The Revision and Amendment of State Constitutions

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Provisions for altering first state constitutions

II. The Constitutional Convention, 1784-1908 . . .

IV. The Amendment of State Constitutions

Growth of distinction between constitutions and statutes

Methods of calling conventions.

Submission of constitutions to a popular vote.

III. The Legal Position of the Constitutional Convention

Legislative control of conventions

Constitutional restrictions upon power of conventions

Implied restrictions.

Power of conventions to enact legislation not of a constitu-
tional character.

Conventions and amendment through legislative action

History of amending procedure . . .

Present methods of amending constitutions.

Flexible and rigid constitutions

Steps in the amending process

Legislative majority for proposal..

.

ix

Reading and journal entry

Executive veto power

Binding force of legislation with respect to amendments

Restrictions upon amending power.

Action by two successive legislatures.

Publication of proposed amendments

Distribution of proposals to voters.

Form of submission .

66

Question as to what is one amendment

Submission at general or special elections
Separate ballots . . .

Printing on ballot in full or by title

Popular vote required to adopt amendments

Ballot devices to force electors to vote on amendments

Party endorsement of amendments . . . .
Time when amendment becomes effective

Legislative ratification in Mississippi and South Carolina
Erroneous and contradictory amendments

Initiative and referendum

Judicial attitude toward referendum laws.

Limits of legislative power to propose amendments.
Constitutional commissions .

V. The Working of the Constitutional Referendum . .

Judicial control of the amending process.

Whether amendment adopted a judicial question.
Doctrine of liberal construction . . .

Amendments fundamentally affecting organization of gov-

ernment . . .

Attitude of federal courts

Mandamus and injunction

Control over form of procedure, not over substance of pro-

posal. . . .

Constitutional amendments and ordinary legislation

Overruling of courts by constitutional enactments

Judicial veto power with respect to amendments.

Breaking down of distinction between state statutes and

constitutions . .

Uselessness of state judicial control

Legislative power to propose complete constitution in guise

of an amendment. .

.

Frequency with which amendments are proposed .

Subjects upon which a real popular judgment may be ob-

Triviality of many proposed amendments.

Absence of legislative responsibility

Absence of public discussion.

Smallness of popular vote.

Character of popular vote

Proposals involving expenditure

Effectiveness of the constitutional referendum

Suggested changes . .

APPENDIX: Table of votes on constitutional questions, 1899-1908 . 293

INDEX

345

TABLE OF CASES

Arie v. State, 100 Pac., 23..

Armstrong v. Berkey, 99 Pac., 921.

Atkin v. Kansas, 191 U. S., 207...

242

Austin v. Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, 1 Yeates, 260. 37

Benner v. Porter, 9 How., 235...

107

Berry v. Bellows, 30 Ark., 198..

93

204

Bilbrey v. Poston, 63 Tenn., 232................

Birmingham and Atlantic Railway Co., ex parte, 145 Ala., 514.. 75,

87, 113

Bott v. Secretary of State, 62 N. J. Law, 107; 63 ibid., 289....185, 193,
202, 211, 212, 216, 224

PAGE

259

182, 185

Bradford v. Shine, 13 Fla., 393.

Bragg v. Tuffts, 49 Ark., 554..

Bray v.
City Council of Florence, 62 S. C., 57.

Brittle v. People, 2 Neb., 214..

Britton v. Board, 129 Cal., 337.

Campbell, in re, 138 Mich., 597.

Campbell v. Fields, 35 Tex., 751..
205

Carton v. Secretary of State, 151 Mich., 337... 57, 74, 84, 103, 260

Chase v. Board of Election Commissioners, 151 Mich., 407.... 183, 221

City of Chicago v. Reeves, 220 Ill., 274..

179

239

Cleveland v. Construction Co., 67 Ohio St., 197.

Collier v. Frierson, 24 Ala., 108.....

Commonwealth v. Griest, 196 Pa. St., 396.. 150, 151, 155, 160, 161, 183,

Commonwealth v. Smith, 4 Binney, 117.

Crump v. Battles, 49 Ala., 223...

Curry v. Spencer, 61 N. H., 624.......

Dayton v. City of St. Paul, 22 Minn., 400..

Deckert, in re, 2 Hughes (U. S.), 183..

Dennett's Case, 32 Me., 508....

Denny, in re, 156 Ind., 104.

Dixon v. State, 74 Miss., 277.

Dupy v. Wickshire, 1 D. Chipman, 237.

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