New York Constitution
From Ballotpedia
The New York State Constitution establishes the structure of the government of the state of New York, and enumerates the basic rights of the citizens of New York. Like most state constitutions in the United States, New York's constitution's provisions tend to be more detailed, and amended more often than its federal counterpart. Because the history of the state constitution differs from the federal constitution, the New York Court of Appeals has seen fit to interpret analogous provisions differently from United States Supreme Court's interpretation of federal provisions.
New York State has had five constitutions, adopted in 1777, 1821, 1846, 1894, and 1938. In the 20th century alone it held three constitutional conventions, the efforts of two of which (1915 and 1967) were rejected by the electorate. The constitution produced by the 1938 convention (itself substantially a modification of the 1894 constitution), as modified by subsequent amendments, the latest of 2002, now forms the fundamental law of the State.
Currently, the New York State Constitution has 55,326 words, omitting the title.
Constitutional amendments
According to Article XIX, the New York State Legislature has the power to propose amendments to the constitution as follows:
- Any proposed amendments must be referred to the New York Attorney General, who is required to provide a written opinion as to how the proposed amendment fits in with other provisions of the constitution.
- If both chambers of the legislature (the New York Senate and the New York State Assembly) agree with the proposed amendment by a simple majority vote, the proposed amendment is then referred to "the next regular legislative session convening after the succeeding general election of members of the assembly."
- If that next session of the legislature agrees with the amendment by a simple majority vote of both chambers, "it shall be the duty of the legislature to submit each proposed amendment or amendments to the people for approval in such manner and at such times as the legislature shall prescribe".
- If a general statewide vote approves the amendment by a simple majority vote, it becomes a part of the constitution on the "day of January next after such approval."[1]
External links
- Current Constitution
- New York State Constitution, As Amended and in Force Since January 1, 2002, Current through January 1, 2004 (PDF - text)
- The Constitutional History of New York (Google Book)
- New York Constitution of 1777 from Wikipedia
References
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