Oregon Blue Book

Oregon Blue Book PDF Author: Oregon. Office of the Secretary of State
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Oregon
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Book Description


Interpreting State Constitutions

Interpreting State Constitutions PDF Author: James A. Gardner
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Constitutional law
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
Interpreting State Constitutions examines and proposes a solution to a problem central to contemporary debates over the enforcement of civil liberties: how courts, government officials, and lawyers should go about interpreting the constitutions of the American states. With the Supreme Court's retreat from the aggressive protection of individual rights, state courts have begun to interpret state constitutions to provide broader protection of liberties. This development has reversed the polarity of constitutional politics, as liberals advocate unimpeded state power while conservatives lobby for state subordination to a constitutional law controlled centrally by the Supreme Court. James A. Gardner here lays out the first fully developed theory of subnational constitutional interpretation. He argues that states are integral components of a national system of overlapping and mutually checking authority and that the purpose of this system is to protect liberty and defend against federal domination. The resulting account provides valuable prescriptive advice to state courts, showing them how to fulfill their responsibilities to the federal system in a way that strengthens American constitutional discourse.

State Constitutions of the United States

State Constitutions of the United States PDF Author: Robert Maddex
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1452267375
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 574

Book Description
Newly updated and reflecting the diversity of state policies and the issues that are important to them, State Constitutions of the United States collects, explains, and offers comparison of each of the fifty state constitutions. Its in-depth explorations and easy-to-follow structure reveal individual state priorities, the significance of state constitutions and their impact on issues that affect the day-to-day lives of citizens. This major revision incorporates specific details and describes trends and patterns in state constitutions, drawing on over 380 amendments passed since the first edition of this resource was published in 1998. These amendments address, at the state level, important issues that are also being debated on the national level, such as freedom of religion (Alabama), tobacco (Arizona), death penalty (Florida), and same-sex marriage in a number of states. The new edition addresses all of these issues and more, in well-organized state-by-state chapters-including a new chapter on Washington, DC. Beyond the extensive state-by-state coverage, this resource provides further insights through supplemental materials, including an overview of state constitutions, comparative tables, "new rights" such as privacy and victim′s rights, "special provisions" such as the environment and home rule, and much more. This is the only one-volume resource on state constitutions designed to inform non-specialists, including students, non-constitutional scholars, and interested citizens, about the variety, influence, and continual revision and innovation that define state constitutions in the U.S. A wide range of libraries, including those that serve college students, AP high school students, and the general public, will want to update their collections with this unique and essential reference work.

Understanding State Constitutions

Understanding State Constitutions PDF Author: G. Alan Tarr
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 9780691070667
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 262

Book Description
The distinctiveness of state constitutionalism -- Explaining state constitutional development -- Eighteenth-century state constitutionalism -- Nineteenth-century state constitutionalism -- Twentieth-century state constitutionalism -- State constitutional interpretation.

Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places

Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places PDF Author: Emily Zackin
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069115578X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 250

Book Description
Unlike many national constitutions, which contain explicit positive rights to such things as education, a living wage, and a healthful environment, the U.S. Bill of Rights appears to contain only a long list of prohibitions on government. American constitutional rights, we are often told, protect people only from an overbearing government, but give no explicit guarantees of governmental help. Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places argues that we have fundamentally misunderstood the American rights tradition. The United States actually has a long history of enshrining positive rights in its constitutional law, but these rights have been overlooked simply because they are not in the federal Constitution. Emily Zackin shows how they instead have been included in America's state constitutions, in large part because state governments, not the federal government, have long been primarily responsible for crafting American social policy. Although state constitutions, seemingly mired in trivial detail, can look like pale imitations of their federal counterpart, they have been sites of serious debate, reflect national concerns, and enshrine choices about fundamental values. Zackin looks in depth at the history of education, labor, and environmental reform, explaining why America's activists targeted state constitutions in their struggles for government protection from the hazards of life under capitalism. Shedding much-needed light on the variety of reasons that activists pursued the creation of new state-level rights, Looking for Rights in All the Wrong Places challenges us to rethink our most basic assumptions about the American constitutional tradition.

Understanding State Constitutions

Understanding State Constitutions PDF Author: G. Alan Tarr
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691188556
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 261

Book Description
For many Americans, the word "constitution" means just one thing: the national Constitution. According to a recent survey, almost half do not know that individual states also have constitutions. Scholars have also paid little attention to state constitutions, favoring the apparently more dynamic and significant federal scene. G. Alan Tarr seeks to change that in this landmark book. A leading authority on state legal issues, he combines history, law, and political science to present a thorough and long-needed account of the distinct and important role of state constitutions in American life. Tarr shows that state constitutional politics are dominated by three crucial issues with little salience at the national level: the distribution of power among groups and regions within states, the scope of state and local governmental authority, and the relation of the state to economic activity. He explains how state constitutions differ from the national Constitution in treating not only matters of high principle but also such mundane subjects as ski trails and motor vehicle revenues. He also explores why state constitutions, unlike their federal counterpart, have been so frequently amended and replaced. Tarr concludes that the United States not only has a system of dual constitutionalism but also has dual constitutional cultures. Powerfully argued and meticulously researched, the book fills an important gap in political and legal studies and finally gives state constitutions the scholarly attention they richly deserve.

State Constitutions for the Twenty-first Century, Volume 1

State Constitutions for the Twenty-first Century, Volume 1 PDF Author: G. Alan Tarr
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791466148
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
The first systematic analysis of the obstacles to state constitutional reform.

51 Imperfect Solutions

51 Imperfect Solutions PDF Author: Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190866063
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
When we think of constitutional law, we invariably think of the United States Supreme Court and the federal court system. Yet much of our constitutional law is not made at the federal level. In 51 Imperfect Solutions, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton argues that American Constitutional Law should account for the role of the state courts and state constitutions, together with the federal courts and the federal constitution, in protecting individual liberties. The book tells four stories that arise in four different areas of constitutional law: equal protection; criminal procedure; privacy; and free speech and free exercise of religion. Traditional accounts of these bedrock debates about the relationship of the individual to the state focus on decisions of the United States Supreme Court. But these explanations tell just part of the story. The book corrects this omission by looking at each issue-and some others as well-through the lens of many constitutions, not one constitution; of many courts, not one court; and of all American judges, not federal or state judges. Taken together, the stories reveal a remarkably complex, nuanced, ever-changing federalist system, one that ought to make lawyers and litigants pause before reflexively assuming that the United States Supreme Court alone has all of the answers to the most vexing constitutional questions. If there is a central conviction of the book, it's that an underappreciation of state constitutional law has hurt state and federal law and has undermined the appropriate balance between state and federal courts in protecting individual liberty. In trying to correct this imbalance, the book also offers several ideas for reform.

The Federalist Papers

The Federalist Papers PDF Author: Alexander Hamilton
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
ISBN: 1528785878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

Book Description
Classic Books Library presents this brand new edition of “The Federalist Papers”, a collection of separate essays and articles compiled in 1788 by Alexander Hamilton. Following the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the governing doctrines and policies of the States lacked cohesion. “The Federalist”, as it was previously known, was constructed by American statesman Alexander Hamilton, and was intended to catalyse the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hamilton recruited fellow statesmen James Madison Jr., and John Jay to write papers for the compendium, and the three are known as some of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755–1804) was an American lawyer, journalist and highly influential government official. He also served as a Senior Officer in the Army between 1799-1800 and founded the Federalist Party, the system that governed the nation’s finances. His contributions to the Constitution and leadership made a significant and lasting impact on the early development of the nation of the United States.

The Revision and Amendment of State Constitutions

The Revision and Amendment of State Constitutions PDF Author: Walter Fairleigh Dodd
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Constitutions
Languages : en
Pages : 380

Book Description