The 1843 constitution of Rhode Island is
difficult to find. The source of this copy is from a book called
The Dore War. The influence of Christianity in it will be in bold
font rather than separating it out like the rest of the state
constitutions on this web page are.
CONSTITUTION STATE OF RHODE ISLAND PROVIDENCE
PLANTATIONS.
We, the people of the State of Rhode Island and
Providence Plantations, 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 unimpaired 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 constitution 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
ought to be fairly distributed among its citizens.
Sec. 3. Whereas Almighty God hath
created the mind free ; and all attempts to influence it, by temporal
punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitation's, tend to beget
habits of hypocrisy and meanness ; and whereas a principal object of our
venerable ancestors, in their migrations to this country, and their
settlement of this state, was, as they expressed it, to hold forth a
lively experiment, that a flourishing 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 contract ; nor enforced, restrained,
molested, or burdened 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 remedy, 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 warrant 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 public 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
safety 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 defense, and shall be at liberty to speak
for himself ; nor shall he be deprived of life, liberty, or property,
un- less by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land.
Sec. II. The person of a debtor, where there is
not strong presumption 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 manner as shall be prescribed by law.
Sec. 12. No ex post facto law, or law impairing
the obligation of contracts, shall be passed.
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 pronounced 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, without 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 a manner to be prescribed by law.
Sec. 20. The liberty' of the press being
essential to the security of 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
defense to the person charged.
Sec. 21. The citizens have a right in a
peaceable manner to assemble 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 foregoing
rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the
people.
ARTICLE II.
Of the Qualifications of Electors.
Section i. 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 encumbrances, or which shall rent for seven dollars
per annum over and above any rent reserved or the interest of any
encumbrances thereon, being an estate in feesimple, feetail, 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 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
certificate 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 election 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 adoption of this constitution, or until the end of the year eighteen
hundred and forty -three. From and after that time, every such citizen
who has had the residence 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: Provided, that no person shall at any
time be allowed to vote in the election of the city council of the city
of Providence, or upon any proposition 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 application, be remitted; and no person shall be allowed to
vote whose 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 service 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 Narragansett 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
privilege, until he be expressly restored thereto by act of the general
assembly.
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 elections, 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 prevent abuse, corruption and fraud in
voting.
ARTICLE III.
Of the Distribution of Powers.
The powers of the government shall be
distributed into three departments: the legislative, executive and
judicial.
ARTICLE IV.
Of the Legislative Power.
Section i. This constitution shall be the
supreme law of the state, and any law inconsistent therewith shall be
void. The general assembly 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, 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 purposes 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 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 qualifications 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 that have heretofore exercised, unless prohibited in
this constitution.
Sec. II. 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.
Sec. 14. The assent of two thirds of the
members elected to each house of the general assembly shall be required
to every bill appropriating the public money or property for local or
private purposes.
Sec. 15. The general assembly shall, from time
to time, provide for making new valuations of property, for the
assessment of taxes, in such manner as they may deem best. A new
estimate of such property shall be taken before the first direct state
tax, after the adoption of this constitution, shall be assessed.
Sec. 16. The general assembly may provide by
law for the continuance in office of any officers of annual election or
appointment, until other persons are qualified to take their places.
Sec. 17. Hereafter, when any bill shall
be presented to either house of the general assembly, to create a
corporation for any other than for religious, literary, or charitable
purposes, or for a military or fire company, it shall be continued until
another election of members of the general assembly shall have taken
place, and such public notice of the pendency thereof shall be given as
may be required by law.
Sec. 18. It shall be the duty of the two
houses, upon the request of either, to join in grand committee for the
purpose of electing senators in congress, at such times and in such
manner as may be prescribed by law for said elections.
ARTICLE V.
Of the House of Representatives.
Section i. The house of representatives shall
never exceed seventy- two members, and shall be constituted on the basis
of population, always allowing one representative for a fraction
exceeding half the ratio; but each town or city shall always be entitled
to at least one member ; and no town or city shall have more than one
sixth of the whole number of members to which the house is hereby
limited. The present ratio shall be one representative to every fifteen
hundred and thirty inhabitants, and the general assembly may, after any
new census taken by the authority of the United States or of this state,
reapportion the representation by altering the ratio; but no town or
city shall be divided into districts for the choice of representatives.
Sec. 2. The house of representatives shall have
authority to elect its speaker, clerks and other officers. The senior
member from the town of Newport, if any be present, shall preside in the
organization of the house.
ARTICLE VI.
Of the Senate.
Section i. The senate shall consist of the
lieutenant-governor and of one senator from each town or city in the
state.
Sec. 2. The governor, and in his absence the
lieutenant-governor, shall preside in the senate and in grand committee.
The presiding officer of the senate and grand committee shall have a
right to vote in case of equal division, but not otherwise.
Sec. 3. If, by reason of death, resignation,
absence, or other cause, there be no governor or lieutenant-governor
present, to preside in the senate, the senate shall elect one of their
own members to preside during such absence or vacancy ; and until such
election is made by the senate, the secretary of state shall preside.
Sec. 4. The secretary of state shall, by virtue
of his office, be secretary of the senate, unless otherwise provided by
law, and the senate may elect such other officers as they may deem
necessary.
ARTICI.E VII.
Of the Executive Power.
Sec. 1. The chief executive power of this state
shall be vested in a governor, who, together with a lieutenant-governor,
shall be annually elected by the people.
Sec. 2. The governor shall take care that the
laws be faithfully executed.
Sec. 3. He shall be captain -general and
commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces of this state,
except when they shall be called into the service of the United States.
Sec. 4. He shall have power to grant reprieves
after conviction, in all cases except those of impeachment, until the
end of the next session of the general assembly.
Sec. 5. He may fill vacancies in office not
otherwise provided for by this constitution, or by law until the same
shall be filled by the general assembly, or by the people.
Sec. 6. In case of disagreement between the two
houses of the general assembly, respecting the time or place of
adjournment, certified to him by either, he may adjourn them to such
time and place as he shall think proper: provided that the time of
adjournment shall not be extended beyond the day of the next stated
session.
Sec. 7. He may, on extraordinary occasions,
convene the general assembly at any town or city in this state, at any
time not provided for by law ; and in case of danger from the prevalence
of epidemic or contagious disease, in the place in which the general
assembly are by law to meet, or to which they may have been adjourned,
or for other urgent reasons, he may, by proclamation, convene said
assembly at any other place within this state.
Sec. 8. All commissions shall be in the name
and by the authority of the state of Rhode Island and Providence
Plantations ; shall be sealed with the state seal, signed by the
governor, and attested by the secretary.
Sec. 9. In case of vacancy in the office of
governor, or his inability to serve, impeachment, or absence from the
state, the lieutenant-governor shall fill the office of governor, and
exercise the powers and authority appertaining thereto, until a governor
is qualified to act or until the office is filled at the next annual
election.
Sec. 10. If the offices of governor and
lieutenant-governor be both vacant, by reason of death, resignation,
impeachment, absence, or otherwise, the person entitled to preside over
the senate for the time being shall in like manner fill the office of
governor during such absence or vacancy.
Sec. 11. The compensation of the governor and
lieutenant-governor shall be established by law, and shall not be
diminished during the term for which they are elected.
Sec. 12. The duties and powers of the
secretary, attorney- general, and general treasurer shall be the same
under this constitution as are now established, or as from time to time
may be prescribed by law.
ARTICLE VIII.
Of Elections.
Section i. The governor, lieutenant-governor,
senators, representatives, secretary of state, attorney- general, and
general treasurer shall be elected at the town, city, or ward meetings,
to be holden on the first Wednesday of April, annually ; and shall
severally hold their offices for one year, from the first Tuesday of May
next succeeding, and until others are legally chosen, and duly qualified
to fill their places. If elected or qualified after the said first
Tuesday of May, they shall hold their offices for the remainder of the
political year, and until their successors are qualified to act.
Sec. 2. The voting for governor,
lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney- general, general
treasurer and representative to congress, shall be by ballot ; senators
and representatives to the general assembly, and town or city officers,
shall be chosen by ballot, on demand of any seven persons entitled to
vote for the same ; and in all cases where an election is made by ballot
or paper vote, the manner of balloting shall be the same as is now
required in voting for general officers, until otherwise prescribed by
law.
Sec. 3. The names of the persons voted for as
governor, lieutenant- governor, secretary of state, attorney - general,
and general treasurer shall be placed upon one ticket ; and all votes
for these officers shall, in open town or ward meetings, be sealed up by
the moderators and town clerks and by the wardens and ward clerks, who
shall certify the same and deliver or send them to the secretary of
state ; whose duty it shall be securely to keep and deliver the same to
the grand committee, after the organization of the two houses at the
annual May session ; and it shall be the duty of the two houses at said
session, after their organization, upon the request of either house, to
join in grand committee, for the purpose of counting and declaring said
votes, and of electing other officers.
Sec. 4. The town and ward clerks shall also
keep a correct list or register of all persons voting for general
officers, and shall transmit a copy thereof to the general assembly, on
or before the first day of said May session.
Sec. 5. The ballots for senators and
representatives in the several towns shall, in each case, after the
polls are declared to be closed, be counted by the moderator, who shall
announce the result, and the clerk shall give certificates to the
persons elected. If, in any case, there be no election, the polls may be
reopened, and the like proceedings shall be had until an election shall
take place : Provided, however, that an adjournment or adjournments of
the election may be made to a time not exceeding seven days from the
first meeting.
Sec. 6. In the city of Providence, the polls
for senator and representative shall be kept open during the whole time
of voting for the day, and the votes in the several wards shall be
sealed up at the close of the meeting by the wardens and ward clerks in
open ward meeting, and afterwards delivered to the city clerk. The mayor
and aldermen shall proceed to count said votes within two days from the
day of election ; and if no election of senator and representatives or
if an election of only a portion of the representatives shall have taken
place, the mayor and aldermen shall order a new election, to be held not
more than ten days from the day of the first election, and so on until
the election shall be completed. Certificates of election shall be
furnished by the city clerk to the persons chosen.
Sec. 7. If no person shall have a majority of
votes for governor, it shall be the duty of the grand committee to elect
one by ballot from the two persons having the highest number of votes
for the office, except when such a result is produced by rejecting the
entire vote of any town, city or ward, for informality or illegality, in
which case a new election by the electors throughout the state shall be
ordered ; and in case no person shall have a majority of votes for
lieutenant-governor, it shall be the duty of the grand committee to
elect one by ballot from the two persons having the highest number of
votes for the office.
Sec. 8. In case an election of the secretary of
state, attorney- general, or general treasurer should fail to be made by
the electors at the annual election, the vacancy or vacancies shall be
filled by the general assembly in grand committee, from the two
candidates for such office having the greatest number of the votes of
the electors. Or, in case of a vacancy in either of said offices from
other causes, between the sessions of the general assembly, the governor
shall appoint some person to fill the same until a successor elected by
the general assembly is qualified to act ; and in such case, and also in
all other cases of vacancies not otherwise provided for, the general
assembly may fill the same in any manner they may deem proper.
Sec. 9. Vacancies from any cause in the senate
or house of representatives may be filled by a new election.
Sec. 10. In all elections held by the people
under this constitution, a majority of all the electors voting shall be
necessary to the election of the persons voted for.
ARTICLE IX.
Of Qualifications for Office.
Section i. No person shall be eligible to any
civil office, (except the office of school committee,) unless he be a
qualified elector for such office.
Sec. 2. Every person shall be disqualified from
holding any office to which he may have been elected, if he be convicted
of having offered, or procured any other person to offer, any bribe to
secure his election, or the election of any other person.
Sec. 3. All general officers shall take the
following engagement before they act in their respective offices, to wit
: You being by the free vote of the electors of this State of Rhode
Island and Providence Plantation, elected unto the place of do solemnly
swear (or affirm) to be true and faithful unto this State, and to
support the constitution of this state and of the United States ; that
you will faithfully and impartially discharge all the duties of your
aforesaid office, to the best of your abilities, according to law: So
help you God. Or, this affirmation you make and give upon the peril of
the penalty of perjury.
Sec. 4. The members of the general assembly,
the judges of all the courts, and all other officers, both civil and
military, shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support this
constitution, and the constitution of the United States.
Sec. 5. The oath or affirmation shall be
administered to the governor, lieutenant-governor, senators, and
representatives, by the secretary of state, or in his absence, by the
attorney -general. The secretary of state, attorney- general, and
general treasurer shall be engaged by the governor, or by a justice of
the supreme court.
Sec. 6. No person holding any office under the
government of the United States, or of any other state or country, shall
act as a general officer, or as a member of the general assembly, unless
at the time of taking his engagement he shall have resigned his office
under such government; and if any general officer, senator,
representative, or judge shall, after his election and engagement,
accept any appointment under any other government, his office under this
shall be immediately vacated; but this restriction shall not apply to
any person appointed to take depositions or acknowledgment of deeds, or
other legal instruments, by the authority of any other state or country.
ARTICLE X.
Of the Judicial Power.
Section 1. The judicial power of this state
shall be vested in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the
general assembly may, from time to time, ordain and establish.
Sec. 2. The several courts shall have such
jurisdiction as may, from time to time, be prescribed by law. Chancery
powers may be conferred on the supreme court, but on no other court to
any greater extent than is now pro- vided by law.
Sec. 3. The judges of the supreme court shall,
in all trials, instruct the jury in the law. They shall also give their
written opinion upon any question of law whenever requested by the
governor, or by either house of the general assembly.
Sec. 4. The judges of the supreme court shall
be elected by the two houses in grand committee. Each judge shall hold
his offices until his place be declared vacant by a resolution of the
general assembly to that effect ; which resolution shall be voted for by
a majority of all the members elected to the house in which it may
originate, and be concurred in by the same majority of the other house.
Such resolution shall not be entertained at any other than the annual
session for the election of public officers ; and in default of the
passage thereof at said session, the judge shall hold his place as is
herein provided. But a judge of any court shall be removed from office
if, upon impeachment, he shall be found guilty of any official
misdemeanor.
Sec. 5. In case of vacancy by death,
resignation, removal from the state or from office, refusal or inability
to serve, of any judge of the supreme court, the office may be filled by
the grand committee, until the next annual election, and the judge then
elected shall hold his office as before provided. In cases of
impeachment or temporary absence, or inability, the governor may appoint
a person to discharge the duties of the office during the vacancy caused
thereby.
Sec. 6. The judges of the supreme court shall
receive a compensation for their services, which shall not be diminished
during their continuance in office.
Sec. 7. The towns of New Shoreham and Jamestown
may continue to elect their wardens as heretofore. The other towns and
the city of Providence may elect such number of justices of the peace,
resident therein, as they may deem proper. The jurisdiction of said
justices and wardens shall be regulated by law. The justices shall be
commissioned by the governor.
ARTICLE XI.
Of Impeachments
Section i. The house of representatives shall
have the sole power of impeachment. A vote of two thirds of all the
members elected shall be required for an impeachment of the governor.
Any officer impeached shall thereby be suspended from office until
judgment in the case shall have been pronounced.
Sec. 2. All impeachments shall be tried by the
senate ; and when sitting for that purpose, they shall be under oath or
affirmation. No person shall be convicted, except by vote of two thirds
of the members elected. When the governor is impeached, the chief or
presiding justice of the supreme court, for the time being, shall
preside, with a casting vote in all preliminary questions.
Sec. 3. The governor, and all other executive
and judicial officers, shall be liable to impeachment ; but judgment in
such cases shall not extend further than to removal from office. The
person convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable to indictment, trial,
and punishment, according to law.
ARTICLE XII.
Of Education.
Section i. The diffusion of knowledge, as well
as of virtue among the people, being essential to the preservation of
their rights and liberties, it shall be the duty of the general assembly
to promote public schools, and to adopt all means which they may deem
necessary and proper to secure to the people the advantages and
opportunities of education.
Sec. 2. The money which now is, or which may
hereafter be appropriated by law for the establishment of a permanent
fund for the support of public schools shall be securely invested, and
remain a perpetual fund for that purpose.
Sec. 3. All donations for the support of public
schools, or for other purposes of education, which may be received by
the general assembly, shall be applied according to the terms prescribed
by the donors.
Sec. 4. The general assembly shall make all
necessary provisions by law for carrying this article into effect. They
shall not divert said money or fund from the aforesaid uses, nor borrow,
appropriate, or use the same, or any part thereof, for any other
purpose, under any pretense whatsoever.
ARTICI.E XIII.
Of Amendments .
The general assembly may propose amendments to
this constitution by the votes of a majority of all the members elected
to each house. Such propositions for amendment shall be published in the
newspapers, and printed copies of them shall be sent by the .secretary
of state, with the names of all the members who shall have voted
thereon, with the yeas and nays, to all the town and city clerks in the
State. The said propositions shall be, by said clerks, inserted in the
warrants or notices by them issued, for warning the next annual town and
ward meetings in April ; and the clerks shall read said propositions to
the electors when thus assembled, with the names of all the
representatives and senators who shall have voted thereon, with the yeas
and nays, before the election of senators and representatives shall be
had. If a majority of all the members elected to each house, at said
annual meeting, shall approve any proposition thus made, the same shall
be published and submitted to the electors in the mode provided in the
act of approval; and if then approved by three fifths of the electors of
the state present, and voting thereon in town and ward meetings, it
shall become a part of the constitution of the state.
ARTICLE XIV.
Of the Adoption of this Constitution.
Section i. This constitution, if adopted, shall
go into operation on the first Tuesday of May, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and forty-three. The first election of governor,
lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and general
treasurer, and of senators and representatives under said constitution,
shall be had on the first Wednesday of April next preceding, by the
electors qualified under said constitution. And the town and ward
meetings therefor shall be warned and conducted as is now provided by
law. All civil and military officers now elected, or who shall hereafter
be elected, by the general assembly, or other competent authority,
before the said first Wednesday of April, shall hold their offices and
may exercise their powers until the said first Tuesday of May or until
their successors shall be qualified to act. All statutes, public and
private, not repugnant to this constitution, shall continue in force
until they expire by their own limitation, or are repealed by the
general assembly. All charters, contracts, judgments, actions and rights
of action shall be as valid as if this constitution had not been made.
The present government shall exercise all the powers with which it is
now clothed, until the said first Tuesday of May, one thousand eight
hundred and forty -three, and until the government under this
constitution is duly organized.
Sec. 2. All debts contracted and engagements
entered into, before the adoption of this constitution, shall be as
valid against the state as if this constitution had not been adopted.
Sec. 3. The supreme court, established by this
constitution, shall have the same jurisdiction as the supreme judicial
court at present established, and shall have jurisdiction of all causes
which may be appealed to, or pending in the same ; and shall be held at
the same times and places, and in each county as the present supreme
judicial court, until otherwise prescribed by the general assembly.
Sec. 4. The towns of New Shorehani and
Jamestown shall continue to enjoy the exemptions from military duty
which they now enjoy, until otherwise prescribed by law.
Done in convention, at East Greenwich, this
fifth day of November, A. D., one thousand eight hundred and forty- two.
JAMES FENNER, President.
HENRY Y. CRANSTON, Vice-President
Thomas A. Jenckes
Walter W. Updike Secretaries
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