Studying Up on State Constitutions

Many Americans know little, if anything about state constitutions. And among those who do know they exist, many think they are indistinguishable from the U.S. Constitution.   During a recent discussion at the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, panelists sought to remedy these mistaken ideas and explored the legacy of New Hampshire's first constitution, the first state constitution in the nation, signed six months before the Declaration of Independence.  New Hampshire's second constitution was adopted in 1784 and continues as the state's basic law today. 

Visit here to watch this conversation.  Excerpts in this piece have been edited slightly for clarity and brevity. 

Audience at recent "First in the Nation" discussion.

"People commonly talk about exercising their first amendment rights, whether it's free speech or freedom of religion. They talk about taking the Fifth and people commonly understand that to mean exercising the right to silence under the Fifth Amendment to the US Constitution," said Judge N. William Delker, associate justice of the New Hampshire Superior Court, who moderated the discussion. ."But not as many people understand that each state, including New Hampshire, has its own constitution, which contain not only similar rights, but often different or more protective rights than we have under the federal constitution." 

State constitutions are also easier to amend than the federal constitution. New Hampshire's constitution has been amended 149 times (Alabama wins the constitutional amendment contest -- with nearly 1,000 amendments.) . The U.S. Constitution has been amended 27 times. 

 Lorianne Updike Schulzke

Panelists included Lorianne Updike Schulzke, Visiting Associate Professor in Law at Yale Law School, and Robert F. Williams, Distinguished Professor of Law Emeritus, Rutgers University of School of Law and Former Director of the Center for State Constitutional Studies.  The Rudman Center and NH Humanities hosted the conversation. (Visit here to learn about the many events NH Humanities is hosting in recognition of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and American Revolution.)

"While our nation is grappling with questions about the fundamental tenets of our government, from the separation of powers to rule of law to freedom of speech, it’s important to remember that these weren’t just federal ideas, they were New Hampshire’s ideas," said Anna Brown, executive director of the Rudman Center.

"New Hampshire is fascinating because not only do you have the first constitution, the first modern constitution, in the world, you then have the first constitutional convention, the first ratification, and the first public participation, direct public participation," said Updike Schulzke.

Prof. Robert F. Williams

State constitutions greatly influenced the U.S. Constitution, Williams said. "A large proportion of the delegates who wrote the federal constitution had spent the prior decade working on, drafting, arguing, compromising on the state constitutions," he said. 

It's important to remember the struggles involved in forging these documents, suggested Updike Schulzke.  "What happened in New Hampshire in those eight fraught years, and why the Constitution was finally passed, is because people who hated each other, who disagreed with each other, listened to each other," she said. That's a lesson for today's political times, she suggested. "We need to listen to each other and get out of our our social media silos."