Which State has the worst Constitution in the United States?

[Safiel]

Some State Constitutions are relatively decent. They lay out a plan for government, but don't micromanage.

Then there are a number of State Constitutions that suck. Some, like New York and Texas, by design. Some, like California, that were decent when originally drafted but have been buried under tons of amendments, some stupid, some stupider, some stupidest.

But, as far as I am concerned, there is only one contender, one finalist, for worst State Constitution in the United States, by far and away.

The Constitution of Alabama.

It's 2022 compilation only made it easier to figure the stupidity out, but didn't actually substantially fix anything.

It was written to permanently enshrine white supremacy in the State. But it was also written to concentrate almost total power in Montgomery. Many actions, such as levying taxes or incurring debt, require a Constitutional Amendment. The 1901 convention goers knew that, despite their best efforts, blacks or a combination of blacks and poor whites might win control of a county or locality and they wanted to ensure they could quash any actions by such a local government.

While the overt racist aspects of the Constitution have long been rendered inoperable (and formally removed in the 2022 recompilation), the many other flaws and deliberate barriers to effective governance and local control still remain.

The Alabama Constitution is beyond fixing. It needs to be burned and rewritten from scratch.

As for my State of North Carolina, the Constitution is decent, as State Constitutions go. It was purged of a lot of garbage and irrelevant provisions in 1971 and the government was streamlined. Not perfect by any means, but likely in the top 10 of good State Constitutions.

Anybody else have opinions on State Constitutions, either your own or another State that you feel the Constitution is particularly bad?

 

[Glitch]

I agree with you about Alabama's and California's State Constitutions. There were also a bad ones in the northeast, like Massachusetts' Constitution that created a theocracy by establishing a State religion and prohibited anyone who was not of that religion from holding office.

Alaska's Constitution is not too bad. It has the advantage of being written in the 1950s, so it is more socially up-to-date. It does have quite a few amendments, 28 of them, for being such a young constitution. A couple of things that stand out as being different are:

• The people of Alaska retain all mineral rights; and
• At least 25% of all mineral lease rentals, royalties, royalty sale proceeds, federal mineral revenue sharing payments and bonuses received by the State are placed into a constitutionally protected permanent fund. The Permanent Fund has a value of $76.337 billion for FY22 (which ends in June 2023), down slightly from $81.896 billion in FY21.

Source:

Our Performance-Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation

APFC performance data, portfolio at a glance, and Alaska Permanent Fund market values.

apfc.org

 

[Safiel]

I agree with you about Alabama's and California's State Constitutions. There were also a bad ones in the northeast, like Massachusetts' Constitution that created a theocracy by establishing a State religion and prohibited anyone who was not of that religion from holding office.

Alaska's Constitution is not too bad. It has the advantage of being written in the 1950s, so it is more socially up-to-date. It does have quite a few amendments, 28 of them, for being such a young constitution. A couple of things that stand out as being different are:

• The people of Alaska retain all mineral rights; and
• At least 25% of all mineral lease rentals, royalties, royalty sale proceeds, federal mineral revenue sharing payments and bonuses received by the State are placed into a constitutionally protected permanent fund. The Permanent Fund has a value of $76.337 billion for FY22 (which ends in June 2023), down slightly from $81.896 billion in FY21.

Source:

Our Performance-Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation

APFC performance data, portfolio at a glance, and Alaska Permanent Fund market values.

apfc.org

Interestingly, Vermont's Constitution is its original Constitution and shortest in the country at about 8,500 words.

Alaska, of course, is in a unique position of being an oil producer. Also, State ownership of all mineral rights could be problematic.

For example, I own over 100+ acres in the North Carolina mountains and most of my neighbors own pretty broad tracts of land. There are known copper and other mineral deposits in this area. We all own the mineral rights to our land, which helps to ensure that any copper and other minerals stay in the ground. Pretty universal opposition to any form of mining in this area.

If the State owned the mineral rights, it is possible that a mining company could find a spot to drill down, then drill horizontally from there under my land. Private ownership of the mineral rights makes this impossible.

As for the Alaskan Constitution, it was fortunate that the writer's were influenced by the National Municipal League's Model State Constitution, which emphasized minimalism. That is partly why you got a good Constitution. It also has the good quality of being the 8th shortest Constitution in the country, at about 13,500 words.

When writing Constitutions, less is more.

 

[Grand Mal]

Interestingly, Vermont's Constitution is its original Constitution and shortest in the country at about 8,500 words.

Alaska, of course, is in a unique position of being an oil producer. Also, State ownership of all mineral rights could be problematic.

For example, I own over 100+ acres in the North Carolina mountains and most of my neighbors own pretty broad tracts of land. There are known copper and other mineral deposits in this area. We all own the mineral rights to our land, which helps to ensure that any copper and other minerals stay in the ground. Pretty universal opposition to any form of mining in this area.

If the State owned the mineral rights, it is possible that a mining company could find a spot to drill down, then drill horizontally from there under my land. Private ownership of the mineral rights makes this impossible.

As for the Alaskan Constitution, it was fortunate that the writer's were influenced by the National Municipal League's Model State Constitution, which emphasized minimalism. That is partly why you got a good Constitution. It also has the good quality of being the 8th shortest Constitution in the country, at about 13,500 words.

When writing Constitutions, less is more.

When writing constitutions zero is best.

 

[Safiel]

When writing constitutions zero is best.

If your referring to the situation of not having a Constitution at all, perhaps not the best idea.

While it has worked in the United Kingdom, it has caused issues in Israel. Case in point, the current standoff regarding the judiciary.

I do think a concise, minimalist Constitution is best. No Constitution at all is an invitation to trouble.

BTW, did not mention this in the OP and meant to.

The Constitution of Alabama, just before the recompilation, had reached 402,852 words in length, including the original document and 977 amendments. It's estimated length now is still around 350,000 words, with duplicate provisions and repealed provisions removed in the recompilation.

In contrast, the next State Constitution, Texas, comes in at 92,025 words, which is still horribly oversized. But it puts in perspective just what a ****ing mess the Alabama Constitution is.

 

[Glitch]

Interestingly, Vermont's Constitution is its original Constitution and shortest in the country at about 8,500 words.

Alaska, of course, is in a unique position of being an oil producer. Also, State ownership of all mineral rights could be problematic.

Oil just gets all the publicity. What few realize is that Alaska's Red Dog mine is the world's largest zinc and lead mine. We also export ~1.2 million tons of coal to China annually, as well as mining gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, and other rare-Earth elements. So it is not just oil royalties that feed the Permanent Fund.

For example, I own over 100+ acres in the North Carolina mountains and most of my neighbors own pretty broad tracts of land. There are known copper and other mineral deposits in this area. We all own the mineral rights to our land, which helps to ensure that any copper and other minerals stay in the ground. Pretty universal opposition to any form of mining in this area.

If the State owned the mineral rights, it is possible that a mining company could find a spot to drill down, then drill horizontally from there under my land. Private ownership of the mineral rights makes this impossible.

As for the Alaskan Constitution, it was fortunate that the writer's were influenced by the National Municipal League's Model State Constitution, which emphasized minimalism. That is partly why you got a good Constitution. It also has the good quality of being the 8th shortest Constitution in the country, at about 13,500 words.

When writing Constitutions, less is more.

Mineral rights in Alaska are a collective right, not an individual right. Very few people have been granted sub-surface mineral rights. Alaska's State Constitution requires the government to manage those mineral rights on behalf of the people, extracting at least a 25% royalty for any Alaskan minerals extracted and sold. Which is not something they can do if individuals own the sub-surface mineral rights. It is the only reason why there is $76+ billion in the Permanent Fund.

There are some practical issues that they didn't think completely through. For example, the State Constitution requires the State legislature to pay for public education, and when you have no roads or infrastructure in various areas that can get pretty expensive. It cost the State of Alaska more than $3 million to build a one-room school house in Utqiaġvik (formerly known as Barrow).