State Constitution
The state constitution governs the structure and function of the North Carolina government. It is the highest legal document for the state and subjugates North Carolina law. Like all state constitutions in the United States, this constitution is subject to federal judicial review. Any provision of the state constitution can be nullified if it conflicts with federal law and the United States Constitution.
North Carolina has had three constitutions:
- as the first constitution of the independent state. The Declaration of Rights was ratified the preceding day.
- 1868: Framed in accordance with the Reconstruction Acts after North Carolina was readmitted into the Union. It was a major reorganization and modification of the original into fourteen articles. It also introduced townships which each county was required to create, the only southern state to do so.
- 1971: Minor consolidation of the 1868 constitution and subsequent amendments.
Read more about this topic: Politics And Government Of North Carolina
Famous quotes containing the words state and/or constitution:
“The twelve Cells for Incorrigibles ... are also carved out of the solid rock hill. On the walls of one of the cells human “liberty” is clearly inscribed, with the “liberty” in significant quotation marks.”
—Administration in the State of Ariz, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“The Constitution of the United States is not a mere lawyers’ document. It is a vehicle of life, and its spirit is always the spirit of the age. Its prescriptions are clear and we know what they are ... but life is always your last and most authoritative critic.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)