Constitution of Georgia (U.S. state)
The Constitution of the State of Georgia is the governing document of the U.S. state of Georgia. The constitution outlines the three branches of government in Georgia. The legislative branch is embodied in the bicameral General Assembly. The executive branch is headed by the governor. The judicial branch is headed by the Supreme Court. Besides providing for the organization of these branches, the Constitution carefully outlines which powers each branch may exercise.
The current and tenth Georgia State Constitution was ratified on November 2, 1982, replacing the previous 1976 constitution.
Amendments to the Constitution may be proposed in the Georgia legislature and must be approved by a two-thirds majority vote of both the state House and state Senate followed by ratification by a majority of the electors qualified to vote for members of the General Assembly at the next general election which is held in the even-numbered years. The Constitution can also be amended by proposal at a constitutional convention, the calling of which must receive the support of a two-thirds majority vote by both houses of the legislature and a simple majority of state voters.
History
Georgia has had ten different constitutions in its history, not counting its royal charter, granted in 1732. The charter, approved by George II of Great Britain, placed Georgia under the control of Trustees, led by James Oglethorpe. The Trustees governed Georgia until 1752, when they surrendered their charter. Georgia then became a crown colony.Antebellum constitutions (1776, 1777, 1790, 1798, and 1861)
Prior to having a formal constitution, a document entitled Rules and Regulations of the Colony of Georgia, drafted in 1776, was in effect. This document was designed to be temporary and made the Provincial Congress the most powerful branch of government. A year later, in 1777, the first formal constitution was drafted. This document also made the legislature the most powerful branch, with the governor being forced to rely on his executive council for many decisions. he executive council was composed of 12 members composed of the legislators that were voted in by the legislators of the House of Assembly. The executive council was to oversee and advise the governor, with the power to veto the governor’s actions and grant pardons. Additionally, the constitution allowed for an expansive franchise, with only the poorest excluded and those who could vote were required to vote or would subject to fine. These provisions resulted from the domination of the 1777 convention by "radicals" as opposed to the more moderate faction found in other states.Georgia would be one of the only states to establish a unicameral legislature when it established the House of Assembly. Representation was split among the eight counties and allowed for two smallest counties as well as any new counties laid out by the House of Assembly to have the ability to gain more representatives as the county grows. The 1777 constitution included Articles on freedom of religion, press, trial by jury, habeas corpus, and protection against excessive fines. Georgia would also get rid of entailment and primogeniture making it the first U.S. state to abolish both practices.
The adoption of the new federal constitution obliged Georgia to implement a new state one. Following three separate conventions, a new constitution was adopted in 1789. The new document replaced the unicameral Congress with a bicameral General Assembly. The executive council was abolished, and the legislature given power to elect the governor. Additionally, freedom of press, trial by jury, and freedom of religion were guaranteed. In 1795, a convention met to amend the recently adopted constitution. These amendments reapportioned the House of Representatives amongst the counties, with each county receiving one state senator. Additionally, the state capital was moved from Savannah to Louisville, and another convention scheduled for 1797 to further amend the document.
In between the two conventions, the Yazoo land scandal dominated Georgia politics. The majority of the state legislature became implicated in the scandal, which involved Georgia's western lands. As a result, a number of legislators lost re-election, and reforms to property laws were enacted by their successors. Shortly after, the convention authorized in 1795 was postponed until 1798. James Jackson, Georgia's former U.S. Senator, played the dominant role in this convention as the governor at the time. The constitution produced by this new convention bore several similarities to the 1789 constitution. While the House was apportioned by population, each county was still guaranteed at least one representative. Notably, the new document prohibited land sales similar to those which prompted the Yazoo fraud. The 1802 cession by which Georgia transferred its western lands to the federal government rendered much of this provision moot, though it still applied to those lands Georgia eventually gained following the removal of the Cherokee people. This constitution would be amended twenty-three times before the Civil War. Georgia held conventions in 1833 and 1839 to reduce the number of representatives in the legislature but voters rejected it.
Just before the start of the Civil War, Georgia's Secession Convention drafted a new constitution for the state, led largely by Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, the Convention's chairman. The new constitution largely left in place the framework of government found under the 1798 constitution, as amended. It did, however, include a longer bill of rights which was not found in the 1798 document.
Post-bellum constitutions (1865, 1868, and 1877)
Following the Civil War, a new constitution was drafted in 1865. In the aftermath of the war, the federal government oversaw the state's transition back into the Union. President Andrew Johnson appointed a provisional governor, who then convened a convention to draft a new constitution. The document retained many of the provisions of the 1861 constitution, including the bill of rights it had introduced. Major changes included a two-term limit for governors and the legislative election, rather than gubernatorial appointment of the Supreme Court. Additionally, Superior Court judges became popularly elected. The convention also abolished slavery in the state, although with great reluctance. Indeed, the constitution labeled the abolition of slavery "a war measure" by the federal government and also provided for compensation to slaveholders for the loss of their property.The 1865 Constitution had been adopted during the era of Presidential Reconstruction. In 1866, however, Congress passed the Military Reconstruction Acts, which placed Georgia and other former Confederate states under military rule. As a result, African Americans began to participate in the state government, along with "scalawags" who cooperated with the U.S. military. This new state government called for another convention to adopt a new constitution in 1868. Additionally, a number of "carpetbaggers," Northerners who moved to the South following the war, participated in the convention. The new state constitution aimed to provide rights for African Americans and promote racial equality in the state. Its bill of rights incorporated the 14th Amendment into the state constitution, and suffrage was granted to all males over the age of 21 regardless of race. The state government also was tasked with creating a system of public education. Additionally, the governor's term of office was extended to four years, with no limit, and the practice of electing judges was ended. The document also required amendments to be approved by popular vote rather than just by the state legislature and moved the capital to Atlanta.
In 1870, Georgia was readmitted to the Union, and, by 1872, Democrats regained control of the state legislature. Many of these Democrats identified as Bourbons, a faction representing the antebellum elite. With their return to power, the old elites quickly saw the need for a new constitution and called for a convention in 1877 to draft one. While much of the government structure remained the same, the new constitution restricted the power of the legislature significantly, including two articles devoted to taxation and state finances, and established the Secretary of State, Comptroller General and Treasurer as directly-elected offices. The two-year term for governors was reintroduced, along with the two-term limit. The document, in a reversal from 1868, mandated the segregation of the state's public schools. A prohibition of the creation of new counties was also included. Following its adoption, the 1877 constitution was amended numerous times. Many dealt with the structure of government, altering legislative apportionment and powers, introducing popular elections of judges. 188 amendments alone were made to Article VII, concerning state finances, mostly in regard to specific cities and counties. A number of new counties were also created by amendment. Most notably, an amendment in 1943 lowered the voting age to eighteen. This amendment made Georgia the first state to do so.
20th-century constitutions (1945 and 1976)
In 1931, the University of Georgia's Institute of Public Affairs published a document titled "A Proposed Constitution for Georgia", which helped to spark public debate on a new constitution.All constitutions up until 1945 were drafted by constitutional convention. That year, Governor Ellis Arnall appointed a twenty-three member commission, composed of all three branches of government, to write a new constitution.
In August 1945, a popular vote ratified the new document. The new document, however, did not represent a great change from the old constitution, of which 90% of the 1877 constitution's provisions remained intact. Once again, an extensive bill of rights was included in the new document. The new document also made permanent several changes made over the years, including setting the voting age at eighteen and the introduction of a literacy test for voters. Other changes included provisions dealing with agencies created after 1877, including the State Board of Corrections. In addition, the offices of Lieutenant Governor, Agriculture Commissioner, Attorney General, State School Superintendent and Labor Commissioner. Some changes also affected local government in the state, including a cap on the number of counties at 159, and the introduction of provisions for home rule.
Subsequent to the new document's adoption, a number of provisions came under judicial scrutiny and were subsequently struck down. School segregation, mandated by Article VIII, was held to violate the U.S. Constitution by the Supreme Court in the 1954 case Brown v. Board of Education. Georgians resisted the decision, but a number of court decisions eventually forced the state's residents to comply. The system of legislative apportionment, along with Georgia's unique system to count votes in primary elections, were struck down in 1963 by the Court in the case of Gray v. Sanders due to their basis in counties rather than population.
These cases led many to consider revisions to the constitution. Efforts in the late 1960s were rejected, however, due to the continued malapportionment of the legislature. In 1974, George Busbee won the gubernatorial election on a platform of constitutional revision. By the time of Busbee's election, the constitution contained 831 amendments and was the nation's longest. The 1976 revision, however, produced little change beyond reorganizing the document's provisions. These amendments, now incorporated into the constitution, included correcting the legislative malapportionment and removing the office of Treasurer as a directly-elected constitutional officer.