Tennessee State Constitution
Encyclopedia
The Constitution of the State of Tennessee defines the form, structure, activities, character, and fundamental rules (and means for changing them) of the U.S. State of Tennessee.
The original constitution of Tennessee came into effect on June 1, 1796, concurrent with the state's admission to the Union. A second version of the constitution was adopted in 1835. A third constitution was adopted in 1870 and is the one still in use today, with subsequent amendments.
in conjunction with the resolution admitting Tennessee as a state. It went into effect on June 1, 1796, when Tennessee entered the Union.
The first constitution was widely criticized as giving the executive, a presumably full-time governor, insufficient authority and investing too much authority in the legislature
, a part-time body. This was cited as a primary reason for its replacement.
The 1796 constitution also did not create a state supreme court, providing only for "such superior and inferior courts" as the legislature should create, with judges elected by the legislature for indefinite terms.
In spite of its shortcomings, the original document had its admirers. Thomas Jefferson described Tennessee’s as the “least imperfect and most republican of the state constitutions.”
presided over the 1834 convention.
Antislavery interests petitioned the convention to abolish slavery, a proposal that was rejected by the convention delegates. The constitution that they adopted increased opportunities for citizens to engage in the political process, but it limited suffrage to white males, disenfranchising free black men, who had had the right to vote under the 1796 constitution.
The second constitution provided for a state supreme court
to consist of three judges, with one judge from each grand division of the state. Judges were required to be at least 35 years old and would serve 12-year terms.
The constitution that resulted from the 1834 convention was ratified by voters in March 1835, receiving 42,666 votes in favor to 17,691 against.
, on November 15, 1869, called for an election to be held in December 1869 for two purposes: to determine if a Constitutional Convention
should be called for the purpose of amending or replacing the 1835 constitution, and to elect delegates to that convention if the voters determined that it was to be held. The voters deciding in the affirmative, the convention began on January 10, 1870. The convention adjourned on February 23, 1870, having adopted the constitution and recommending its approval by the voters in a special election, which was conducted on the fourth Saturday in March, 1870.
The third document was largely written as a response to the requirement that all of the readmitted ex-Confederate States
adopt new constitutions explicitly banning slavery
. It contains many provisions which are verbatim holdovers from the two predecessor documents. It is considerably longer than the United States Constitution
but not particularly long by the standards of state constitutions
. This 1870 document stood unamended until 1953, which according to the Tennessee Blue Book
was the longest period that any such document had remained in effect without amendment anywhere in the world.
is much longer than its counterpart in the United States Constitution. Much of that length is devoted to justifying the authority behind the new constitution — that the new constitution was created under the authority of the constitution of 1835, and that the 1835 constitution was itself created under the authority of the original 1796 convention.
. It mimics many of the U.S. Bill of Rights, although the provisions describing them are generally much lengthier than those of the U.S. Constitution. The provisions in this article state:
Sections 16 and 27, amongst others, are directly copied from the United States Constitution.
The article's provisions regarding slavery are also significant, as they both prohibit slavery in the same manner as the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
, and forbid the legislature from making any "law recognizing the right of property in man"; some construe the latter provision as prohibiting any form of indentured servitude
.
of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. It also explicitly states that no one from one is to exercise rights belonging to any of the others, something considered implicit in the national constitution, or inferred by its interpreters (Sections 1 and 2).
, whose upper house
is the Senate
and whose lower house
is the House of Representatives
(Section 3).
The basis for legislative representation is population, as determined by the United States Census
; however the General Assembly can always use other, non-population factors to apportion one house (the Senate) unless the U.S. Constitution is currently authoritatively interpreted to forbid this (as it currently is under Reynolds v. Sims
) (Section 4).
The lower house is fixed at 99 members, which are to be divided up among counties; if one county has more than one Representative (which is guaranteed to happen, there being only 95 counties), the affected counties shall be divided up into districts, causing all representatives to be elected from single-member constituencies. A county may not be split into separate counties in order to do this. (Section 5 and subsection)
The upper house is to be set up in the same manner, except that its size is variable, up to ⅓ of the size of the lower house, which was fixed at 99 as noted above. In practice the Tennessee Senate has always consisted of 33 members, the maximum allowable under this provision. (Section 6 and subsection)
The first election to the Legislature was to take place on the second Tuesday of November 1870, and after that every two years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
, and all such elections shall take only that day (Section 7)
Representatives have to be 21 years old, U.S. citizens, a state citizen for three years, and a county citizen for at least one year before election day (Section 9). Senatorial requirements are different only with the requirement that senators be at least 30 years old. And no one from either house can be appointed to any office by the executive or legislative branches, unless it is "trustee of a literary institution". (Section 10)
Either house may imprison people (whether a member or not) who disrupts
their proceedings. (Section 14)
The legislative provisions include the requirement that no bill may be broader than its caption and that it may only contain one subject (Section 17). To this point, Tennessee courts have interpreted this to mean that no bill can contain non-germane material, and that no caption can include the words "and for other purposes" (which can and does occur in Congress). The General Assembly, therefore, can pass no "omnibus
" bills.
Also banned were some business practices which had previously gotten the state into trouble, such as allowing municipalities to loan money to railroads in order for them to pay off bonds
on which they had previously defaulted (Section 33) and the election or appointment of people while they were still responsible for public money (Section 25).
Section 28 describes the General Assembly's power to levy taxes.
For a municipality to issue bonds or borrow money on behalf of a private business or individual was in the future to be allowed only with the passage of a referendum
with the unusually stringent provision of a three-quarters majority, although the effect of this was to be delayed for ten years in 26 named counties where the requirement would be a simple majority until then. The period between May 6, 1861 and January 1, 1867 was not to be counted against any statute of limitations
, as civil government in much of the state had broken down during that period owing to the Civil War
.
, but a majority of all members in each house may override this veto, which is the same vote required to enact the bill initially. The governor is the head of the state militia
, but may only exercise this power if the General Assembly authorizes him to do so when "the public safety requires it" (Section 5).
, Chancery
courts, and others to be "ordained and established" as deemed necessary, and justices of the peace
(Section 1).
The Tennessee Supreme Court
is to meet in Nashville
, Knoxville
and Jackson
and not have more than two of its five members from any one of the state's Grand Divisions
(East Tennessee
, Middle Tennessee
, and West Tennessee
) (Section 2). The courts were to be elected by the people for eight years at a time (Sections 3 and 4), however this has been changed to the Modified Missouri Plan
or Tennessee Plan
.
The court then appoints the state "Attorney General and Reporter" for an eight-year term (Section 5).
The General Assembly may remove judges and state attorneys with a two thirds supermajority
of the constitutionally-authorized membership in both houses, with each vote for and against being recorded along with the statesman's reason for his decision. Removal will lie for either official or personal misconduct. The judge or attorney subject to removal must be notified 10 days before such a vote (Section 6).
Alternatively, judges and state attorneys may be impeached, by a simple majority vote of a quorum of the General Assembly, for crimes or misconduct committed solely in their official capacity. In this case, the lower house appoints three members to prosecute the impeached and the senate, presided over by the Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, convenes to try the impeached. Conviction requires only a two thirds supermajority
of the number of senators "sworn to try the impeachment," a number which may be less than a "constitutional" supermajority
(Article V).
Judges are also barred from hearing cases in which they are interested or involved
, or are related to the parties. Should they be, the governor will appoint others to take his place for that particular case. This once required the entire supreme court to be replaced in a case challenging the method in which the court was chosen. The Legislature may also regulate special judges when the normal one can't preside or didn't show for (Section 11).
Indictments must be made "against the peace and dignity of the State." (Section 12).
, state treasurer, and comptroller
, and provides for them to be elected by the General Assembly, not the voters as is far more common. (Tennessee is the only state other than Hawaii
and New Jersey
in which the governor is the sole office holder elected statewide.) The governor's designated successor is the Speaker
of the Tennessee State Senate, elected from among its membership, a provision now found in the constitutions of only a few other states; the majority now have a full-time lieutenant governor
. (This office is referred to as Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
in subsequent statutory law, but not in the constitution.) General election
s for state offices were moved to make them simultaneous with federal elections (Novembers of even-numbered years) with elections for county and judicial offices to be held in the Augusts of even-numbered years; this later became the traditional date for primary election
s for the statewide offices to be held as well, so that the day on which, for example, a sheriff
was elected would be the same day as the primary election for governor would be held.
Other provisions included are the procedure for the establishment of new counties and the recognition of three counties previously established by the legislature in contravention of provisions of the previous constitution. New counties would carry a pro-rata share of the indebtedness of the county or counties from which they were being formed, preventing the formation of new counties as a way of areas getting out from under debt that they had previously incurred. (This provision nonetheless incited a spate of new counties; ten were established in the next decade, although none have been since, and one of those established was subsequently abolished, and the provisions are such that would make the establishment of any further counties beyond those extremely difficult and unlikely.) Obviously, some current agendas of the era were reflected, as there were provisions allowing county seats to be moved in two counties with only a majority vote of the populace while a two-thirds majority was required in all others. A county line adjustment between two counties was made between two existing counties, and special provisions made for counties whose formation was already planned at the time, as well as for settling definitively the status of others which had already been created without strict adherence to the provisions for the creation of new counties which was contained in the previous constitution.
There were also provisions forbidding interracial marriage
s and integrated
schools, allowing for a poll tax
, preventing interest
over 10% from being charged on loans and making this usury
per se. All of these last six provisions have been either subsequently formally removed or invalidated by Supreme Court of the United States
decisions and are no longer enforced; whether the prohibition of former duelists from holding office is valid has apparently not been tested.
s (Section 3).
It should be noted that the restrictions on ministers and atheists have been deemed to be unenforceable due to the interpretations of the Supreme Court of the United States
with regard to the First
and Fourteenth Amendments
to the United States Constitution
.
must pass a resolution calling for an amendment and stating its wording, and must do so in three separate readings on three separate days, with an absolute majority on all readings. The resolution does not require the governor's approval.
The amendment must then be published at least six months before the next legislative election, but is not placed on the ballot at that time. Instead, once the legislative election is held, the proposed amendment must go another three reading, three day voting process, except the amendment now requires approval of 2/3 of the legislature on each vote.
Finally, the amendment is placed on the ballot as a referendum
in the next gubernatorial election, and must pass by absolute majority. Also, the number of yes votes must be greater than one-half the number of votes cast for governor.
. The question must state whether the convention is limited (i.e., to make amendments to the existing constitution) or unlimited (i.e., to propose an entirely new constitution). If the convention is limited, the question must state which provisions of the current constitution are to be subject to amendment, and the subsequent convention, if approved, is limited to considering only amendments to the provisions specified in the call.
The proposed amendments (or new constitution) must then be placed on the ballot and receive absolute majority.
A constitutional convention can not be held more frequently than once every six years.
The 1953 convention established precedents which proved useful in the future. Since no one who served in the 1870 convention writing the current constitution was still alive by this point, many things had to be decided, such as what rules the convention would function under temporarily until its was organized and adopted its own permanent rules, how a chair was to be elected, and other administrative matters. Another administrative provision determined that the Tennessee State Constitution was to be compiled in a manner similar to statutory law and not in the manner of the federal constitution. This means that amendments actually replace the language that they alter in the document and that in future publications the amendments are integrated into the text rather than appended to it as "Amendment I", "Amendment II", etc. The effect of this is that one reading the text of the constitution will, absent a strong historical background, sometimes be confused as to which provisions are those of the original document and which are the result of later amendment, although some amendments declare themselves to be such within the text of their provisions. This practice does prevent a reader of the current constitution from being confused by encountering obsolete provisions which have since been changed and not reading on to the end of the document to establish that fact, which is sometimes done to the federal constitution by persons who wish to obscure its current provisions, such as those who assert that the document "even now refers to blacks as only three-fifths of a person", a provision which has not applied since the American Civil War
but is still in the text of the early part of the document, the amendment deleting this provision not being encountered until much later.
Further amendments were proposed and subsequently adopted at conventions held in 1959 and 1965. Among the most notable of these allowed for the establishment of home rule
by counties which chose to adopt a charter allowing them to function in many ways similar to municipalities. They also allowed legislators to receive a salary over and above expense money, and extended the terms of state senators from two years to four, done in such a way so that half of its membership is elected every two years. Another important change was that the frequency of scheduled sessions of the legislature (and hence the budget cycle) was altered from biennial to annual, though the General Assembly is still limited to a total of fifteen organizational days and ninety legislative days every two years; sessions extending beyond this (and special sessions extending beyond twenty legislative days) result in the legislature being unable to continue to receive its expense per diem. The poll tax provisions, already rendered moot by the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
, were removed. The 1971 convention, dominated by longtime Tennessee politician
Clifford Allen
, was limited to the establishment of a new system of property tax
assessments.
, but primarily at the behest of banking interests to remove the 10% cap on interest, which was becoming very problematic in the economic environment of the time. (It had long been circumvented by smaller lenders such as finance companies with tactics such as administration fees, service charges, and payment fees, with tacit legislative approval.)
This convention proved to be very long and contentious, in fact lasting nearly twice as long as the original one that wrote the 1870 constitution. There were major fights over the adoption of the permanent rules and over who would be the permanent chair. Although this seemed to bode ill, in fact once the convention got on track it accomplished what many legal scholars see as being a record of largely solid achievement.
A major change was the proposal that the governor be allowed to succeed himself once. A two-term governor was also not barred from any future service in that office in the way that a two-term U.S. President is by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution
, but rather from a third consecutive term.
Any county and its principal city could vote to consolidate themselves into one "metropolitan government
", not just the four largest ones. (In fact, the only two counties to have availed themselves of this provision since it has been added were two of the smallest ones in the state.) Minor changes included the elimination of the necessity of each county having the archaic (at least for urban counties) offices of constable
and cattle ranger. (The provision for rangers was routinely widely ignored; that mandating constables had not been.) The provision limiting sheriffs to three consecutive two-year terms was replaced with one allowing sheriffs an unlimited number of consecutive four-year terms (a provision called by some wags the "Fate Thomas Amendment", as it seemed to have been passed largely at the behest at the then hugely-popular sheriff and political boss
of Davidson County
, who was otherwise about to be term-limited out of office and who eventually served federal time for corruption-related offenses).
Some in the media
derided the convention as having gone out of control, but the primary public reaction was one of apathy. The primary controversy within the convention once it began its actual work, as opposed to its early organizational difficulties, was over a judicial amendment which would have, among other provisions, made the state attorney general an office elected by statewide popular vote rather than retaining selection by the Supreme Court, and eliminated the requirement that the Supreme Court meet in Knoxville and Jackson (where a new and elaborate building for it had just been completed). Another important provision of the proposed amendment was to repeal the 1870 Constitution’s requirement that all judges “shall be elected” in favor of a provision stating that “Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Court of Appeals shall be appointed by the Governor from three nominees recommended . . . by the Appellate Court Nominating Commission” and that “[t]he name of each justice and judge seeking retention shall be submitted to the qualified voters for retention
or rejection . . . at the expiration of each six year term.”
The voters, in a special election held in February 1978 solely to ratify the amendments proposed by this, voted to remove the archaic provisions and the usury cap, and to accept the changes regarding the governor's terms and metropolitan government, but narrowly turned down the judicial amendment, marking the first time that an amendment put to the voters by a convention had been defeated. Of the 13 proposed amendments, only one was rejected by the voters.
No further conventions have been held since 1977, although they have been frequently proposed, in part due to the recent spate of state fiscal crises. Some have proposed them to determine conclusively whether or not the Tennessee Constitution allows a general, broad-based income tax
on wages. (Past Tennessee Supreme Court decision have held that it does not. These decisions are all many decades old and none of the current members of the court were involved in making them. Because of their dubious value as precedent, these cases would likely be overturned to allow for an income tax if the issue was ever brought before them.) It has been suggested by several observers that one reason against the General Assembly requesting future conventions is that they do not desire to create potential new rivals for themselves; as the members themselves cannot be delegates to the convention, in calling for a convention they are creating a potential new set of politicians campaigning in their same districts and addressing some of the same issues. This occurred to an extent after the 1977 convention, which launched the career, among others, of Memphis
attorney
Steve Cohen
, who was vice president
of the convention and later became a prominent progressive
Democrat
in the Tennessee State Senate, until 2006, when he was elected U.S. Representative
from the Ninth District
.
In 1998, the voters were asked about two amendments. One was the "Victims' Rights Amendment
", which required prosecutors to stay in touch with crime
victims and their families, explain to them how purported offenses involving them were to be prosecuted, and notify them when persons who had committed crimes against them were being scheduled for parole
or release, among other provisions. The other amendment removed the word "comfortable" from the requirements for minimum standards for prison
s. Both of these amendments passed by overwhelming margins in an election that was marked by a very light turnout. These amendments represented the first changes to the constitution in 20 years.
In 2002, the legislature again proposed two amendments. The first proposal passed, repealing a constitutional ban on all lotteries
. The ban had been a carryover from the 1835 document and was widely regarded as not only a tribute to religious
fundamentalism but also to the influence of Andrew Jackson
, a known lottery opponent who was in no way averse to other forms of gambling, especially that regarding horse racing
. The amendment established the current state lottery
. The other amendment on the 2002 ballot, pushed for by the Tennessee Municipal League
(TML), would have eliminated a constitutional provision that set $50 (a large sum in 1870 when the provision was enacted) as the maximum allowable fine for violation of a municipal ordinance. Instead, it would have allowed the legislature to set limits on the fines that municipalities could enact. However, after putting much effort into getting the legislature to put this amendment onto the ballot, the TML put little effort into winning voter approval, and the proposal was largely overlooked during the public debate over the high-profile lottery amendment. Many voters were unaware of the proposal until confronted with it on the ballot and hence, may have turned it down for that reason. It became the first amendment put forward by the General Assembly to be defeated at the polls and joined the proposed 1978 judicial amendment as only the second ever defeated.
In 2006, two additional amendments to the Tennessee State Constitution were passed. The Tennessee Marriage Protection Amendment
specifies that only marriages between a man and a woman can be legally recognized in the state of Tennessee. The amendment was approved by 81% of Tennessee voters. A second amendment, authorizing the legislature to enact legislation allowing counties and municipalities to exempt people over 65 from property tax increases, was approved by 83% of voters.
In 2010, voters approved the following "The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species."
by a 90%-10% vote.
as a basic constitutional right. In 2007 the Tennessee House of Representatives
unanimously passed a resolution calling for an amendment to establish the right to hunt, fish
, and harvest game "subject to reasonable rules and regulations," but the State Senate did not act on the measure during the 2007 legislative session. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
(TWRA) had raised objections to an earlier version of the measure, which had the backing of the National Rifle Association
. TWRA was concerned that the proposal would prevent it from continuing its regulation of hunting and fishing methods, as well as efforts to manage fish and game populations.
The 2014 November general election will have a proposed amendment on the ballot to add a new, appropriately designated section to Article I of the Constitution of Tennessee that will read:
The original constitution of Tennessee came into effect on June 1, 1796, concurrent with the state's admission to the Union. A second version of the constitution was adopted in 1835. A third constitution was adopted in 1870 and is the one still in use today, with subsequent amendments.
1796 constitution
The original Tennessee state constitution was not submitted to the voters for approval, but rather was approved by CongressUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
in conjunction with the resolution admitting Tennessee as a state. It went into effect on June 1, 1796, when Tennessee entered the Union.
The first constitution was widely criticized as giving the executive, a presumably full-time governor, insufficient authority and investing too much authority in the legislature
Tennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
, a part-time body. This was cited as a primary reason for its replacement.
The 1796 constitution also did not create a state supreme court, providing only for "such superior and inferior courts" as the legislature should create, with judges elected by the legislature for indefinite terms.
In spite of its shortcomings, the original document had its admirers. Thomas Jefferson described Tennessee’s as the “least imperfect and most republican of the state constitutions.”
Second constitution
The second Tennessee State Constitution, adopted in 1835, resulted from a state constitutional convention that convened in Nashville on May 19, 1834, with 60 delegates in attendance. William Carter of Carter CountyCarter County, Tennessee
Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 57,424. Its county seat is Elizabethton.Carter County is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined...
presided over the 1834 convention.
Antislavery interests petitioned the convention to abolish slavery, a proposal that was rejected by the convention delegates. The constitution that they adopted increased opportunities for citizens to engage in the political process, but it limited suffrage to white males, disenfranchising free black men, who had had the right to vote under the 1796 constitution.
The second constitution provided for a state supreme court
State supreme court
In the United States, the state supreme court is the highest state court in the state court system ....
to consist of three judges, with one judge from each grand division of the state. Judges were required to be at least 35 years old and would serve 12-year terms.
The constitution that resulted from the 1834 convention was ratified by voters in March 1835, receiving 42,666 votes in favor to 17,691 against.
Third constitution
The Tennessee General AssemblyTennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
, on November 15, 1869, called for an election to be held in December 1869 for two purposes: to determine if a Constitutional Convention
Constitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
should be called for the purpose of amending or replacing the 1835 constitution, and to elect delegates to that convention if the voters determined that it was to be held. The voters deciding in the affirmative, the convention began on January 10, 1870. The convention adjourned on February 23, 1870, having adopted the constitution and recommending its approval by the voters in a special election, which was conducted on the fourth Saturday in March, 1870.
The third document was largely written as a response to the requirement that all of the readmitted ex-Confederate States
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
adopt new constitutions explicitly banning slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. It contains many provisions which are verbatim holdovers from the two predecessor documents. It is considerably longer than the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
but not particularly long by the standards of state constitutions
State constitution (United States)
In the United States, each state has its own constitution.Usually, they are longer than the 7,500-word federal Constitution and are more detailed regarding the day-to-day relationships between government and the people. The shortest is the Constitution of Vermont, adopted in 1793 and currently...
. This 1870 document stood unamended until 1953, which according to the Tennessee Blue Book
Tennessee Blue Book
The Tennessee Blue Book is an official government manual for the U.S. state of Tennessee, published by the Secretary of State of Tennessee.The Blue Book is typically published on a biennial basis...
was the longest period that any such document had remained in effect without amendment anywhere in the world.
Main provisions
The constitution's preamblePreamble
A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains the document's purpose and underlying philosophy. When applied to the opening paragraphs of a statute, it may recite historical facts pertinent to the subject of the statute...
is much longer than its counterpart in the United States Constitution. Much of that length is devoted to justifying the authority behind the new constitution — that the new constitution was created under the authority of the constitution of 1835, and that the 1835 constitution was itself created under the authority of the original 1796 convention.
Declaration of Rights
Article I, is Tennessee's bill of rightsBill of rights
A bill of rights is a list of the most important rights of the citizens of a country. The purpose of these bills is to protect those rights against infringement. The term "bill of rights" originates from England, where it referred to the Bill of Rights 1689. Bills of rights may be entrenched or...
. It mimics many of the U.S. Bill of Rights, although the provisions describing them are generally much lengthier than those of the U.S. Constitution. The provisions in this article state:
- Establishment of a state religionReligionReligion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
is banned and personal freedom of religionFreedom of religionFreedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
is inviolate (Section 3) - Test Oaths except to the State or Federal Constitutions as qualifications for office or jury are illegal (Sections 4 and 6)
- Universal suffrageUniversal suffrageUniversal suffrage consists of the extension of the right to vote to adult citizens as a whole, though it may also mean extending said right to minors and non-citizens...
is granted (Section 5) - Unreasonable searches and seizureSearch and seizureSearch and seizure is a legal procedure used in many civil law and common law legal systems whereby police or other authorities and their agents, who suspect that a crime has been committed, do a search of a person's property and confiscate any relevant evidence to the crime.Some countries have...
s may not be carried out (Section 7) - Bill of attainderBill of attainderA bill of attainder is an act of a legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a judicial trial.-English law:...
may not be issued (Section 8) - Fair trialTrial (law)In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
rights are granted, and compelled self-incrimination is outlawed (Section 9) - Double jeopardyDouble jeopardyDouble jeopardy is a procedural defense that forbids a defendant from being tried again on the same, or similar charges following a legitimate acquittal or conviction...
and cruel and unusual punishmentCruel and unusual punishmentCruel and unusual punishment is a phrase describing criminal punishment which is considered unacceptable due to the suffering or humiliation it inflicts on the condemned person...
may not be practiced (Sections 10, 13, 16 and 32) - Ex post facto laws are dangerous to free government and banned (Section 11)
- Habeas corpusHabeas corpusis a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
must be respected unless the General Assembly declares otherwise during wartime (Section 15) - Freedom of the pressFreedom of the pressFreedom of the press or freedom of the media is the freedom of communication and expression through vehicles including various electronic media and published materials...
is guaranteed (Section 19) - MonopoliesMonopolyA monopoly exists when a specific person or enterprise is the only supplier of a particular commodity...
are illegal (Section 22) - Freedom of AssemblyFreedom of assemblyFreedom of assembly, sometimes used interchangeably with the freedom of association, is the individual right to come together and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests...
is granted (Section 23) - In all cases the military is subordinated to the civil authority (Section 24)
- Military lawMilitary lawMilitary justice is the body of laws and procedures governing members of the armed forces. Many states have separate and distinct bodies of law that govern the conduct of members of their armed forces. Some states use special judicial and other arrangements to enforce those laws, while others use...
may only be levied against people in active militia or army service (Section 25) - Explicitly grants the right to bear arms unless the General Assembly legislates otherwise (Section 26)
- SoldierSoldierA soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
s may not be quartered in private housesQuartering ActThe Quartering Act is the name of at least two 18th-century acts of the Parliament of Great Britain. These Quartering Acts ordered the local governments of the American colonies to provide housing and provisions for British soldiers. They were amendments to the Mutiny Act, which had to be renewed...
during peacetime (Section 27) - Citizens cannot be forced to perform in the militia (See Article VIII) so long as "he" will pay a suitable fine (Section 28)
- Orders of nobility, or hereditary titles and rights are forbidden (Section 30)
- The state's boundaries are listed here, in detail (Section 31)
- The State must provide for prisonPrisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
s and their upkeep (Section 32) - SlaverySlaverySlavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
is outlawed except as punishment for crime (Sections 33 and 34) - Crime victims may expect certain rightsVictims' Rights AmendmentIn the United States, the Victims' Rights Amendment is a provision which has been included in some state constitutions, proposed for others, and additionally has been proposed for inclusion in the United States Constitution. Its provisions vary from state to state but are usually somewhat similar...
from the State (Section 35 and subsections, added by amendment in 1998)
Sections 16 and 27, amongst others, are directly copied from the United States Constitution.
The article's provisions regarding slavery are also significant, as they both prohibit slavery in the same manner as the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially abolished and continues to prohibit slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. It was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, passed by the House on January 31, 1865, and adopted on December 6, 1865. On...
, and forbid the legislature from making any "law recognizing the right of property in man"; some construe the latter provision as prohibiting any form of indentured servitude
Indentured servant
Indentured servitude refers to the historical practice of contracting to work for a fixed period of time, typically three to seven years, in exchange for transportation, food, clothing, lodging and other necessities during the term of indenture. Usually the father made the arrangements and signed...
.
Less usual declarations
Besides the more common human rights, a few other rights are enumerated:- Citizens are granted "an unalienable and indefeasible right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper." (Section 1)
- Imprisonment for civil debtDebtor's prisonA debtors' prison is a prison for those who are unable to pay a debt.Prior to the mid 19th century debtors' prisons were a common way to deal with unpaid debt.-Debt bondage in ancient Greece and Rome:...
may not be carried out (Section 18) - Martial lawMartial lawMartial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
may never be declared (Section 25) - Anyone may travel on the Mississippi RiverMississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and the right to do so may not be sold to or barred from anyone (Section 29)
Separation of powers
Article II of the constitution states that there are to be three separate branchesSeparation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. It also explicitly states that no one from one is to exercise rights belonging to any of the others, something considered implicit in the national constitution, or inferred by its interpreters (Sections 1 and 2).
Legislative branch
The lawmaking power of the state is given to its Legislature, named the General AssemblyTennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
, whose upper house
Upper house
An upper house, often called a senate, is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house; a legislature composed of only one house is described as unicameral.- Possible specific characteristics :...
is the Senate
Tennessee Senate
The Tennessee Senate is the upper house of the Tennessee state legislature, which is known formally as the Tennessee General Assembly.The Tennessee Senate, according to the state constitution of 1870, is composed of 33 members, one-third the size of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Senators...
and whose lower house
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...
is the House of Representatives
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
(Section 3).
The basis for legislative representation is population, as determined by the United States Census
United States Census
The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats , electoral votes, and government program funding. The United States Census Bureau The United States Census...
; however the General Assembly can always use other, non-population factors to apportion one house (the Senate) unless the U.S. Constitution is currently authoritatively interpreted to forbid this (as it currently is under Reynolds v. Sims
Reynolds v. Sims
Reynolds v. Sims, 377 U.S. 533 was a United States Supreme Court case that ruled that state legislature districts had to be roughly equal in population.-Facts:...
) (Section 4).
The lower house is fixed at 99 members, which are to be divided up among counties; if one county has more than one Representative (which is guaranteed to happen, there being only 95 counties), the affected counties shall be divided up into districts, causing all representatives to be elected from single-member constituencies. A county may not be split into separate counties in order to do this. (Section 5 and subsection)
The upper house is to be set up in the same manner, except that its size is variable, up to ⅓ of the size of the lower house, which was fixed at 99 as noted above. In practice the Tennessee Senate has always consisted of 33 members, the maximum allowable under this provision. (Section 6 and subsection)
The first election to the Legislature was to take place on the second Tuesday of November 1870, and after that every two years, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
Election Day (United States)
Election Day in the United States is the day set by law for the general elections of public officials. It occurs on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The earliest possible date is November 2 and the latest possible date is November 8...
, and all such elections shall take only that day (Section 7)
Representatives have to be 21 years old, U.S. citizens, a state citizen for three years, and a county citizen for at least one year before election day (Section 9). Senatorial requirements are different only with the requirement that senators be at least 30 years old. And no one from either house can be appointed to any office by the executive or legislative branches, unless it is "trustee of a literary institution". (Section 10)
Either house may imprison people (whether a member or not) who disrupts
Contempt of Congress
Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically the bribery of a senator or representative was considered contempt of Congress...
their proceedings. (Section 14)
The legislative provisions include the requirement that no bill may be broader than its caption and that it may only contain one subject (Section 17). To this point, Tennessee courts have interpreted this to mean that no bill can contain non-germane material, and that no caption can include the words "and for other purposes" (which can and does occur in Congress). The General Assembly, therefore, can pass no "omnibus
Omnibus spending bill
An omnibus spending bill is a bill that sets the budget of many departments of the United States government at once. It is one possible outcome of the budget process in the U.S....
" bills.
Also banned were some business practices which had previously gotten the state into trouble, such as allowing municipalities to loan money to railroads in order for them to pay off bonds
Bond (finance)
In finance, a bond is a debt security, in which the authorized issuer owes the holders a debt and, depending on the terms of the bond, is obliged to pay interest to use and/or to repay the principal at a later date, termed maturity...
on which they had previously defaulted (Section 33) and the election or appointment of people while they were still responsible for public money (Section 25).
Section 28 describes the General Assembly's power to levy taxes.
For a municipality to issue bonds or borrow money on behalf of a private business or individual was in the future to be allowed only with the passage of a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
with the unusually stringent provision of a three-quarters majority, although the effect of this was to be delayed for ten years in 26 named counties where the requirement would be a simple majority until then. The period between May 6, 1861 and January 1, 1867 was not to be counted against any statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
, as civil government in much of the state had broken down during that period owing to the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
Executive branch
Article III allows the governor to serve a two-year term, a provision superseded by the 1953 amendments. The executive branch is empowered with a line-item vetoLine-item veto
In United States government, the line-item veto, or partial veto, is the power of an executive authority to nullify or cancel specific provisions of a bill, usually a budget appropriations bill, without vetoing the entire legislative package...
, but a majority of all members in each house may override this veto, which is the same vote required to enact the bill initially. The governor is the head of the state militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
, but may only exercise this power if the General Assembly authorizes him to do so when "the public safety requires it" (Section 5).
Judicial branch
Article VI creates the judiciary, composed of the State's Supreme CourtTennessee Supreme Court
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the state of Tennessee. Cornelia Clark is the current Chief Justice.Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state legislature, the Tennessee Supreme Court appoints the...
, Chancery
Court of equity
A chancery court, equity court or court of equity is a court that is authorized to apply principles of equity, as opposed to law, to cases brought before it.These courts began with petitions to the Lord Chancellor of England...
courts, and others to be "ordained and established" as deemed necessary, and justices of the peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
(Section 1).
The Tennessee Supreme Court
Tennessee Supreme Court
The Tennessee Supreme Court is the state supreme court of the state of Tennessee. Cornelia Clark is the current Chief Justice.Unlike other states, in which the state attorney general is directly elected or appointed by the governor or state legislature, the Tennessee Supreme Court appoints the...
is to meet in Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee
Founded in 1786, Knoxville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Tennessee, U.S.A., behind Memphis and Nashville, and is the county seat of Knox County. It is the largest city in East Tennessee, and the second-largest city in the Appalachia region...
and Jackson
Jackson, Tennessee
Jackson is a city in Madison County, Tennessee, United States. The total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census. Jackson is the primary city of the Jackson, Tennessee metropolitan area, which is included in the Jackson-Humboldt, Tennessee Combined Statistical Area...
and not have more than two of its five members from any one of the state's Grand Divisions
Grand Divisions (Tennessee)
The Grand Divisions are geographic, cultural, and legally recognized regions, each constituting roughly one-third of the State of Tennessee. The Grand Divisions are represented prominently by the three stars on the flag of Tennessee...
(East Tennessee
East Tennessee
East Tennessee is a name given to approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee, one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. East Tennessee consists of 33 counties, 30 located within the Eastern Time Zone and three counties in the Central Time Zone, namely...
, Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee
Middle Tennessee is a distinct portion of the state of Tennessee, delineated according to state law as the 41 counties in the Middle Grand Division of Tennessee....
, and West Tennessee
West Tennessee
West Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the State of Tennessee. Of the three, it is the one that is most sharply defined geographically. Its boundaries are the Mississippi River on the west and the Tennessee River on the east...
) (Section 2). The courts were to be elected by the people for eight years at a time (Sections 3 and 4), however this has been changed to the Modified Missouri Plan
Missouri Plan
The Missouri Plan is a method for the selection of judges. It originated in Missouri in 1940, and has been adopted by several states of the United States...
or Tennessee Plan
Tennessee Plan
The Tennessee Plan is a system of judicial appointment used in Tennessee. The system attempts to limit the influence of partisan politics over the state's judiciary...
.
The court then appoints the state "Attorney General and Reporter" for an eight-year term (Section 5).
The General Assembly may remove judges and state attorneys with a two thirds supermajority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
of the constitutionally-authorized membership in both houses, with each vote for and against being recorded along with the statesman's reason for his decision. Removal will lie for either official or personal misconduct. The judge or attorney subject to removal must be notified 10 days before such a vote (Section 6).
Alternatively, judges and state attorneys may be impeached, by a simple majority vote of a quorum of the General Assembly, for crimes or misconduct committed solely in their official capacity. In this case, the lower house appoints three members to prosecute the impeached and the senate, presided over by the Chief Justice of the Tennessee Supreme Court, convenes to try the impeached. Conviction requires only a two thirds supermajority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
of the number of senators "sworn to try the impeachment," a number which may be less than a "constitutional" supermajority
Supermajority
A supermajority or a qualified majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level or type of support which exceeds a simple majority . In some jurisdictions, for example, parliamentary procedure requires that any action that may alter the rights of the minority has a supermajority...
(Article V).
Judges are also barred from hearing cases in which they are interested or involved
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
, or are related to the parties. Should they be, the governor will appoint others to take his place for that particular case. This once required the entire supreme court to be replaced in a case challenging the method in which the court was chosen. The Legislature may also regulate special judges when the normal one can't preside or didn't show for (Section 11).
Indictments must be made "against the peace and dignity of the State." (Section 12).
Other provisions
The constitution has several provisions that are unusual for a state constitution. It mandates only three "constitutional officers" other than governor, namely secretary of stateTennessee Secretary of State
The Tennessee Secretary of State is the state secretary of state for the State of Tennessee.The office is created by the Tennessee State Constitution. The Secretary of State is responsible for many of the administrative aspects of the operation of state government of Tennessee...
, state treasurer, and comptroller
Comptroller
A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization.In British government, the Comptroller General or Comptroller and Auditor General is in most countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the...
, and provides for them to be elected by the General Assembly, not the voters as is far more common. (Tennessee is the only state other than Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
and New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
in which the governor is the sole office holder elected statewide.) The governor's designated successor is the Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...
of the Tennessee State Senate, elected from among its membership, a provision now found in the constitutions of only a few other states; the majority now have a full-time lieutenant governor
Lieutenant governor (United States)
In the United States, 43 of the 50 states have a separate, full-time office of lieutenant governor. In most cases, the lieutenant governor is the highest officer of state after the governor, standing in for that officer when he or she is absent from the state or temporarily incapacitated...
. (This office is referred to as Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee
The Lieutenant Governor of Tennessee is the Speaker of the Tennessee Senate and first in line in the succession to the office of Governor of Tennessee in the event of the death, resignation, or removal from office through impeachment and conviction of the Governor of the U.S...
in subsequent statutory law, but not in the constitution.) General election
General election
In a parliamentary political system, a general election is an election in which all or most members of a given political body are chosen. The term is usually used to refer to elections held for a nation's primary legislative body, as distinguished from by-elections and local elections.The term...
s for state offices were moved to make them simultaneous with federal elections (Novembers of even-numbered years) with elections for county and judicial offices to be held in the Augusts of even-numbered years; this later became the traditional date for primary election
Primary election
A primary election is an election in which party members or voters select candidates for a subsequent election. Primary elections are one means by which a political party nominates candidates for the next general election....
s for the statewide offices to be held as well, so that the day on which, for example, a sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
was elected would be the same day as the primary election for governor would be held.
Other provisions included are the procedure for the establishment of new counties and the recognition of three counties previously established by the legislature in contravention of provisions of the previous constitution. New counties would carry a pro-rata share of the indebtedness of the county or counties from which they were being formed, preventing the formation of new counties as a way of areas getting out from under debt that they had previously incurred. (This provision nonetheless incited a spate of new counties; ten were established in the next decade, although none have been since, and one of those established was subsequently abolished, and the provisions are such that would make the establishment of any further counties beyond those extremely difficult and unlikely.) Obviously, some current agendas of the era were reflected, as there were provisions allowing county seats to be moved in two counties with only a majority vote of the populace while a two-thirds majority was required in all others. A county line adjustment between two counties was made between two existing counties, and special provisions made for counties whose formation was already planned at the time, as well as for settling definitively the status of others which had already been created without strict adherence to the provisions for the creation of new counties which was contained in the previous constitution.
There were also provisions forbidding interracial marriage
Interracial marriage
Interracial marriage occurs when two people of differing racial groups marry. This is a form of exogamy and can be seen in the broader context of miscegenation .-Legality of interracial marriage:In the Western world certain jurisdictions have had regulations...
s and integrated
Racial integration
Racial integration, or simply integration includes desegregation . In addition to desegregation, integration includes goals such as leveling barriers to association, creating equal opportunity regardless of race, and the development of a culture that draws on diverse traditions, rather than merely...
schools, allowing for a poll tax
Poll tax
A poll tax is a tax of a portioned, fixed amount per individual in accordance with the census . When a corvée is commuted for cash payment, in effect it becomes a poll tax...
, preventing interest
Interest
Interest is a fee paid by a borrower of assets to the owner as a form of compensation for the use of the assets. It is most commonly the price paid for the use of borrowed money, or money earned by deposited funds....
over 10% from being charged on loans and making this usury
Usury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
per se. All of these last six provisions have been either subsequently formally removed or invalidated by Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
decisions and are no longer enforced; whether the prohibition of former duelists from holding office is valid has apparently not been tested.
The militia
The state's militia is governed by Article VIII, which specifies that all officers be elected by those subject to service within their groupings and as the Legislature directs (Section 1) but that the governor appoint his staff officers and they in turn appoint their staff officers (Section 2). The Legislature is also directed to exempt religious conscientious objectorConscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
s (Section 3).
Disqualifications
Article IX lists three groups of people who are barred from various privileges:- MinisterMinister of religionIn Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community...
s of any religion may not sit as legislators because they "ought not be diverted from the great duties of their functions." (Section 1) - Atheists may not perform any office in the government (Although Section 4 of Article I, banning any religious test for any "office of public trust" seemingly would make this hard to enforce) (Section 2)
- Anyone having anything to do with a duelDuelA duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
may not hold any "honor or profit" under the state's government and is liable to be punished otherwise (Section 3)
It should be noted that the restrictions on ministers and atheists have been deemed to be unenforceable due to the interpretations of the Supreme Court of the United States
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
with regard to the First
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering...
and Fourteenth Amendments
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was adopted on July 9, 1868, as one of the Reconstruction Amendments.Its Citizenship Clause provides a broad definition of citizenship that overruled the Dred Scott v...
to the United States Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
.
Amendment process
Per Article XI, Section 3 of the Tennessee State Constitution, there are two methods to amend the document:Legislative method
Under the legislative method (which is a quite lengthy process), the Tennessee General AssemblyTennessee General Assembly
The Tennessee General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional structure:According to the Tennessee State Constitution of 1870, the General Assembly is a bicameral legislature and consists of a Senate of thirty-three members and a House of Representatives of...
must pass a resolution calling for an amendment and stating its wording, and must do so in three separate readings on three separate days, with an absolute majority on all readings. The resolution does not require the governor's approval.
The amendment must then be published at least six months before the next legislative election, but is not placed on the ballot at that time. Instead, once the legislative election is held, the proposed amendment must go another three reading, three day voting process, except the amendment now requires approval of 2/3 of the legislature on each vote.
Finally, the amendment is placed on the ballot as a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
in the next gubernatorial election, and must pass by absolute majority. Also, the number of yes votes must be greater than one-half the number of votes cast for governor.
Convention method
Under the convention method, the legislature can put on any ballot the question of whether to call a constitutional conventionConstitutional convention (political meeting)
A constitutional convention is now a gathering for the purpose of writing a new constitution or revising an existing constitution. A general constitutional convention is called to create the first constitution of a political unit or to entirely replace an existing constitution...
. The question must state whether the convention is limited (i.e., to make amendments to the existing constitution) or unlimited (i.e., to propose an entirely new constitution). If the convention is limited, the question must state which provisions of the current constitution are to be subject to amendment, and the subsequent convention, if approved, is limited to considering only amendments to the provisions specified in the call.
The proposed amendments (or new constitution) must then be placed on the ballot and receive absolute majority.
A constitutional convention can not be held more frequently than once every six years.
Amendments
The record length of time for going unamended ended in 1953. In 1952 the legislature called for a convention and the voters approved it. They then approved the recommended amendments. The most noticeable change wrought in the 1953 amendments was a lengthening of the governor's term from two to four years, with the added provision that no governor could succeed himself. (Until subsequently amended again, in 1978, the effect of this provision was to establish what critics derisively called "leapfrog government".) Another provision allowed for the consolidation of a county government with the government of a county's principal city in the four largest counties.The 1953 convention established precedents which proved useful in the future. Since no one who served in the 1870 convention writing the current constitution was still alive by this point, many things had to be decided, such as what rules the convention would function under temporarily until its was organized and adopted its own permanent rules, how a chair was to be elected, and other administrative matters. Another administrative provision determined that the Tennessee State Constitution was to be compiled in a manner similar to statutory law and not in the manner of the federal constitution. This means that amendments actually replace the language that they alter in the document and that in future publications the amendments are integrated into the text rather than appended to it as "Amendment I", "Amendment II", etc. The effect of this is that one reading the text of the constitution will, absent a strong historical background, sometimes be confused as to which provisions are those of the original document and which are the result of later amendment, although some amendments declare themselves to be such within the text of their provisions. This practice does prevent a reader of the current constitution from being confused by encountering obsolete provisions which have since been changed and not reading on to the end of the document to establish that fact, which is sometimes done to the federal constitution by persons who wish to obscure its current provisions, such as those who assert that the document "even now refers to blacks as only three-fifths of a person", a provision which has not applied since the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
but is still in the text of the early part of the document, the amendment deleting this provision not being encountered until much later.
Further amendments were proposed and subsequently adopted at conventions held in 1959 and 1965. Among the most notable of these allowed for the establishment of home rule
Home rule
Home rule is the power of a constituent part of a state to exercise such of the state's powers of governance within its own administrative area that have been devolved to it by the central government....
by counties which chose to adopt a charter allowing them to function in many ways similar to municipalities. They also allowed legislators to receive a salary over and above expense money, and extended the terms of state senators from two years to four, done in such a way so that half of its membership is elected every two years. Another important change was that the frequency of scheduled sessions of the legislature (and hence the budget cycle) was altered from biennial to annual, though the General Assembly is still limited to a total of fifteen organizational days and ninety legislative days every two years; sessions extending beyond this (and special sessions extending beyond twenty legislative days) result in the legislature being unable to continue to receive its expense per diem. The poll tax provisions, already rendered moot by the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-fourth Amendment prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax...
, were removed. The 1971 convention, dominated by longtime Tennessee politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
Clifford Allen
Clifford Allen
Clifford Robertson Allen was a Tennessee attorney and Democratic politician.-Early life and career:Allen was born in Jacksonville, Florida, and graduated from Friends High School in Washington, D.C.. He graduated from the Cumberland School of Law in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1931 and was admitted to...
, was limited to the establishment of a new system of property tax
Property tax
A property tax is an ad valorem levy on the value of property that the owner is required to pay. The tax is levied by the governing authority of the jurisdiction in which the property is located; it may be paid to a national government, a federated state or a municipality...
assessments.
1977 convention and its aftermath
The 1977 convention was the broadest call since the original writing of the constitution in 1870. It was called in part to remove long-unenforceable provisions such as those banning interracial marriage and school desegregationDesegregation
Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups usually referring to races. This is most commonly used in reference to the United States. Desegregation was long a focus of the American Civil Rights Movement, both before and after the United States Supreme Court's decision in...
, but primarily at the behest of banking interests to remove the 10% cap on interest, which was becoming very problematic in the economic environment of the time. (It had long been circumvented by smaller lenders such as finance companies with tactics such as administration fees, service charges, and payment fees, with tacit legislative approval.)
This convention proved to be very long and contentious, in fact lasting nearly twice as long as the original one that wrote the 1870 constitution. There were major fights over the adoption of the permanent rules and over who would be the permanent chair. Although this seemed to bode ill, in fact once the convention got on track it accomplished what many legal scholars see as being a record of largely solid achievement.
A major change was the proposal that the governor be allowed to succeed himself once. A two-term governor was also not barred from any future service in that office in the way that a two-term U.S. President is by the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution
Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-second Amendment of the United States Constitution sets a term limit for the President of the United States. The Congress passed the amendment on March 21, 1947...
, but rather from a third consecutive term.
Any county and its principal city could vote to consolidate themselves into one "metropolitan government
Consolidated city-county
In United States local government, a consolidated city–county is a city and county that have been merged into one unified jurisdiction. As such it is simultaneously a city, which is a municipal corporation, and a county, which is an administrative division of a state...
", not just the four largest ones. (In fact, the only two counties to have availed themselves of this provision since it has been added were two of the smallest ones in the state.) Minor changes included the elimination of the necessity of each county having the archaic (at least for urban counties) offices of constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...
and cattle ranger. (The provision for rangers was routinely widely ignored; that mandating constables had not been.) The provision limiting sheriffs to three consecutive two-year terms was replaced with one allowing sheriffs an unlimited number of consecutive four-year terms (a provision called by some wags the "Fate Thomas Amendment", as it seemed to have been passed largely at the behest at the then hugely-popular sheriff and political boss
Political boss
A boss, in politics, is a person who wields the power over a particular political region or constituency. Bosses may dictate voting patterns, control appointments, and wield considerable influence in other political processes. They do not necessarily hold public office themselves...
of Davidson County
Davidson County, Tennessee
Davidson County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of 2010, the population was 626,681. Its county seat is Nashville.In 1963, the City of Nashville and the Davidson County government merged, so the county government is now known as the "Metropolitan Government of Nashville and...
, who was otherwise about to be term-limited out of office and who eventually served federal time for corruption-related offenses).
Some in the media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
derided the convention as having gone out of control, but the primary public reaction was one of apathy. The primary controversy within the convention once it began its actual work, as opposed to its early organizational difficulties, was over a judicial amendment which would have, among other provisions, made the state attorney general an office elected by statewide popular vote rather than retaining selection by the Supreme Court, and eliminated the requirement that the Supreme Court meet in Knoxville and Jackson (where a new and elaborate building for it had just been completed). Another important provision of the proposed amendment was to repeal the 1870 Constitution’s requirement that all judges “shall be elected” in favor of a provision stating that “Justices of the Supreme Court and judges of the Court of Appeals shall be appointed by the Governor from three nominees recommended . . . by the Appellate Court Nominating Commission” and that “[t]he name of each justice and judge seeking retention shall be submitted to the qualified voters for retention
or rejection . . . at the expiration of each six year term.”
The voters, in a special election held in February 1978 solely to ratify the amendments proposed by this, voted to remove the archaic provisions and the usury cap, and to accept the changes regarding the governor's terms and metropolitan government, but narrowly turned down the judicial amendment, marking the first time that an amendment put to the voters by a convention had been defeated. Of the 13 proposed amendments, only one was rejected by the voters.
No further conventions have been held since 1977, although they have been frequently proposed, in part due to the recent spate of state fiscal crises. Some have proposed them to determine conclusively whether or not the Tennessee Constitution allows a general, broad-based income tax
Income tax
An income tax is a tax levied on the income of individuals or businesses . Various income tax systems exist, with varying degrees of tax incidence. Income taxation can be progressive, proportional, or regressive. When the tax is levied on the income of companies, it is often called a corporate...
on wages. (Past Tennessee Supreme Court decision have held that it does not. These decisions are all many decades old and none of the current members of the court were involved in making them. Because of their dubious value as precedent, these cases would likely be overturned to allow for an income tax if the issue was ever brought before them.) It has been suggested by several observers that one reason against the General Assembly requesting future conventions is that they do not desire to create potential new rivals for themselves; as the members themselves cannot be delegates to the convention, in calling for a convention they are creating a potential new set of politicians campaigning in their same districts and addressing some of the same issues. This occurred to an extent after the 1977 convention, which launched the career, among others, of Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
attorney
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
Steve Cohen
Steve Cohen
Stephen Ira Cohen is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic Party. Tennessee's 9th district includes almost three-fourths of Memphis. Cohen is Tennessee's first Jewish congressman....
, who was vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
of the convention and later became a prominent progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
Democrat
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
in the Tennessee State Senate, until 2006, when he was elected U.S. Representative
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
from the Ninth District
Tennessee's 9th congressional district
The 9th Congressional District of Tennessee is a Congressional district in southwestern Tennessee. The district is located entirely within Shelby County, and includes most of the city of Memphis...
.
Recent amendments
Beginning in the 1990s, amendments were placed on the ballot without a convention being held, utilizing for the first time the provisions allowing for the General Assembly to propose amendments directly.In 1998, the voters were asked about two amendments. One was the "Victims' Rights Amendment
Victims' Rights Amendment
In the United States, the Victims' Rights Amendment is a provision which has been included in some state constitutions, proposed for others, and additionally has been proposed for inclusion in the United States Constitution. Its provisions vary from state to state but are usually somewhat similar...
", which required prosecutors to stay in touch with crime
Crime
Crime is the breach of rules or laws for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction...
victims and their families, explain to them how purported offenses involving them were to be prosecuted, and notify them when persons who had committed crimes against them were being scheduled for parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
or release, among other provisions. The other amendment removed the word "comfortable" from the requirements for minimum standards for prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
s. Both of these amendments passed by overwhelming margins in an election that was marked by a very light turnout. These amendments represented the first changes to the constitution in 20 years.
In 2002, the legislature again proposed two amendments. The first proposal passed, repealing a constitutional ban on all lotteries
Tennessee Lottery
The Tennessee Lottery is run by the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation , which was created on June 11, 2003 by the Tennessee General Assembly through the Tennessee Education Lottery Implementation Law....
. The ban had been a carryover from the 1835 document and was widely regarded as not only a tribute to religious
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
fundamentalism but also to the influence of Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
, a known lottery opponent who was in no way averse to other forms of gambling, especially that regarding horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
. The amendment established the current state lottery
Tennessee Lottery
The Tennessee Lottery is run by the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation , which was created on June 11, 2003 by the Tennessee General Assembly through the Tennessee Education Lottery Implementation Law....
. The other amendment on the 2002 ballot, pushed for by the Tennessee Municipal League
Tennessee Municipal League
The Tennessee Municipal League is an association of the incorporated cities and towns of Tennessee, organized for mutual assistance and improvement.The organization's functions include:...
(TML), would have eliminated a constitutional provision that set $50 (a large sum in 1870 when the provision was enacted) as the maximum allowable fine for violation of a municipal ordinance. Instead, it would have allowed the legislature to set limits on the fines that municipalities could enact. However, after putting much effort into getting the legislature to put this amendment onto the ballot, the TML put little effort into winning voter approval, and the proposal was largely overlooked during the public debate over the high-profile lottery amendment. Many voters were unaware of the proposal until confronted with it on the ballot and hence, may have turned it down for that reason. It became the first amendment put forward by the General Assembly to be defeated at the polls and joined the proposed 1978 judicial amendment as only the second ever defeated.
In 2006, two additional amendments to the Tennessee State Constitution were passed. The Tennessee Marriage Protection Amendment
Tennessee Marriage Protection Amendment
Tennessee Amendment 1 of 2006 is a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex unions. The referendum was approved by 81% of voters. It specifies that only a marriage between a man and a woman can be legally recognized in the state of Tennessee...
specifies that only marriages between a man and a woman can be legally recognized in the state of Tennessee. The amendment was approved by 81% of Tennessee voters. A second amendment, authorizing the legislature to enact legislation allowing counties and municipalities to exempt people over 65 from property tax increases, was approved by 83% of voters.
In 2010, voters approved the following "The citizens of this state shall have the personal right to hunt and fish, subject to reasonable regulations and restrictions prescribed by law. The recognition of this right does not abrogate any private or public property rights, nor does it limit the state's power to regulate commercial activity. Traditional manners and means may be used to take non-threatened species."
by a 90%-10% vote.
Future
A measure was first introduced in the General Assembly in 2005 to amend the Tennessee State Constitution to add huntingHunting
Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...
as a basic constitutional right. In 2007 the Tennessee House of Representatives
Tennessee House of Representatives
The Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
unanimously passed a resolution calling for an amendment to establish the right to hunt, fish
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
, and harvest game "subject to reasonable rules and regulations," but the State Senate did not act on the measure during the 2007 legislative session. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency is an independent state agency of the state of Tennessee with the mission of managing the state's fish and wildlife and their habitats, as well as responsibility for all wildlife-related law enforcement activities...
(TWRA) had raised objections to an earlier version of the measure, which had the backing of the National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
. TWRA was concerned that the proposal would prevent it from continuing its regulation of hunting and fishing methods, as well as efforts to manage fish and game populations.
The 2014 November general election will have a proposed amendment on the ballot to add a new, appropriately designated section to Article I of the Constitution of Tennessee that will read:
- Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statues regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.
External links
- Tennessee Blue Book Online – Modern and graphical interpretation of the Tennessee State Constitution (Adobe AcrobatAdobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat is a family of application software developed by Adobe Systems to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in Portable Document Format . All members of the family, except Adobe Reader , are commercial software, while the latter is available as freeware and can be downloaded...
Reader required) - The actual text of the Constitution
- The actual text of the Constitution in html