.
SEC. 6. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but on complaint in writing, upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and describing as nearly as may be the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
SEC. 7. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or other infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment by a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, or of such offences as are cognizable by a justice of the peace; or in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or pub- lic danger. No person shall, after an acquittal, be tried for the same offence.
SEC. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted; and all punishments ought to be proportioned to the offence.
SEC. 9. All persons imprisoned ought to be bailed by sufficient surety, unless for offences punishable by death or by imprisonment for life, when the proof of guilt is evident, or the presumption great. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public service shall require it, nor ever without the authority of the General Assembly.
SEC. 10. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury ; to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining them in his favor, to have the assistance of counsel in his defence, and shall be at liberty to speak for himself; nor shall he be deprived of life, liberty, or property, unless by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land.
SEC. 11. The person of a debtor, when there is not strong presump- tion of fraud, ought not to be continued in prison, after he shall have delivered up his property for the benefit of his creditors, in such man- ner as shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 12. No ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall be passed.
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
SEC. 13. No man in a court of common law shall be compelled to give evidence criminating himself.
SEC. 14. Every man being presumed innocent, until he is pro- nounced guilty by the law, no act of severity which is not necessary to secure an accused person shall be permitted ..
SEC. 15. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.
SEC. 16. Private property shall not be taken for public uses, with- out just compensation.
SEC. 17. The people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise, all the rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore entitled, under the charter and usages of this state. But no new right is intended to be granted, nor any existing right impaired by this declaration.
SEC. 18 .. The military shall be held in strict subordination to the civil authority, and the law martial shall be used and exercised in such cases only as occasion shall necessarily require.
SEC. 19. No soldier shall be quartered in any house, in time of peace, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war, but in manner to be prescribed by law.
SEC. 20. The liberty of the press being essential to the security of ยท freedom in a state, any person may publish his sentiments on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, unless published from malicious motives, shall be sufficient defence to the person charged.
SEC. 21. The citizens have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assem- ble for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government, for redress of grievances, or for other purposes, by petition, address, or remonstrance.
SEC. 22. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
SEC. 23. The enumeration of the aforegoing rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people.
ARTICLE II.
OF THE QUALIFICATIONS OF ELECTORS.
SECTION 1. Every male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, who has had his residence and home in this state for one year, and in the town or city in which he may claim a right to vote, six months next preceding the time of voting, and who is really and truly possessed in his own right of real estate in such town or city, of the value of one hundred and thirty-four dollars, over and above all incumbrances, or which shall rent for seven dollars per annum, over and above any rent reserved, or the interest of any. in- cumbrances thereon, being an estate in fee simple, fee tail, for the life of any person, or an estate in reversion or remainder, which qualifies no other person to vote, the conveyance of which estate, if by deed, shall have been recorded at least ninety days, shall thereafter have a right to vote in the election of all civil officers, and on all questions in all legal town or ward meetings, so long as he continues so qualified. And if any person hereinbefore described shall own any such estate within this state out of the town or city in which he resides, he shall have a right to vote in the election of all general officers and members of the General Assembly, in the town or city in which he shall have had his residence and home for the term of six months next preceding the election, upon producing a certificate from the clerk of the town or city in which his estate lies, bearing date within
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APPENDIX.
ten days of the time of his voting, setting forth that such person has a sufficient estate therein to qualify him as a voter; and that the deed, if any, has been recorded ninety days.
SEC. 2. Every male native citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, who has had his residence and home in this state two years, and in the town or city in which he may offer to vote, six months next preceding the time of voting, whose name is registered pursuant to the act calling the convention to frame this Constitution, or shall be registered in the office of the clerk of such town or city at least seven days before the time he shall offer to vote and before the last day of December in the present year; and who has paid or shall pay a tax or taxes, assessed upon his estate within this state, and within a year of the time of voting, to the amount of one dollar, or who shall voluntarily pay, at least seven days before the time he shall offer to vote, and before said last day of December, to the clerk or treasurer of the town or city where he resides, the sum of one dollar, or such sum as, with his other taxes, shall amount to one dollar, for the support of public schools therein, and shall make proof of the same, by the certificate of the clerk, treasurer or collector of any town or city where such payment is made; or who, being so registered has been enrolled in any military company in this state, and done military service or duty therein, within the present year, pursuant to law, and shall, (until other proof is required by law, ) prove by the certifi- cate of the officer legally commanding the regiment, or chartered or legally authorized volunteer company, in which he may have served or done duty, that he has been equipped and done duty according to law, or by the certificate of the commissioners upon military claims that he has performed military service shall have a right to vote in the elec- tion of all civil officers, and on all questions in all legally organized town or ward meetings, until the end of the first year after the adop- tion of this Constitution, or until the end of the year eighteen hun- dred and forty-three.
From and after that time, every such citizen, who has had the resi- dence herein required, and whose name shall be registered in the town where he resides, on or before the last day of December, in the year next preceding the time of his voting, and who shall show by legal proof, that he has for and within the year next preceding the time. he shall offer to vote, paid a tax or taxes assessed against him in any town or city in this state, to the amount of one dollar; or that he has been enrolled in a military company in this state, been equipped and done duty therein, according to law, and at least for one day during such year, shall have a right to vote in the election of all civil officers, and on all questions in all legally organized town or ward meetings: Pro- vided, that no person shall at any time be allowed to vote in the elec- tion of the City Council of the City of Providence, or upon any propo- sition to impose a tax, or for the expenditure of money in any town or city, unless he shall, within the year next preceding have paid a tax assessed upon his property therein, valued at least at one hundred and thirty-four dollars.
SEC. 3. The assessors of each town or city shall annually assess upon every person whose name shall be registered, a tax of one dollar, or such sum as with his other taxes shall amount to one dollar, which registry tax shall be paid into the treasury of such town or city, and be applied to the support of public schools therein: but no compulsory process shall issue for the collection of any registry tax: Provided that the registry tax of every person who has performed military duty according to the provisions of the preceding section, shall be remitted for the year he shall perform such duty; and the registry tax assessed upon any mariner, for any year while he is at sea, shall, upon his appli- cation, be remitted; and no person shall be allowed to vote whose
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
registry tax for either of the two years next preceding the time of voting is not paid or remitted as herein provided.
SEC. 4. No person in the military, naval, marine, or any other ser- vice of the United States, shall be considered as having the required residence by reason of being employed in any garrison, barrack, or military or naval station in this state: and no pauper, lunatic, person non compos mentis, person under guardianship, or member of the Nar- ragansett tribe of Indians, shall be permitted to be registered or to vote. Nor shall any person convicted of bribery, or. of any crime deemed infamous at common law, be permitted to exercise that privi- lege, until he be expressly restored thereto by act of the General As- sembly.
SEC. 5. Persons residing on lands ceded by this state to the United States shall not be entitled to exercise. the privilege of electors.
SEC. 6. The General Assembly shall have full power to provide for a registry of voters, to prescribe the manner of conducting the elec- tions, the form of certificates, the nature of the evidence to be required in case of a dispute as to the right of any person to vote, and generally to enact all laws necessary to carry this article into effect, and to pre- vent abuse, corruption and fraud in voting.
ARTICLE III.
OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.
The powers of the government shall be distributed into three depart- ments: the legislative, executive and judicial.
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.ARTICLE IV.
OF THE LEGISLATIVE POWER.
SECTION 1. This constitution shall be the supreme law of the state, and any law inconsistent therewith, shall be void. The General As- sembly shall pass all laws necessary to carry this constitution into effect.
SEC. 2. The legislative power, under this constitution, shall be vested in two houses, the one to be called the senate, the other the house of representatives; and both together, the General Assembly. The concurrence of the two houses shall be necessary to the enactment of laws. The style of their laws shall be, It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows.
SEC. 3. There shall be two sessions of the General Assembly holden annually; one at Newport, on the first Tuesday of May, for the pur- poses of election and other business; the other on the last Monday of October, which last session shall be holden at South Kingstown once in two years, and the intermediate years alternately at Bristol and East Greenwich; and an adjournment from the October session shall be holden annually at Providence.
SEC. 4. No member of the General Assembly shall take any fee, or be of counsel in any case pending before either house of the General Assembly, under penalty of forfeiting his seat, upon proof thereof to the satisfaction of the house of which he is a member.
SEC. 5. The person of every member of the General Assembly shall be exempt from arrest, and his estate from attachment, in any civil action, during the session of the General Assembly, and two days before the commencement, and two days after the termination thereof, and all process served contrary hereto, shall be void. For any
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speech in debate in either house, no member shall be questioned in any other place.
SEC. 6: Each house shall be the judge of the elections and qualifi- cations of its members; and a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner, and under such penalties as may be prescribed by such house, or by law. The organization of the two houses may be regulated by law, subject to the limitations contained in this constitution.
SEC. 7. Each house may determine its rules of proceeding, punish contempts, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member; but not a second time for the same cause.
SEC. 8. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings. The yeas and nays of the members of either house shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered on the journal.
SEC. 9. Neither house shall, during a session, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days, nor to any other place than that in which they may be sitting.
SEC. 10. The General Assembly shall continue to exercise the powers they have heretofore exercised, unless prohibited in this con- stitution.
SEC. 11. The senators and representatives shall receive the sum of one dollar for every day of attendance, and eight cents per mile for traveling expenses in going to and returning from the General Assembly. The General Assembly shall regulate the compensation of the governor, and all other officers subject to the limitations contained in this constitution.
SEC. 12. All lotteries shall hereafter be prohibited in this state, except those already authorized by the General Assembly.
SEC. 13. The General Assembly shall have no power, hereafter, without the express consent of the people, to incur state debts to an amount exceeding fifty thousand dollars, except in time of war, or in case of insurrection or invasion; nor shall they in any case, without such consent, pledge the faith of the state for the payment of the obligations of others. This section shall not be construed to refer to any money that may be deposited with this state by the government of the United States.
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