California Constitution

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The California Constitution is the document that establishes and describes the duties, powers, structure and function of the government of the U.S. state of California. The original constitution, adopted in 1849 by the California Republic prior to California's attaining U.S. statehood in 1850, was superseded by the current constitution, which was ratified in 1879.

Contents

1 Amendments and revisions
2 Differences from other constitutions
3 Original Signers of the 1849 Constitution
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

Amendments and revisions

Since 1911, the height of the U.S. Progressive Era, the California Constitution has been amended over 425 times.

Differences from other constitutions

Unlike most constitutions, the California Constitution is quite long at 110 pages. The length has been attributed to a variety of factors, such as lack of faith in elected officials and the fact that most initiatives take the form of a constitutional amendment. Several amendments involved the authorization of the creation of state government agencies, including the State Compensation Insurance Fund and the State Bar of California; the purpose of such amendments was to insulate the agencies from being attacked as an unconstitutionally broad exercise of the police power.

Many of the individual rights clauses in the state constitution have been construed as providing rights broader than the Bill of Rights in the federal constitution. An excellent example is the Pruneyard Shopping Center case.

Original Signers of the 1849 Constitution

Joseph Aram
Ch. T. Botts
Elam Brown
Jose Anto. Carrillo
Jose Ma. Covarrubias
Elisha O. Crosby
Lewis Dent
K. H. Dimmick
Manl. Dominguez
A. J. Ellis
Stephen C. Foster
Edw. Gilbert
Pablo de la Guerra
Wm. M. Gwin
Julian Hanks
Henry Hill

J. D. Hoppe
J. McDougall
Myron Norton
P. Ord
Miguel de Pedrorena
Rodman M. Price
Antonio Ma. Pico
Jacinto Rodriguez
Hugh Reid
J. A. Sutter
illegible
Jacob R. Snyder
Winfield Scott Sherwood
Wm. E. Shannon
Pedro Sainsevain
Abel Stearns

Wm. M. Steuart
R. Semple
M. G. Vallejo
Joseph Hobson
Thos. L. Vermeule
H. W. Halleck
Joel P. Walker
L. W. Hastings
O. M. Wozencroft
J. McHenry Hollingsworth
Jas. McHall Jones
Thomas O. Larkin
Francis J. Lippitt
Benj. S. Lippincott
Benjiman F. Moore
M. M. McCarver

Constitutions of the U.S. States and Territories
States	Alabama \| Alaska \| Arizona \| Arkansas \| California \| Colorado \| Connecticut \| Delaware \| Florida \| Georgia \| Hawaii \| Idaho \| Illinois \| Indiana \| Iowa \| Kansas \| Kentucky \| Louisiana \| Maine \| Maryland \| Massachusetts \| Michigan \| Minnesota \| Mississippi \| Missouri \| Montana \| Nebraska \| Nevada \| New Hampshire \| New Jersey \| New Mexico \| New York \| North Carolina \| North Dakota \| Ohio \| Oklahoma \| Oregon \| Pennsylvania \| Rhode Island \| South Carolina \| South Dakota \| Tennessee \| Texas \| Utah \| Vermont \| Virginia \| Washington \| West Virginia \| Wisconsin \| Wyoming
Territories	American Samoa \| Guam \| Northern Mariana Islands \| Puerto Rico \| United States Virgin Islands

References

California Policy Seminar brief: [The Revision of the California Constitution]
[California Performance Review]

External links

[Search State Constitution] searchable index
[California State Archives - 1849 State Constitution (text)]

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