MiniScopes: Oklahoma is not OK edition

This one is less of a debunking than it is picking apart a FaceBook meme. A conservative friend in Alaska put this one up today. It's supposed to be showing how Oklahoma is a conservative paradise. I was halfway through it before I realized the writer's purpose wasn't showing how Oklahoma is a conservative nuthouse for us to point at and laugh.

Oklahoma is the only state that Obama did not win even one county in the last election... While everyone is focusing on Arizona’s new law, look what Oklahoma has been doing!!!!
An update from Oklahoma:

Arizona? I thought we were all still focussed on Boston and terrorism. I guess I wasn't paying that much attention this week. Which Arizona law? The "No Gun Left Behind" bill or some other? There are so many dumb Arizona laws to focus on these days. Oh well. Once more into the breach my friends!

Oklahoma law passed, 37 to 9 an amendment to place the Ten Commandments on the front entrance to the state capitol. The feds in D.C., along with the ACLU, said it would be a mistake. Hey this is a conservative state, based on Christian values...! HB 1330. Guess what.......... Oklahoma did it anyway.

This has been ruled unconstitutional over and over and will cost the taxpayers of Oklahoma hundreds of thousands--if not millions--of dollars to find out that it's still unconstitutional.

Oklahoma recently passed a law in the state to incarcerate all illegal immigrants, and ship them back to where they came from unless they want to get a green card and become an American citizen. They all scattered. HB 1804. This was against the advice of the Federal Government, and the ACLU, they said it would be a mistake. Guess what.......... Oklahoma did it anyway.

This will be completely unworkable and expensive to attempt. How exactly are they going to deport all the "illegal immigrants" they round up? Oklahoma law ends at the Oklahoma state line. They'll need federal help to move their prisoners any further. Oh, I suppose Rick Perry might agree to ship them across Texas and dump them in Mexico. I suppose Mexico would have to repatriate Mexican citizens. What about non-Mexicans? Rick Perry is not going to let Oklahoma dump them is Texas. Without federal help, they're not going to ship them any further than one of the surrounding red states. Does the new law suppose the taxpayers of Oklahoma will spring for tickets to fly each prisoner back to his or her home country? And, while we're on the subject of cost, where will they incorporate all their prisoners? They're going to need to build some new jails.

Recently we passed a law to include DNA samples from any and all illegal's (sic) to the Oklahoma database, for criminal investigative purposes. Pelosi said it was unconstitutional SB 1102

They might be able to get around the constitutional right to privacy if they take the time to try and convict each prisoner, which would be expensive and time consuming. And, no matter how low the cost of DNA testing becomes, it will always cost something.

Several weeks ago, we passed a law, declaring Oklahoma as a Sovereign state, not under the Federal Government directives. Joining Texas, Montana and Utah as the only states to do so.
More states are likely to follow: Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Carolina's (sic), Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi and Florida. Save your confederate money, it appears the South is about to rise up once again. HJR 1003

Oh boy, nullification and a threat of secession. Didn't we fight a civil war over this? Wasn't Oklahoma on the losing side in that one? (Spoiler: Yes and Yes) Assuming we don't choose to bomb them into submission (again), how good for their economy is it going to be when the Union removes all of its military bases, fires all the federal employees, and bills Oklahoma for its share of the national debt?

The federal Government has made bold steps to take away our guns. Oklahoma, a week ago, passed a law confirming people in this state have the right to bear arms and transport them in their vehicles. I'm sure that was a setback for the criminals  The Liberals didn't like it -- But....Guess what........... Oklahoma did it anyway.

What "bold steps to take away [your] guns"? The toothless background check amendment that didn't pass? The right to bear arms is still protected by the Constitution and doesn't need extra state laws to stay that way. Without a new Constitutional amendment, the most aggressive thing we liberals can do is debate just what the existing Second Amendment means and what reasonable limits can be placed on it. And both are legitimate subjects of debate.

Just this month, the state has voted and passed a law that ALL drivers’ license exams will be printed in English, and only English, and no other language. They have been called racist for doing this, but the fact is that ALL of the road signs are in English only. If you want to drive in Oklahoma, you must read and write English. Really simple.

Go outside and look at some traffic signs. The great majority of them are either symbols or place names. Every license exam I've ever seen requires prospective drivers to know the signs. Its not that hard for non-English speakers to learn to recognize a few dozen phrases without being fluent in English. I can read the menus well enough to order in a dozen languages even though I can only speak English. You don't want us to call it racist? Fine, we'll call it xenophobic, nativist, or any other synonym for bigoted. If the sheet fits, wear it.

By the way, the Liberals don't like any of this either
Guess what...who cares... Oklahoma is doing it anyway.
If you like it, pass it on, if you don't then delete it...Thanks
Guess what: the people I'm sending this to will send it on. Well, at least the ones who love and believe in freedom will.

It must be nice to live in a state with enough money laying around that they can take on the extra expenses of attempting to carry out these laws and fight the inevitable court challenges.  But....Guess what........... They don't have money laying around. Oklahoma is just another deadbeat red state. For every dollar the pay to federal government, they take $1.36 (2005 figures). Who pays the difference? We liberal producers in the blue states have to subsidize the lazy moochers in the red states.

At least it must be nice to live in a state where all the state's problems are solved giving the legislature free time to waste passing unenforceable, unworkable, unconstitutional, and mostly symbolic laws.

It's amazing how much the modern conservative movement is based on spite. Just last week, a study was released showing that conservatives will be less likely to buy something, that they would otherwise have bought, if you say it's good for the environment  Reread the Oklahoma bragging points again; almost all of them list offending someone--the ACLU, the feds, pelosi, liberals--as a positive point. No matter how wrong headed an idea is, if they think it will offend some imaginary liberal, they're for it. Along with refusing to accept that they lost the last election, spite is one of their primary motivations.

I will give the writer one thing, he or she is not so lacking in self-awareness that they'll claim to be American patriots or "constitutional conservatives." They are neither. Spite is more important than either of those ideas. They are perfectly happy to celebrate unconstitutional actions and even suggest treason if it means getting their way and offending liberal strawmen.

Let me suggest a new slogan for them: Oklahoma--We'll wipe our butts with the Constitution if we think it will offend a liberal.

About that congressional pay

Some time ago, early nineties or late eighties, at my age it all runs together, I thought of a new way to figure Congressional pay. At the time, the minimum wage hadn't been raised in years and people who really were trying to play by the rules were slipping further and further behind. Bush the Elder even proposed a sub-minimum wage for food service workers.

My idea was for a constitutional amendment that would define the pay of members of Congress, the President, Vice President, Members of the cabinet, and a few other appointed high positions (today I would add the Supreme Court) not in dollars, but in multiples of the minimum wage. No one gets a raise unless everyone gets a raise. And, to keep an especially mean Congress from foregoing a raise just to screw the poor, my plan included a trigger. If Congress doesn't act to adjust the minimum wage during a two year session, the minimum wage goes up by the rate of inflation plus one tenth of one percent, but the rulers salary stays the same (that is, the formula for their pay adjusts down).

Asheville update

Earlier this week I mentioned the case of Cecil Bothwell, an atheist elected to the city council of Asheville, North Carolina. The majority of the voters of Asheville don't have a problem with Bothwell's lack of religion. However, a couple of conservative activists are willing to thwart the will of the people of Asheville in order to impose their biases on everyone. They are threatening to go to court to have Bothwell removed from office.

As a basis for their suits, they point to Article VI, Section 8 of the North Carolina state constitution which states, "The following persons shall be disqualified for office: First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God." This clause is a leftover from the constitution of 1868 that has survived later revisions of the state constitution. The clause clearly violates both the First Amendment (Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion) and Article VI of the US Constitution, ([N]o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States). All of the states have laws and constitutional clauses that are unenforceable, unconstitutional, and just plain silly. They remain on the books because the legislators think it would be too much bother to remove them. The flaw in that reasoning is that, as long as such laws are on the books, they are available to be used by anyone who wants to cause mischief. That's what's happening in Asheville.

One foe, H.K. Edgerton, is threatening to file a lawsuit in state court against the city to challenge Bothwell's appointment.

"My father was a Baptist minister. I'm a Christian man. I have problems with people who don't believe in God," said Edgerton.

[...]

The head of a conservative weekly newspaper says city officials shirked their duty to uphold the state's laws by swearing in Bothwell. David Morgan, editor of the Asheville Tribune, said he's tired of seeing his state Constitution "trashed."

Edgerton's religious bigotry is pretty straightforward and another shot in the tedious cultural war that the religious right has been waging unsuccessfully for decades. Morgan's argument is something newer. Morgan is making a states' rights, nullification argument and claiming nothing less than that the US Constitution is unenforceable in North Carolina. This is light-years beyond the usual tenther nullification arguments.

Of course, Edgerton and Morgan have no chance of winning their lawsuits--if the actually carry through on their threats--but they do have potential to tie the city of Asheville up in expensive litigation for months and even years. A similar case in South Carolina dragged on for eight years before it came to its inevitable end. There are several right wing legal foundations who might be willing to take on such a cause. They all claim to be conservative the equivalent of the hated ACLU. The main difference between them and the ACLU is not ideology; it's sanity. The ACLU always makes sure the Constitution is on its side. The conservative legal foundations want to impose their views on the world, Constitution be damned. That's how these things get out of control.

Tenther nonsense

When Michele Bachmann made her conspiracy theory comments about the census, I thought she would be laughed off the stage. Every census, some nuts on the farthest fringes make that claim that the Census Bureau can't do anything except count people, but only conspiracy nuts and libertarians take them seriously. Bachmann is a bona fide conspiracy nut so no one of any responsibility should have taken her claims seriously. However, not only have so called grownups paid attention to her, they have now built on her arguments to claim healthcare reform is unconstitutional.

Their argument is that the Tenth Amendment prohibits the federal government from doing anything except for the very few things specifically mentioned in the body of the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment reads, in it's entirety:

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

That's it. "Powers" is a very vague word. They choose to define it as meaning only those very specific tasks and responsibilities mentioned in the body. If the Constitution doesn't specifically mention healthcare, then the Federal government can't do anything about it.

For the census, here's what the Constitution says in Article I, Section 2, the section on the elction of members of Congress.

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers ...[this part, about slaves counting as three fifths of a person, was deleted by the Fourteenth Amendment]. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct.

They read this to mean the Census can only ask questions about how many people live at a given location. They can't ask their names. They can't write down the address. They can only count. The part about "in such Manner as [Congress] shall by Law direct" must mean something like whether the census counters have to count on their fingers or use paper.

The writers put Congress first in the Constitution--Article one. They must have thought Congress was pretty important, but the tenther line of argument doesn't leave the Congress much to do. They get to pass a budget, declare war, run the Post Office, determine whether census counters count on their fingers or use paper, and not much else.

Over the years, the same argument has been raised whenever the government is doing something that conservatives don't like or that provokes some kind of populist paranoia. In the thirties, conservatives and Republicans pulled out the Tenth Amendment argument to fight the New Deal and declaired that Roosevelt had ended constitutional rule and become a lawless tyrant. Southern politicians pulled out the Tenth Amendment argument during desegregation and declaired that Eisenhower had ended constitutional rule and become a lawless tyrant. When Medicare was being debated in the sixties, Ronald Reagan recorded a speech declairing that Johnson had ended constitutional rule and become a lawless tyrant. You get the idea.

These things sound ridiculous to most of us, but many Republicans are still fighting those battles. Newt Gingrich would like to repeal most of the social legislation of the sixties. Other Republicans are still trying to repeal the reforms and initiatives that Roosevelt used to end the Depression. When the sane among us try to laugh at the tenther argument by pointing out that, by their logic, Social Security, Medicare, veterans' hospitals, and the interstate highway system are unconstitutional, a frightning number of office-holding Republicans will look us in the eye and soberly answer that that, yes, they do think those things are unconstitutional.

Asking them about big government programs doesn't really expose the complete irresponsibility of the tenther argument. There are lots of things that the federal government is involved in, in one way or another, that are not specifically mentioned in the body of the Constitution. Among them:

• Murder
  
• Kidnapping
  
• Predicting the weather
  
• Texas secceeding
  
• Terrorism
  
• The Air Force
  
• Child pornography
  
• Preventing flooding on the Mississippi
  
• Helping people after flooding on the Mississippi
  
• The definition of marriage
  
• Public schools
  
• Illegal immigration
  
• Fighting forest fires
  
• The war on drugs
  
• Air traffic control
  
• People putting poison in our food
  
• Abortion

I think everyone can find something on that list that they think the government should not be involved with, but only the most over the edge libertarians would say they shouldn't be involved anything on that list. Somehow, mainstream Republicans have decided they need to pander to that fringe of the fringe.

One power that is specifically delegated to the government is to "fix the Standard of Weights and Measures." This means that while the government cannot do anything to fight child pornography, it can standardize shoe sizes. That's the original intent of the framers of the Constitution. That's how it should be.

Religion in the states

The Constitution of the United States makes no mention of God and only two references to religion. The first reference is in the body: Article VI "[N]o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." The second reference is the first line of the First Amendment: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...." The state constitutions are far less restrained. While looking for voting rights in the state constitutions, I began to collect some interesting trivia from the freedom of religion clauses. The topic was interesting enough that I went back and collected the freedom of religion clauses from all fifty of the state constitutions (all fifty do include it in their enumeration of rights). This task was made easier by stumbling across Know Your Rights!, a site by Ken Lombardi where he has gathered all of the states' bills of rights.

At first I thought it would be interesting to look not just at the texts of the freedom of religion clauses in the various bills of rights, but at the position of that clause. My thinking was that how high or low they placed religious freedom in the enumeration of rights might be an indication of how much importance the authors of the constitutions placed on religious freedom. In the table below, I have included the section or article number for religion in each bill of rights. I don't think the results showed what I had hoped, but the results were nevertheless interesting.

A quick glance at the religion clauses shows that most states have used a limited number of standardized forms for the clause. The similarities are even more obvious when you look at the complete bills of rights. What they reveal, is that writing a constitution isn't as hard as it sounds. It appears that most constitutions were not so much written from scratch, as copied and modified using the constitution of another state. The placement of the religious clause is only a safe indication of the priority of the state that wrote the original version. Tracing the lineage of the various state constitutions would be an interesting project for another day.

Another detail revealed by skimming over the full bills of rights is that most of them have rather self-consciously copied the US Bill of Rights. Most of us should find that predictable. In some ways it's also a bit silly. Is it really necessary for every state to repeat that, in peacetime, troops cannot be quartered in homes without the consent of the owner? In a way, repeating such rights, religious freedom included, undermines the idea that the US Constitution is the supreme law of the land. If a right is already guaranteed by one authority, what is the point of another authority also guaranteeing it, unless that second authority claims the power to override the first authority? I suppose that's a question for legal scholars*.

Noticing that the state bills of rights copy the US Bill of Rights brings us back to the placement of religious freedom. Freedom of religion is the first right named in the First Amendment, yet many states have moved it lower in their bills of rights, in some cases much lower. In Arkansas it follows a clause on eminent domain. In Maryland it comes right after a prohibition on holding two offices at once and twenty-five places down from a clause making Annapolis the capital (that's a right?). Why the reordering of the rights? That's another question for legal scholars.

Looking at the question of religion, we can't ignore the preambles. The US constitution makes no mention of God in its preamble. Forty-five state constitutions invoke God, or some euphemism for God's name, in their preamble. Only Oregon and Tennessee have constitutions that do not mention God in some form in their preambles. The constitutions of New Hampshire, Vermont, and Virginia do not have preambles at all, as far as I can tell. For the record, the Constitution of the Confederate States, a quick rewrite of the US Constitution, did invoke "the favor and guidance of Almighty God." I have included all of these invocations in the table below.

A common claim made by the religious right when arguing against the concept of separation of church and state is that freedom of religion does not mean freedom from religion. There is absolutely nothing in the Constitution or in or in the present interpretation of the first amendment offered by recent supreme courts. Those who make that claim will find comfort in reading reading state constitutions. Half of the constitutions frame the right in some form similar to Kentucky's: "The right of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience." These states include nine of the original thirteen colonies and six of the eleven Confederate states. Four states--Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Virginia--refer to a duty to worship God. The religious right, besides taking comfort in the idea that freedom of religion means only freedom of form, would be quick to point out the monotheistic language. These state constitutions could be read to mean only believers in the Abrahamic form of religion are entitled to freedom of conscience. Not only could the concerns of atheists be ignored by the state, so too could the concerns of Hindus, Buddhists, animists, and Wiccans be ignored. Ironically, Satanists would be covered by that interpretation. They acknowledge the monotheistic god; they just don't like him. Fortunately, no higher court (outside Alabama) is going to go along with that interpretation.

The ugliest bit of hypocrisy is that, in four states, the above interpretation is supported by other language in the constitutions. In Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, and Texas, atheists are specifically forbidden to hold public office. In those states, freedom of religion really does not include freedom from religion.

A few other odds and ends:

• Most states make a point of adding to their religion clause text that says religious belief does not entitle a person to break the law. Idaho makes that point and very specifically names bigamy and polygamy as two crimes not excused by religion. This is aimed at Idaho's large Mormon population and at the tendency of Mormon polygamists to locate their compounds in peripheral areas like the Idaho mountains.
  
• In Massachusetts, Nebraska, New Hampshire, and Ohio, religion is named as being "essential" to good government and public order.
  
• Vermont advises "every sect or denomination of Christians ought to observe the Sabbath or Lord's day, and keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God."
  
• Virginia says "...it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other."
  
• Mississippi allows Christian churches to keep a foot in the schoolhouse door: "The rights hereby secured shall not be construed ... to exclude the Holy Bible from use in any public school of this state."

One way of looking at the the religious language, invocations to the Christian God, and indications that freedom of religion means nothing more than being free to decide which Protestant church you're going to attend, is to say it's no more meaningful than "In God We Trust" on a coin or "under God" inserted into the pledge. It is a violation of separation and shouldn't be there, but it's far from the most dangerous violation of separation going on. Another way of looking at it is to say it is serious. These little violations help create an atmosphere that makes the bigger violations more likely. While a few big cases get the most visible news coverage, the struggle to maintain the wall of separation is almost entirely fought in small local skirmishes. Documents like state constitutions carry a great deal of weight in these skirmishes. The sloppy and indefensible way in which the topic is dealt with in many constitutions creates cracks and loopholes that the opponents of separation will find and will exploit to the best of their ability.

Two years ago, someone in Ohio noticed that their constitution and law code still used the terms "idiots," "lunatics," and "insane" to designate any and all kinds of limitations on mental ability. Their response was to make a purely cosmetic change to the law code to use kinder and gentler terms. They decided it was too much of a bother to change the constitution, so that document still says, "No idiot, or insane person, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector." The law might reflect a more nuanced attitude about who can exercise the full rights of an adult, but as long as the constitution says something different, there will always be a danger that those rights will be removed. Most states have that same casual attitude about religious rights. They have left the old language, privileging monotheism (specifically Christianity), in place because they don't intend to do anything about it. But as long as the language is there, it's like leaving a vial of nitro in your medicine cabinet. There will always be a possibility that it will explode.

Today there are hundreds of religious extremists looking for an opening to impose their religion on others. The Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches, which provided endorsement for nearly ten percent of the chaplains in the US military, regularly violates the codes that govern chaplaincies, using their positions of authority to proselytize the troops and carry their missions overseas. Their actions are illegal and unconstitutional but flourish anyway because of the unwillingness of federal authorities to confront violations of the wall of separation. The US constitution provides far fewer openings for such abuse that do most state constitutions, yet the abuse is rampant. Your state might not be acting on constitutional language that says religion is necessary for good order or that bans atheists from public office, but as long as that language is there, it presents a threat. Like the nitro in the medicine cabinet, it's best to get rid of the language before it causes an explosion.

For all you rights and constitution buffs, here's the state of your state:

Alabama
We, the people of the State of Alabama ... invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God...
Sec. 3 That no religion shall be established by law; that no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect, society, denomination, or mode of worship; that no one shall be compelled by law to attend any place of worship; nor to pay any tithes, taxes, or other rate for building or repairing any place of worship, or for maintaining any minister or ministry; that no religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this state; and that the civil rights, privileges, and capacities of any citizen shall not be in any manner affected by his religious principles.

Alaska
We the people of Alaska, grateful to God and to those who founded our nation and pioneered this great land...
Sec. 4 No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

Arizona
We the people of the State of Arizona, grateful to Almighty God for our liberties...
Sec. 12. The liberty of conscience secured by the provisions of this Constitution shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the State. No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, or to the support of any religious establishment. No religious qualification shall be required for any public office or employment, nor shall any person be incompetent as a witness or juror in consequence of his opinion on matters of religion, nor be questioned touching his religious belief in any court of justice to affect the weight of his testimony.

Arkansas
We, the People of the State of Arkansas, grateful to Almighty God for the privilege of choosing our own form of government; for our civil and religious liberty...
Sec. 24. All men have a natural and indefeasible** right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man can, of right, be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship; or to maintain any ministry against his consent. No human authority can, in any case or manner whatsoever, control or interfere with the right of conscience; and no preference shall ever be given, by law, to any religious establishment, denomination or mode of worship, above any other.

California
WE, the People of California, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom: in order to secure its blessings, do establish this Constitution...
Sec. 4. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this State; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief; but the liberty of conscience, hereby secured, shall not be so construed as to acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State.

Colorado
We, the people of Colorado, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe...
Sec. 4. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination, shall forever hereafter be guaranteed; and no person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his opinions concerning religion; but the liberty of conscience here by secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or affirmations, excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the good order, peace or safety of the state.

Connecticut
The people of the State of Connecticut acknowledging with gratitude, the good providence of God...
Sec. 3. The exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination, shall forever be free to all persons in the state; provided, that the right hereby declared and established, shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or to justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.

Delaware
Through Divine goodness, all men have by nature the rights of worshiping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their consciences...
Sec. 1. Although it is the duty of all men frequently to assemble together for the public worship of Almighty God; and piety and morality, on which the prosperity of communities depends are hereby promoted; yet no man shall or ought to be compelled to attend any religious worship, to contribute to the erection or support of any place of worship, or to the maintenance of any ministry, against his own free will and consent; and no power shall or ought to be vested in or assumed by any magistrate that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner control the rights of conscience, in the free exercise or religious worship, nor a preference given by law to any religious societies, denominations, or modes of worship.
Sec. 2. No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under this State.

Florida
We, the people of the State of Florida, being grateful to Almighty God for our constitutional liberty...
Sec. 3. There shall be no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting or penalizing the free exercise thereof. Religious freedom shall not justify practices inconsistent with public morals, peace or safety. No revenue of the state or any political subdivision or agency thereof shall ever be taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of any church, sect, or religious denomination or in aid of any sectarian institution.

Georgia
[W]e, the people of Georgia, relying upon the protection and guidance of Almighty God...
Part 12. All men have the natural and inalienable right to worship God, each according to the dictates of his own conscience, and no human authority should, in any case, control or interfere with such right of conscience.

Hawaii
We, the people of the State of Hawaii, grateful for Divine Guidance...
Sec. 3. No law shall be enacted respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Idaho
We, the people of the State of Idaho, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...
Sec. 4. The exercise and enjoyment of religious faith and worship shall forever be guaranteed; and no person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege, or capacity on account of his religious opinions; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or affirmations, or excuse acts of licentiousness or justify polygamous or other pernicious practices, inconsistent with morality or the peace or safety of the state; nor to permit any person, organization, or association to directly or indirectly aid or abet, counsel or advise any person to commit the crime of bigamy or polygamy, or any other crime. No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship, religious sect or denomination, or pay tithes against his consent; nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship. Bigamy and polygamy are forever prohibited in the state, and the legislature shall provide by law for the punishment of such crimes.

Illinois
We, the people of the State of Illinois - grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He has permitted us to enjoy and seeking His blessing upon our endeavors...
Sec. 3. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination, shall forever be guaranteed, and no person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege or capacity, on account of his religious opinions; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be construed to dispense with oaths or affirmations, excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the State. No person shall be required to attend or support any ministry or place of worship against his consent, nor shall any preference be] given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship.

Indiana
WE, the people of the State of Indiana, grateful to ALMIGHTY GOD...
Sec. 2. All men shall be secured in their natural right to worship Almighty God, according to the dictates of their own consciences.

Iowa
WE, THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF IOWA, grateful to the Supreme Being for the blessings hitherto enjoyed, and feeling our dependence on Him for a continuance of those blessings...
Sec. 3. The General Assembly shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; nor shall any person be compelled to attend any place of worship, pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or repairing places of worship, or the maintenance of any minister, or ministry.

Kansas
We, the people of Kansas, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious privileges...
Sec. 7. The right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall any person be compelled to attend or support any form of worship, nor shall any control of or interference with the rights of conscience be permitted, nor any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship. No religious test or property qualification shall be required for any office of public trust, nor for any vote at any election, nor shall any person be incompetent to testify on account of religious belief.

Kentucky
We, the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties we enjoy, and invoking the continuance of these blessings...
Sec. 1. All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned:
Second: The right of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of their conscience.
Sec. 5. Right of religious freedom. No preference shall ever be given by law to any religious sect, society or denomination; nor to any particular creed, mode of worship or system of ecclesiastical polity; nor shall any person be compelled to attend any place of worship, to contribute to the erection or maintenance of any such place, or to the salary or support of any minister or religion; nor shall any man be compelled to send his child to any school to which he may be conscientiously opposed; and the civil rights, privileges or capacities of no person shall be taken away, or in anywise diminished or enlarged, on account of his belief or disbelief of any religious tenet, dogma or teaching. No human authority shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience.

Louisiana
We, the people of Louisiana, grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political, economic, and religious liberties we enjoy...
Sec. 8. No law shall be enacted respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

Maine
We the people of Maine ... acknowledging with grateful hearts the goodness of the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe in affording us an opportunity, so favorable to the design; and, imploring His aid and direction in its accomplishment...
Sec. 3. All men have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no one shall be hurt, molested or restrained in his person, liberty or estate for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience, nor for his religious professions or sentiments, provided he does not disturb the public peace, nor obstruct others in their religious worship; - And all persons demeaning themselves peaceably, as good members of the state, shall be equally under the protection of the laws, and no subordination nor preference of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law, nor shall any religious test be required as a qualification for any office or trust, under this State; and all religious societies in this State, whether incorporate or unincorporate, shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their public teachers, and contracting with them for their support and maintenance.

Maryland
We the people of the State of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty...
Art. 36. That as it is the duty of every man to worship God in such manner as he thinks most acceptable to Him, all persons are equally entitled to protection in their religious liberty; wherefore, no person ought by any law to be molested in his person or estate, on account of his religious persuasion, or profession, or for his religious practice, unless under the color of religion, he shall disturb the good order, peace or safety of the State, or shall infringe the laws of morality, or injure others in their natural, civil or religious rights; nor ought any person to be compelled to frequent, or maintain, or contribute, unless on contract, to maintain, any place of worship, or any ministry; nor shall any person otherwise competent, be deemed incompetent as a witness, or juror, on account of his religious belief; provided, he believes in the existence of God, and that under His dispensation such person will be held morally accountable for his acts, and be rewarded or punished therefore either in this world or in the world to come.
Art. 37. That no religious test ought ever to be required as a qualification for any office of profit or trust in this State, other than a declaration of belief in the existence of God; nor shall the Legislature prescribe any other oath of office than the oath prescribed by this Constitution.
Art. 38. That every gift, sale or devise of land to any Minister, Public Teacher, or Preacher of the Gospel, as such, or to any Religious Sect, Order or Denomination, or to, or for the support, use or benefit of, or in trust for, any Minister, Public Teacher, or Preacher of the Gospel, as such, or any Religious Sect, Order or Denomination; and every gift or sale of goods, or chattels to go in succession, or to take place after the death of the Sellor [sic] or Donor, to or for such support, use or benefit; and also every devise of goods or chattels to or for the support, use or benefit of any Minister, Public Teacher, or Preacher of the Gospel, as such, or any Religious Sect, Order or Denomination, without the prior or subsequent sanction of the Legislature, shall be void, except always, any sale, gift, or lease or devise of any quantity of land, not exceeding five acres, for a church, meeting house, or other house of worship, or parsonage, or for a burying ground, which shall be improved, enjoyed or used only for such purpose; or such sale, gift, or lease or devise shall be void. Provided, however, that except in so far as the General Assembly shall hereafter by law otherwise enact, the consent of the Legislature shall not be required to any gift, grant, deed, or conveyance executed after the 2nd day of November, 1948, or to any devise or bequest contained in the will of any person dying after said 2nd day of November, 1948, for any of the purposes here in above in this Art. mentioned.

Massachusetts
[We] the people of Massachusettes [sic], acknowledging, with grateful hearts, the goodness of the Great Legislator of the Universe, in affording us, in the course of his Providence, an opportunity ... of forming a New Constitution of Civil Government, for Ourselves and Posterity; and devoutly imploring His direction in so interesting a Design...
Art. II. It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society, publickly [sic], and at stated seasons to worship the Supreme Being, the great Creator and preserver of the Universe. And no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his person, Liberty, or Estate, for worshipping GOD in the manner and season most agreeable to the Dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious profession or sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public peace, or obstruct others in their religious Worship.
Art. XI. As the public worship of God and instructions in piety, religion and morality, promote the happiness and prosperity of a people and the security of a republican government; -- therefore, the several religious societies of this commonwealth, whether corporate or unincorporate, at any meeting legally warned and holden for that purpose, shall ever have the right to elect their pastors or religious teachers, to contract with them for their support, to raise money for erecting and repairing houses for public worship, for the maintenance of religious instruction, and for the payment of necessary expenses: and all persons belonging to any religious society shall be taken and held to be members, until they shall file with the clerk of such society, a written notice, declaring the dissolution of their membership, and thenceforth shall not be liable for any grant or contract which may be thereafter made, or entered into by such society: -- and all religious sects and denominations, demeaning themselves peaceably, and as good citizens of the commonwealth, shall be equally under the protection of the law; and no subordination of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law.

Michigan
We, the people of the state of Michigan, grateful to Almighty God...
Sec. 4. Every person shall be at liberty to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. No person shall be compelled to attend, or, against his consent, to contribute to the erection or support of any place of religious worship, or to pay tithes, taxes or other rates for the support of any minister of the gospel or teacher of religion. No money shall be appropriated or drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any religious sect or society, theological or religious seminary; nor shall property belonging to the state be appropriated for any such purpose. The civil and political rights, privileges and capacities of no person shall be diminished or enlarged on account of his religious belief.

Minnesota
We, the people of the state of Minnesota, grateful to God...
Sec. 16. FREEDOM OF CONSCIENCE; NO PREFERENCE TO BE GIVEN TO ANY RELIGIOUS ESTABLISHMENT OR MODE OF WORSHIP. The enumeration of rights in this constitution shall not deny or impair others retained by and inherent in the people. The right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall any man be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any religious or ecclesiastical ministry, against his consent; nor shall any control of or interference with the rights of conscience be permitted, or any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the state, nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any religious societies or religious or theological seminaries.
Sec. 17. RELIGIOUS TESTS AND PROPERTY QUALIFICATIONS PROHIBITED. No religious test or amount of property shall be required as a qualification for any office of public trust in the state. No religious test or amount of property shall be required as a qualification of any voter at any election in this state; nor shall any person be rendered incompetent to give evidence in any court of law or equity in consequence of his opinion upon the subject of religion.

Mississippi
We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and involving his blessing on our work...
Sec. 18. No religious test as a qualification for office shall be required; and no preference shall be given by law to any religious sect or mode of worship; but the free enjoyment of all religious sentiments and the different modes of worship shall be held sacred. The rights hereby secured shall not be construed to justify acts of licentiousness injurious to morals or dangerous to the peace and safety of the state, or to exclude the Holy Bible from use in any public school of this state.

Missouri
We, the people of Missouri, with profound reverence for the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and grateful for His goodness...
Sec. 5. That all men have a natural and indefeasible** right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person shall, on account of his religious persuasion or belief, be rendered ineligible to any public office of trust or profit in this state, be disqualified from testifying or serving as a juror, or be molested in his person or estate; but this section shall not be construed to excuse acts of licentiousness, nor to justify practices inconsistent with the good order, peace or safety of the state, or with the rights of others.
Sec. 6. That no person can be compelled to erect, support or attend any place or system of worship, or to maintain or support any priest, minister, preacher or teacher of any sect, church, creed or denomination of religion; but if any person shall voluntarily make a contract for any such object, he shall be held to the performance of the same.
Sec. 7. That no money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, or denomination of religion, or in aid of any priest, preacher, minister or teacher thereof, as such; and that no preference shall be given to nor any discrimination made against any church, sect or creed of religion, or any form of religious faith or worship.

Montana
We the people of Montana grateful to God for the quiet beauty of our state...
Sec. 5. The state shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

Nebraska
We, the people, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...
Sec. 4. All persons have a natural and indefeasible** right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. No person shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship against his consent, and no preference shall be given by law to any religious society, nor shall any interference with the rights of conscience be permitted. No religious test shall be required as a qualification for office, nor shall any person be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious beliefs; but nothing herein shall be construed to dispense with oaths and affirmations. Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the legislature to pass suitable laws to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruction.

Nevada
We the people of the State of Nevada Grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...
Sec: 4. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference shall forever be allowed in this State, and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his opinions on matters of his religious belief, but the liberty of conscience hereby secured, shall not be so construed, as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace, or safety of this State.

New Hampshire
Art. 5. Every individual has a natural and unalienable right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and reason; and no subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained, in his peers on, liberty, or estate, for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; or for his religious profession, sentiments, or persuasion; provided he doth not disturb the public peace or disturb others in their religious worship.
Art. 6. As morality and piety, rightly grounded on high principles, will give the best and greatest security to government, and will lay, in the hearts of men, the strongest obligations to due subjection; and as the knowledge of these is most likely to be propagated through a society, therefore, the several parishes, bodies, corporate, or religious societies shall at all times have the right of electing their own teachers, and of contracting with them for their support or maintenance, or both. But no person shall ever be compelled to pay towards the support of the schools of any sect or denomination. And every person, denomination or sect shall be equally under the protection of the law; and no subordination of any one sect, denomination or persuasion to another shall ever be established.

New Jersey
We, the people of the State of New Jersey, 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
Sec. 3. No person shall be deprived of the inestimable privilege of worshiping Almighty God in a manner agreeable to the dictates of his own conscience; nor under any pretense whatever be compelled to attend any place of worship contrary to his faith and judgment; nor shall any person be obliged to pay tithes, taxes, or other rates for building or repairing any church or churches, place or places of worship, or for the maintenance of any minister or ministry, contrary to what he believes to be right or has deliberately and voluntarily engaged to perform.
Sec. 4. There shall be no establishment of one religious sect in preference to another; no religious or racial test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.

New Mexico
We, the people of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of liberty...
Sec. 11. Every man shall be free to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and no person shall ever be molested or denied any civil or political right or privilege on account of his religious opinion or mode of religious worship. No person shall be required to attend any place of worship or support any religious sect or denomination; nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious denomination or mode of worship.

New York
WE, THE PEOPLE of the State of New York, grateful to Almighty God...
Sec. 3. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever be allowed in this state to all mankind; and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness on account of his opinions on matters of religious belief; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this state.

North Carolina
We, the people of the State of North Carolina, grateful to Almighty God, the Sovereign Ruler of Nations, for the preservation of the American Union and the existence of our civil, political and religious liberties, and acknowledging our dependence upon Him for the continuance of those blessings to us and our posterity...
ARTICLE I DECLARATION OF RIGHTS
Sec. 13. All persons have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the desires of their own consciences, and no human authority shall, in any case whatever control or interfere with the rights of conscience.
ARTICLE VI SUFFRAGE AND ELIGIBILITY TO OFFICE
Sec. 8. Disqualifications for office.
The following persons shall be disqualified for office:
First, any person who shall deny the being of Almighty God.

North Dakota
We, the people of North Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty,
Sec. 4. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall be forever guaranteed in this state, and no person shall be rendered incompetent to be a witness or juror on account of his opinion on matters of religious belief; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of this state.

Ohio
We, the people of the State of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God...
Sec. 7. All men have a natural and indefeasible** right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience. No person shall be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or maintain any form of worship, against his consent; and no preference shall be given, by law, to any religious society; nor shall any interference with the rights of conscience be permitted. No religious test shall be required, as a qualification for office, nor shall any person be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious belief; but nothing herein shall be construed to dispense with oaths and affirmations. Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass suitable laws, to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruction.

Oklahoma
Invoking the guidance of Almighty God…
Sec. 5. No public money or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, benefit, or support of any priest, preacher, minister, or other religious teacher or dignitary, or sectarian institution as such.

Oregon
Section 2. Freedom of worship. All men shall be secure in the Natural right, to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences.
Section 3. Freedom of religious opinion. No law shall in any case whatever control the free exercise, and enjoyment of religeous [sic] opinions, or interfere with the rights of conscience.
Section 4. No religious qualification for office. No religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office of trust or profit.
Section
5. No money to be appropriated for religion. No money shall be drawn from the Treasury for the benefit of any religeous [sic], or theological institution, nor shall any money be appropriated for the payment of any religeous [sic] services in either house of the Legislative Assembly.
Section 6. No religious test for witnesses or jurors. No person shall be rendered incompetent as a witness, or juror in consequence of his opinions on matters of religeon [sic]; nor be questioned in any Court of Justice touching his religeous [sic] belief to affect the weight of his testimony.

Pennsylvania
WE, the people of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God...
Sec. 3. All men have a natural and indefeasible** right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent; no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious establishment or modes of worship.
Sec. 4. No person who acknowledges the being of a God and a future state of rewards and punishments shall, on account of his religious sentiments, be disqualified to hold any office or place of trust or profit under this Commonwealth.

Rhode Island
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...
Sec. 3. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; and all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness; and whereas a principal object of our venerable ancestors, in the migration 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 the 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 effect his civil capacity.

South Carolina
We, the people of the State of South Carolina, in Convention assembled, grateful to God for our liberties...
Sec. 2. The General Assembly shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble and petition the government or any department thereof for a redress of grievances.

South Dakota
We, the people of South Dakota, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberties...
Sec. 3. The right to worship God according to the dictates of conscience shall never be infringed. No person shall be denied any civil or political right, privilege or position on account of his religious opinions; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse licentiousness, the invasion of the rights of others, or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.
No person shall be compelled to attend or support any ministry or place of worship against his consent nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship. No money or property of the state shall be given or appropriated for the benefit of any sectarian or religious society or institution.

Tennessee
Sec. 3. That all men have a natural and indefeasible** right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience; that no man can of right be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any minister against his consent; that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience; and that no preference shall ever be given, by law to any religious establishment or mode of worship.
Sec. 4. That no political or religious test, other than an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and of this State, shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under this state.

Texas
Humbly invoking the blessings of Almighty God...
Sec. 4. No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust in this State; Nor shall anyone be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledges the existence of a Supreme Being.
Sec. 5. No person shall be disqualified to give evidence in any of the courts of this state on account of his religious opinions, or for want of any religious belief, but all oaths or affirmations shall be administered in the mode most binding upon the conscience, and shall be taken subject to the pains and penalties of perjury.
Sec. 6. All men have a natural and indefeasible** right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. No man shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place or worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent. No human authority ought, in any case whatever, to control or interfere with the rights of conscience in matters of religion, and no preference shall ever be given by law to any religious society or mode of worship. But it shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass such laws as may be necessary to protect equally every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship.
Sec. 7. No money shall be appropriated or drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any sect, or religious society, theological or religious seminary, nor shall property belonging to the State be appropriated for any such purposes.

Utah
Grateful to Almighty God for life and liberty...
Sec. 4. The rights of conscience shall never be infringed. The State shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; no religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office of public trust or for any vote at any election; nor shall any person be incompetent as a witness or juror on account of religious belief or the absence thereof. There shall be no union of Church and State, nor shall any church dominate the State or interfere with its functions. No public money or property shall be apportioned for or applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction, or for the support of any ecclesiastical establishment. No property qualification shall be required of any person to vote, or hold office, except as provided in this Constitution.

Vermont
Art. 3rd. That all men have a natural and unalienable right, to worship Almighty God, according to the dictates of their own consciences and understandings, as in their opinion shall be regulated by the word of God: and that no man ought to, or of right can be compelled to attend any religious worship, or erect or support any place of worship, or maintain any minister, contrary to the dictates of his conscience, nor can any man be justly deprived or abridged of any civil right as a citizen, on account of his religious sentiments, or peculiar mode of religious worship; and that no authority can, or ought to be vested in, or assumed by, any power whatever, that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner control the rights of conscience, in the free exercise of religious worship. Nevertheless, every sect or denomination of Christians ought to observe the Sabbath or Lord's day, and keep up some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most agreeable to the revealed will of God.

Virginia
Sec. 16. Free exercise of religion; no establishment of religion.
That religion or the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, can be directed only by reason and conviction, not by force or violence; and, therefore, all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the mutual duty of all to practice Christian forbearance, love, and charity towards each other. No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened*** in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain their opinions in matters of religion, and the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities. And the General Assembly shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this Commonwealth, to levy on themselves or others, any tax for the erection or repair of any house of public worship, or for the support of any church or ministry; but it shall be left free to every person to select his religious instructor, and to make for his support such private contract as he shall please.

Washington
We, the people of the State of Washington, grateful to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe for our liberties...
Sec. 11. Absolute freedom of conscience in all matters of religious sentiment, belief and worship, shall be guaranteed to every individual, and no one shall be molested or disturbed in person or property on account of religion; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state. No public money or property shall be appropriated for or applied to any religious worship, exercise or instruction, or the support of any religious establishment: Provided, however, That this article shall not be so construed as to forbid the employment by the state of a chaplain for such of the state custodial, correctional and mental institutions as in the discretion of the Legislature may seem justified. No religious qualification shall be required for any public office or employment, nor shall any person be incompetent as a witness or juror, in consequence of his opinion on matters of religion, nor be questioned in any court of justice touching his religious belief to affect the weight of his testimony.

West Virginia
Since through Divine Providence we enjoy the blessings of civil, political and religious liberty, we, the people of West Virginia, in and through the provisions of this Constitution, reaffirm our faith in and constant reliance upon God and seek diligently to promote, preserve and perpetuate good government in the state of West Virginia for the common welfare, freedom and security of ourselves and our posterity.
Sec. 11. .... No religious or Political test oath shall be required as a prerequisite or qualification to vote, serve as a juror, sue, plead, appeal, or pursue any profession or employment...
Sec. 15. No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place or ministry whatsoever; nor shall any man be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened***, in his body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess, and by argument, to maintain their opinions in matters of religion; and the same shall, in no wise, affect, diminish or enlarge their civil capacities; and the Legislature shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or denomination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any religious society, or the people of any district within this State, to levy on themselves, or others, any tax for the erection or repair of any house for public worship, or for the support of any church or ministry, but it shall be left free for every person to select his religious instructor, and to make for his support, such private contract as he shall please.

Wisconsin
We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom...
Sec. 18. The right of every man to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of his own conscience shall never be infringed; nor shall any man be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his consent; nor shall any control of, or interference with, the rights of conscience be permitted, or any preference be given by law to any religious establishments or modes of worship; nor shall any money be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of religious societies, or religious or theological seminaries.

Wyoming
We, the people of the State of Wyoming, grateful to God for our civil, political and religious liberties...
Sec. 18. The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship without discrimination or preference shall be forever guaranteed in this state, and no person shall be rendered incompetent to hold any office of trust or profit, or to serve as a witness or juror, because of his opinion on any matter of religious belief whatsoever; but the liberty of conscience hereby secured shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.
Sec. 19. No money of the state shall ever be given or appropriated to any sectarian or religious society or institution.

* While they are explaining that, they should also explain why state constitutions prohibit treason. Treason is only a crime against the United States and is enforced by federal authority. You cannot commit treason against a state. And why is the treason clause put in the bill of rights in most states? Are they saying our creator has endowed us with an inalienable right to be executed for treason? That's just creepy.

** Indefeasible is roughly a synonym for inalienable.

*** Burthen is an obsolete variant spelling of burden. I had to look it up. Now that I think about it, "The Burthening" sounds like a horror movie.

Voting rights

A Mark (I'm not sure which one) pointed out in the comments to my post on mental health and voting rights, that Georgia has limitations that are not mentioned in their constitution. I should have pointed out that I only looked at constitutions. I'm sure trawling through the law codes would find lots of other restrictions and interesting trivia. But a project that time-consuming would be more suitable to dissertation or book than to a couple of blog posts. Then again, it's in the nature of blogging that someone obsessive enough could produce an entire blog or carnival dedicated exclusively looking at constitutions. It would certainly produce some interesting discussions. They might already exist, for all I know. As for me, I'm going to do one more post on the subject of state constitutions and then lay off for a while. That's not to say I might not be lured back someday.

On being prevented from voting

The right to vote is not stated in a clear, singular way in the US Constitution. Rather, it's scattered piecemeal throughout the main body and amendments leaving the courts to interpret just how the hell it's supposed to function. Originally, the Constitution only dealt with voting as it related to elections of the President, Vice President, and members of both houses of Congress. The states were allowed to set their own rights, requirements, and restrictions for voting. At first, the right to vote varied wildly from state to state. In some cases, this led to progressive experimentation, as when various states gave women the right to vote in local elections. In other cases, the result was far more regressive. Cases of the states restricting the right to vote were most obvious during the period between the Revolution and the Civil War. In the early days, most states limited the right to vote to white, male, (mostly wealthy) property owners. Since the Civil War, the states' definitions of the right to vote in local election have come more into line with the right to vote in national elections and with the rights in other states. But there are still exceptions.

About the only time that you hear about states restricting the right to vote these days is in the case of imprisoned and released felons. A few states never remove the right to vote; convicted felons are allowed to cast their votes in prison. Most states revoke the right to vote for felons during their time of incarceration. The biggest variety in state laws is in how they treat released felons. Some immediately restore the right to vote as soon as felons are released from captivity. Others restore the right only when all of the terms of their sentence (such as parole or probation) have been fulfilled. Quite a few never restore the right to vote. This issue comes up every election cycle and is used by the Republicans as a partisan cudgel to bash Democrats. Their argument is that Democrats are pro-crime, love criminals more that victims, and hope to bad the election roles with evil people who will, of course, vote for the pro-crime party.

Lost in all of this noise are several other groups of people who do not have the right to vote. Browsing through one of my old atlases the other day, I came across this table in Cram's Atlas of the World 1902 edition showing who could and could not vote in each state. It's interesting to see where things stood approximately half way between the ratification of the Constitution and the present. For each of the forty five* states the chart give the "Requirements as to Citizenship" in that state and the "Persons Excluded from Suffrage."

Alabama
Citizenship Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded Convicted of treason or other crime punishable by imprisonment, idiots or insane.

Arkansas
Citizenship: Citizen or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of felony until pardoned, failure to pay poll tax, United States soldiers on duty in state.

California
Citizenship: Citizen by nativity, naturalization, or Treaty of Queratero.
Excluded: Chines, insane, embezzlers of public moneys, convicted of infamous crime, person unable to read the Constitution in English and to write his name.

Colorado
Citizenship: Citizen or alien, male or female, who has declared intention 4 months prior to election.
Excluded: Under guardianship, insane, idiots, or imprisoned. Person unable to read the Constitution or statutes.

Connecticut
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Convicted of felony or theft unless pardoned. Person unable to read the Constitution or statutes.

Delaware
Citizenship: Citizen who has paid registration fee of one dollar.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, paupers, felons. Person who cannot read the English language and write his name.

Florida
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States
Excluded: Insane, under guardianship, convicted of a felony or any infamous crime.

Georgia
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States who has paid all his taxes since 1877.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of any crime punishable by imprisonment until pardoned, failure to pay taxes.

Idaho
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States, male or female.
Excluded: Under guardianship, idiots, insane, convicted of a felony, treason, or embezzlement of public funds, polygamists, or bigamists.

Illinois
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Convicted of felony.

Indiana
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention and resided 1 year in United States and 6 months in state.
Excluded: Convicted of crime and disenfranchised by decision of the court. United Stated soldiers, sailors, and marines.

Iowa
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, or convicted of infamous crime.

Kansas
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention or treaty with Mexico.
Excluded: Felons, insane, duelists, rebels not restored to citizenship, under guardianship, embezzlers, offering or accepting a bribe.

Kentucky
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Treason, felony, or bribery at election.

Louisiana
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared his intention.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of treason, embezzlement of public funds, all crime punishable by imprisonment in penitentiary, persons not able to read and write, and not owning property in the state assessed at $300, and not the son or grandson of a citizen of the United States prior to January 1, 1867, person who has not paid the poll tax.

Maine
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Paupers, persons under guardianship, Indians not taxed, and in 1893 all new voters who cannot read the Constitution or write their own names in English.

Maryland
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Convicted of larceny or other infamous crime, unless pardoned, persons convicted of bribery. Illiterates as defined.

Massachusetts
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Paupers and persons under guardianship, person who cannot read the Constitution in English or white his own name.

Michigan
Citizenship: Citizen or inhabitant who has declared intention under United States laws 6 months before election and lived in state 2 1/2 years.
Excluded: Indians, duelists, and accessories.

Minnesota
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention and civilized Indians.
Excluded: Convicted of treason or felony, unless pardoned, under guardianship or insane.

Mississippi
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Insane, idiots, Indians not taxed, felons, persons who have not paid taxes, persons who cannot read or understand the Constitution.

Missouri
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention, not less than 1 year or more than 5 before offering to vote.
Excluded: United States soldiers and marines, paupers, criminals convicted once until pardoned, felons and violators of suffrage laws convicted a second time.

Montana
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Felons unless pardoned, idiots, insane, United States soldiers, seamen, and marines, and Indians.

Nebraska
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Convicts.

Nevada
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, unpardoned convicts, Indians, Chinese.

New Hampshire
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Paupers (except honorably discharged United States soldiers and sailors), persons excused from paying taxes at their own request.

New Jersey
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention 30 days prior to election.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, paupers, persons convicted of crimes (unless pardoned) which exclude them from being witnesses.

New York
Citizenship: Citizen who shall have been a citizen for 90 days.
Excluded: Convicted of bribery or any infamous crimes, Indians under tribal relations.

North Carolina
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States
Excluded: Convicted of felony or other infamous crimes, idiots, lunatics, persons unable to read or write, unless lineal descendant of citizen of the United States prior to Jan. 1, 1867, nonpayment of poll tax.

North Dakota
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention 1 year, and civilized Indians.
Excluded: Under guardianship, persons non compos mentis, or convicted of felony and treason, unless restored to civil rights.

Ohio
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Felony unless pardoned, idiots, insane, United States soldiers and sailors.

Oregon
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention one year preceding election.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of a felony, United States soldiers and sailors, Chinese.

Pennsylvania
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States at least one month, an if 22 years old or more, must have paid tax within 2 years.
Excluded: Convicted of some offense whereby right of suffrage is forfeited, non-taxpayers.

Rhode Island
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Paupers, lunatics, persons non compos mentis, convicted of bribery or infamous crime until restored to right to vote, under guardianship.

South Carolina
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Convicted of treason, murder or other infamous crime, dueling, paupers, insane, idiots, person who has not paid poll tax, who cannot read or write any section of the State constitution, or can show that he has paid all taxes on property within the State assessed at $300.

South Dakota
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Under guardianship, idiots, insane, convicted of treason or felony, unless pardoned.

Tennessee
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States who has paid poll tax of preceding year.
Excluded: Convicted of bribery or other infamous offense.

Texas
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Idiots, lunatics, paupers, convicted of felony, United States soldiers and sailors.

Utah
Citizenship: Citizen, male and female.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, convicted of treason or violation of election laws.

Vermont
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Those who have not obtained the approbation of the board of civil authority of the town in which they reside.

Virginia
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States, able to understand and explain the State Constitution. Confederate soldiers and their sons exempt from education requirement.
Excluded: Idiots, lunatics, convicted of bribery at election, embezzlement of public funds, treason, felony, petty larceny, duelists and abettors, unless pardoned by the legislature.

Washington
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States.
Excluded: Indians not taxed, idiots, insane, persons convicted of infamous crimes.

West Virginia
Citizenship: Citizen of the State.
Excluded: Paupers, idiots, lunatics, convicted of treason, felony or bribery at elections.

Wisconsin
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States or alien who has declared intention.
Excluded: Insane, under guardianship, convicted of treason or felony, unless pardoned, Indians having tribal relations.

Wyoming
Citizenship: Citizen of the United States, male and female.
Excluded: Idiots, insane, persons convicted of infamous crimes unless restored to civil rights, unable to read State constitution.

A number of details about the social attitudes of the time stand out. On the rights side of the ledger, the most interesting revelation for most will be how many states allowed resident aliens to vote. That's one aspect of the good old days that would probably make Pat Buchanan's head explode. The presence of duelists on the list of those denied the franchise is probably a relic of the early nineteenth century. As a practice, dueling died out before the Civil War. The emphasis on treason is odd. In the entire history of the United States there have only been about forty treason trials. Although some of the leading politicians of the Confederacy were arrested, none stood trial for treason. The repeated presence of embezzlement and bribery as offenses that could lose one the right to vote probably reflect the culture of the robber baron era, or Gilded Age as Henry James dubbed it. I'm not sure if the laws addressed an actual need or just a perception in each of those states. The presence of polygamy and bigamy among the exceptions in Idaho was aimed at the larger Mormon minority there.

The first time I saw this table, it was the harsh repetition of the terms "idiot," "insane," and "under guardianship" that struck me. Two of the three terms had some measurable meaning in 1902. An insane person was someone institutionalized (though as I'll point out in a minute, even that distinction had it's problems). A person under guardianship, that is whose rights had been transferred to someone else; this also appears fairly clear. The problem with these two terms comes out of the social order of 1902 America. The people who were most likely to be institutionalized or put under the guardianship of another were not just the helpless and incapacitated, but the socially powerless as well, especially women. In many states it was possible for men to commit unhappy wives or difficult children for no reason other than that they were inconvenient. Many states committed "immoral" women (i.e. poor women on their own who got pregnant out of wedlock). These laws and attitudes opened the door for the eugenics laws of the next half century.

"Idiot" is the obviously difficult term. Leaving aside the un-PC-ness of the term, the biggest problem with the concept then and now is that it involves a subjective judgment, as later courts have recognized, but not remedied. In 1902, they didn't even have the fig leaf of flawed IQ tests to fall back on (Alfred Binet's scale, which has been the basis of all testing since, wasn't published until 1908). Someone, usually a low level functionary such as a county clerk or polling place worker, had the power to say "this person should not because I think they're not smart enough to." Despite the crassness and muddiness of the term "idiot," it is still in several states' constitutions and law codes. In 2007, New Jersey removed that language from its constitution (leading to all of the obvious jokes). News reports at that time listed at least six other states with the same language still on the books.

Rehabilitating "idiots" and the "insane" brings out conflicts that break along the familiar fault lines of contemporary politics. For every mental health advocate who wants to get rid of these overly broad categories and empower as many people as possible, there is a counterpart who wants to more rigidly enforce laws that will keep the "wrong" people from voting.

The elements of Jim Crow are pretty easy to see if you're looking for it. Poll taxes, grandfathering, literacy tests, property requirements, and other tools designed to keep African-American men from voting had become formalized along with legal segregation in the last years of the nineteenth century. What many might find surprising is that these laws were not restricted to the South. California and most of the states of New England used literacy tests to keep power in the hands of the old white elite.

What isn't mentioned often enough in discussions of Jim Crow laws is that, as far as voting was concerned, the laws weren't aimed only at African-Americans. Many of these tools were turned against other minorities, immigrants, and lower class whites just as easily as they were used against African-Americans. When subtlety didn't work (if those tricks could really be called subtle), some states turned to outright banning of entire nationalities. California, Nevada, and Oregon (and, by extension, Alaska) all denied the right to vote to Chinese immigrants and usually prevented them from becoming citizens no matter how long they lived here. Several states made a point of denying Indians the right to vote, but, for the most part, writing it down was a mere formality. As a group, Native Americans did not gain citizenship until 1924.

One group denied the vote that will appear puzzling to most will be soldiers, sailors, and marines. Except right after a victorious campaign, men in the military were generally held in low regard. They were viewed as rowdy, dangerous men and an imposition on most towns near bases. It was common practice for towns to try to keep military men on base and away from their daughters. Even bars sometimes banned the military. The relationship was similar to the town vs. gown conflicts around universities with the added dimension of rank and file military men being lower class. But that's what's being reflected here. The justification for denying military men the vote was the perception that they were resident aliens, that the bases weren't really part of the state, and that the inhabitants of military bases had no vested interests in the communities they were stationed near. On a more abstract level, for most of our history, a standing army has been an uncomfortable institution in the US. At the time of the revolution, a standing army was seen as a tool of royal repression. Some founding fathers argued against having an army, preferring to have citizen militias as the only defense force. With the example of a seemingly endless succession of military coups in our southern neighbors, later Americans became wary of the military becoming a class or interest group in politics. To counter that danger, many in the military thought it best to stay scrupulously aloof from politics. The best way to do that, they reasoned, was not to vote. Even today, you can find older officers who have never voted because they were taught that it was improper for them to do so.

As I said, the list is a snapshot of America halfway between the ratification of the Constitution and today. From day one, there has been a tension and conflict between the progressive urge for equality that aims to spread right to as many people as possible and the conservative for correctness that aims to reserve rights only to the deserving. It's a conflict that shows no sign of ever going away.

I brought all of this up for no particular reason except that I've been thinking about voting and constitutions lately.

* Oklahoma did not become a state until 1907, through the amalgamation of two territories (Oklahoma and the Indian Territory). The Arizona and New Mexico territories became states in 1912. In 1902, Alaska wasn't even a territory and used Oregon law since it had no legislature to make laws. It became a state in 1959. Hawaii, only recently annexed when the atlas came out, became a territory in 1901 and a state in 1959.