Mississippi Constitution
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The constitution of Mississippi is the governing document of Mississippi. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. The constitution was adopted November 1, 1890.
[edit] Preamble
"We, the people of Mississippi in convention assembled, grateful to Almighty God, and involving his blessing on our work, do ordain and establish this Constitution."
[edit] ARTICLE 1. DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS
[edit] ARTICLE 2. BOUNDARIES OF THE STATE
[edit] ARTICLE 3. BILL OF RIGHTS
Section 18 discusses Freedom of Religion. It contains a unique clause which states that this right shall not be construed as to exclude the use of the Bible from any public school.
Mississippi, via its constitution, originally banned duelling, under Section 19 Article 3:
- Human life shall not be imperiled by the practice of dueling; and any citizen of this state who shall hereafter fight a duel, or assist in the same as second, or send, accept, or knowingly carry a challenge therefor, whether such an act be done in the state, or out of it, or who shall go out of the state to fight a duel, or to assist in the same as second, or to send, accept, or carry a challenge, shall be disqualified from holding any office under this Constitution, and shall be disenfranchised.
The repeal of Section 19 was proposed by Laws of 1977, and upon ratification by the electorate on November 7, 1978, was deleted from the Constitution by proclamation of the Secretary of State on December 22, 1978.
[edit] ARTICLE 4. LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT
[edit] ARTICLE 5. EXECUTIVE
[edit] ARTICLE 6. JUDICIARY
[edit] ARTICLE 7. CORPORATIONS
[edit] ARTICLE 8. EDUCATION
[edit] ARTICLE 9. MILITIA
[edit] ARTICLE 10. THE PENITENTIARY AND PRISONS
[edit] ARTICLE 11. LEVEES
[edit] ARTICLE 12. FRANCHISE
[edit] ARTICLE 13. APPORTIONMENT
[edit] ARTICLE 14. GENERAL PROVISIONS
[edit] ARTICLE 15. AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION
Amendments may be made by either the Mississippi Legislature or by initiative.
For Legislature-proposed amendments, 2/3rds of each house must approve plus a majority of the voters.
The number of signatures required for an initiative-proposed amendment must be at least 12 percent of the total votes cast for Governor of Mississippi in the most recent gubernatorial election. However, a further restriction is placed in that no more than 20 percent of the signatures can come from any one congressional district. As Mississippi has only four districts, a strict interpretation of this section makes it impossible to propose an amendment via initiative.
The Article excludes certain portions of the Constitution that can be amended by initiative; for example, any of the sections in Article 3 (Bill of Rights) are off-limits.
The Article also discusses the procedures in the event that a Legislature-proposed amendment is similar to that of an initiative-proposed amendment.
[edit] External links
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