First, the Nevada Constitution is longer and more detailed than the federal constitution, like most states. This is partly due to the fact that state constitutions contain many more policy-oriented provisions, built up over time, as well as provisions concerning the character, virtue and even morality of the state's people (Robert F. Williams, May 2010). For example the U.S. Constitution is only about 7,400 words while the Nevada Constitution contained about 16,500 words when it was ratified in 1864. . The Nevada Constitution goes into greater detail so as to clarify meaning (Nevada Constitution Summary, CSN). This tells us that Nevadans did not want state judges to have the ability to freely interpret the meaning of the constitution such as federal judges do. Also, state constitutions are usually longer because they were written after the U.S. Constitution and 35 other states and had the luxury of learning what needed to be a part of an effective constitution. In contrast to the U.S. Constitution, the Nevada Constitution is very long and detailed and has many more amendments. For example, the Nevada Constitution contains about 130 amendments just about five times as many as the U.S. Constitution. These amendments have created a lengthier more detailed constitution than our federal one. The greater length also means greater specificity, which leads to a government that is less flexible to a changing era. When the foundational document upon which government is based contains a lot of policy details, it takes nothing short of a constitutional amendment to change those details(http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/7_3_1.html).
Secondly, the U.S. Constituion provides greater individual rights than the Nevada Constitution. Both the U...
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...e should remain on the bench. While this greatly reduces special interest money, critics call these systems undemocratic. Nevada has had some problems with the current system in the recent past. One judge was accused of sleeping on the bench and treating her staff like servants, while another admitted to various sexual improprieties. Because of this Nevada voted on moving to the Merit Plan in 2010 but it was rejected by voters by 57%. Nevada has also recently proposed an Intermediate Court of Appeals Amendment which may appear on the ballot in 2014. The measure would establish an intermediate court of appeals in the state. A similar measure was on the ballot in 2010, where it was rejected by voters. Those for the amendment say it would alleviate the backlog of the Supreme Court, those against it say it would increase cost on taxpayers and increase litigation costs.
In both constitutions, this article spells out the powers and limitations of the legislature. One obvious difference was that “qualified electors” were restricted to “every free male excluding Indians not taxed, Africans, and descendants of Africans, excepted,” in the Constitution of 1845. In contrast, the Constitution of 1876 does not explicitly state restrictions for “qualified voters” (“Constitution of Texas,” n.d.; “Texas Constitution,”n.d.). The size of the Senate and the House of Representative is not mentioned in the Constitution of 1845 unlike the Constitution of 1876 which restricted the sizes to thirty-one members and 150 members, respectively. The term for a Senator has remained four years. However, the minimum age requirement to be a Senator changed from 30 years in the Constitution of 1945 to 26 years in the “Modern Day” Constitution. Although, the minimum requirement to be the resident of the state has gone up from three years to five years. The qualification for the Representatives has remained unchanged from the Constitution of 1845 to the “Modern Day.” The compensation for the legislature has not increased significantly. Legislature were paid three dollars a day when in session and three dollars travel compensation for twenty-five miles in 1845 and today legislature are paid $600 a month. A provision of Article
After the Democrats regained power in Texas they undid the 1969 hated acts and submitted the Constitution of 1876 in which the state of Texas still operates under today. The Constitution is made up of 17 articles, 491 amendments and about 36,000 words. Where as the United States Constitution is only made up of 7,400 words counting the amendments. Over the years the Constitution began to add many unnecessary laws making it look very unprofessional. It is understood these laws were made for a reason at one point but they aren 't needed any longer. Those laws are just taking up space and making the Constitution look disorganized. The Texas Constitution needs to be re-written and modified to fit this era. Despite having no problems with Texas current constitution, it should be re-written because it needs to fit this era, it limits governors executive power, and its
In his speech, The Making of the U.S. Constitution, Gordon Wood discusses the history of how the U.S. Constitution came to be. He explains what factors contributed to its making and what the general consensus was about it during the time. He explains that the reason the constitution was created was because the government needed more power. Why did the government need more power? In short, to unify the 13 states and make life, in general, easier for its citizens, officers, artisans, and even to help with commercial interests (Wood, 2012).
There is much debate in political theory about the definition of a constitution. Generally, it is considered as a “single governing document”. If that is the case, then the U.S. Constitution is the oldest in the world (Berry, 2011). The Framers, upon writing it, aimed to create a document that would stand the test of time. Despite changes in population size, racial and religious components, and even the modern day technology, the objective has clearly been achieved. Elkins claims that this is primarily due to its flexibility. Judicial review interprets the document with the rapidly changing society in mind (as cited in Garza, 2008). Many state constitutions, on the other hand, have not survived as long. Since many have been written with specific people and localities in mind, they have not been able to adapt to change well. Louisiana, for example, has had 11 state constitutions. It is common today, for states to consider overhauling their current constitutions (Morris, Henson, & Fackler, 2011).
In the 1996 Supreme Court case Romer v. Evans, the voters of the state of Colorado approved a second amendment to their state Constitution through a referendum, in order to prevent homosexuals from becoming a protected minority. Before the referendum occurred, many of the major cities in Colorado passed laws prohibiting people to be discriminated against based on their sexuality, including whether or not they are homosexual. The citizens of Colorado who disapprove of homosexuality then created a petition to put the second amendment to a vote, and won with a majority of 53% of the votes. Richard Evans, with the support of many others, took the amendment to court claiming it was unconstitutional, and should be removed from the constitution, going on to win in the Colorado Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court.
1. Our great country was founded upon a high set of principles, values, and laws. Many of these are easily seen when looking at the United States constitution. The first ten amendments are what is commonly known as the Bill of Rights. This is good and all, but until the fourteenth amendment was passed, the Bill of Rights only was applied to the Federal government. The 14th amendment has a clause that says, "no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States." The Supreme Court ruled against “Total Incorporation”, but instead ruled in favor of “Selective Incorporation”. This meaning that the Supreme Court would define the constitutionality of the treatment of a citizen by the state.
The Constitution of the United States and the Texas Constitution share many similarities. They also have important differences due to different attitudes about what the role of government should be. It is important to know the limits of the state’s power as it can help us better understand our role as a Texas citizen.
constitution does just that. It is quite remarkable that a document, put together over 220 years ago, has held its ground and gone to influence other countries’ and states’ governments, just like our very own state of California. When comparing the U.S. Constitution with the California Constitution, readers can very much identify the similarities to one another as well as major differences that distinguish the state and the country’s government.
The constitution establish major governing institutions, assign institution’s power, place explicit and implicit control on power granted. All this gives the political legitimacy. The U.S constitution gives the base model for state constitution for Texas.
Missouri and Florida’s New Laws Constitutional? Missouri Law Review, Spring2012, Vol. 77 Issue 2, p567-589. 23p. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=aef9f6f7-734d-4a6c-adae-2b97736ecc93%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=127
The plan to divide the government into three branches was proposed by James Madison, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. He modeled the division from who he referred to as ‘the Perfect Governor,’ as he read Isaiah 33:22; “For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us.” http://www.eadshome.com/QuotesoftheFounders.htm
The Constitution is the foundation of our county it represents liberty and justice for all. We are able to live freely and do, as we desire because of the constitution. The constitution was, signed September 17, 1787 at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. It took time and many debates were held before an agreement was achieved in both the drafting and ratification of the constitution. These disagreements came with several compromises before the constitution was fully ratified on May 29, 1790, with Rhode Island being the last and the thirteenth. The First, challenge was the Articles of Confederation; it was a sort of a draft of the Constitution but was weak and inadequate. Second, obstacle was the Anti-Federalists fight for more
The final clause of the first section of the fourteenth amendment explains, "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." 2 The 1976 ruling of Gregg v....
Missouri and Florida’s New Laws Constitutional? Missouri Law Review, Spring2012, Vol. 77 Issue 2, p567-589. 23p. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com.southuniversity.libproxy.edmc.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=aef9f6f7-734d-4a6c-adae-2b97736ecc93%40sessionmgr111&vid=2&hid=127
Texas and Federal Constitutions contain the principles needed for a representative democratic government and both arose from different historical situations; for instance, the U.S. Constitution was made to replace the Articles of Confederation, a weak decentralized form of national government with no president or taxes, which made the government not powerful enough to start a war. The U.S. Constitution was made to improve these weaknesses by proposing a degree of centralization which increased government power. On the other hand, Texas Constitution was made to reverse or avoid the ideas of the U.S. Constitution. On one part, the U.S. Constitution wanted to empower government action whereas the Texas Constitution wanted to weaken government action. The Texas Constitution is more geared toward protecting people’s rights whereas the U.S. Constitution protects the nation’s interest. The Texas Constitution has been amended more than 300 times whereas the US Constitution includes the Bill of Rights and the subsequent