420 Warrior
Well-Known Member
The Constitution and Cannabis
For years people have asked me what the constitution has to do with marijuana. Last month I had to give a presentation at the Environmental Law Conference and much of it had to do with that topic. Here's some of it. By the way , I'm not a lawyer yet and this is not legal advice.
Marijuana has several aspects. Its easier to follow things if we talk about 4 of them: hemp, ganja, medical marijuana and pot.
Hemp:
By hemp I mean cannabis grown for its non-psychoactive properties. Bird seed, hemp cloth, that sort of thing. The constitutional issues around hemp were well set out in Harrelson v Kentucky not long ago. Harrelson (or his lawyer) said they were arbitrary and overbroad laws. The idea is that even if the government can outlaw psychoactive use of marijuana it should not outlaw non-psychoactive use just because it is too lazy to tell the difference.
Like many constitutional legal problems the decision here is a balancing act. What's balanced is: How important is the outlawed "legal" conduct vs. how important the government's reason for outlawing it is, and how much trouble it would be to write the law right in the first place.
Harrelson won his case. That's partly because Kentucky, which is a major marijuana growing area, not only joined the other states in outlawing cultivation; they even outlawed possession of hemp in any form - like the shirt I am wearing as I type this. Harrelson is a hemp merchant when he is not a movie star. He said it was not only a major imposition on his rights to not let him grow hemp, but it was worse yet not to let him sell it.
The government responded that pot is very bad, and hemp growing would make enforcing the law against psychoactive pot almost impossible. Harrelson got an expert to say it was easy to tell hemp from pot and impossible to hide pot among the hemp plants, therefore the cops would have no trouble in enforcing the anti-pot laws. He said that hemp is best made from low THC cannabis which is no good as pot. Hemp cannabis is visually different, raised differently (grown close together for stalks rather than far apart for buds), and any attempt to grow high THC plants around the low THC hemp would result in cross pollination and make the pot useless.
The judge found that the Kentucky law was arbitrary and overbroad. Although Kentucky's law was an especially stupid one, there is no reason that such constitutional arguments could not prevail elsewhere.
Hemp cultivation is well on its way to being legal, but not because of courts. The definition of marijuana is being changed in the legislatures to exclude hemp.
Ganja:
I am referring to the religious use of cannabis as use of ganja, in this article. Your right to use ganja and stronger psychedelics religiously probablly finds its legal expression strongest under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993. The constitutional question here involves so-called laws of general applicability. The question is: when a law passed for some reason not related to making problems for religion, does in fact make problems for religion, what changes: the religious person, or the law? If that sounds abstract let's talk about a good example involving free expression.
Indiana passed a law forbidding public nudity. Some exotic dancers in a private club were arrested and sued. They said nude dancing was expressive and therefore constitutionally protected. The Supreme Court said that it would not like it if a law were passed saying you cannot express yourself by dancing nude; but this law was just a general law about public nudity that was not aimed at the dancers and their form of expression. So tough luck for them. They would have to give up that last square inch of expression and keep slightly clothed because Indiana's interest in protecting the public morality was very important and the dancers interest in that last square inch was not.
In the early 1990s the Supreme Court applied the same test to religious freedom and came to the same conclusion: if the law just happens to make it impossible for you to live according to your religious beliefs, find some new beliefs, because the government doesn't have to change the law. There was a big uproar and the Congress overwhelmingly passed the RFRA of 1993. Its quite short and it says that when the law prevents you from living according to your religious beliefs, the law has to change (usually).
The courts hate this law. And by and large they have refused to follow it. They narrowed it down to only applying when the law affected a sincerely held belief that was central to your religion. However to the credit of the courts, you don't have to be a member of an organized religion, and your belief doesn't have to make sense. You might believe, for instance, that the mothership is behind the Hale-Bopp comet and eating toxic applesauce is a great way to beam yourself up. The question is not verity, it is sincerity. The Heaven's Gate 39 did not violate any laws.
There are gazillions of cases invoking the RFRA of 1993. Usually in vain. A California court told Gregory Peck (not the actor) that his Isreal Zion Coptic Church could use ganja as a sacrament, and he could possess it, but he couldn't grow it or buy it. This decision is downright spooky when you consider the parallel arguments about medical marijuana.
Most cases seem to involve prisoners unable to follow the practices of their religious beliefs. The courts generally could care less. They find that prison discipline would collapse if anything beyond generic chapel occurred. Some cases, however, involve established churches who violate zoning laws - usually by feeding the poor or some other charitable act which upsets the neighbors. By and large the courts have favored the churches over the zoning laws.
So we have the most bizarre outcome of all. The government is suppressing religion on all fronts, the jails are filled with religious prisoners whose cases cry out for justice, and the case that comes before the Supreme Court to allow it to determine if the RFRA of 1993 is constitutional involves a church in Texas which wants to expand its building. It is in an area zoned for historic preservation and the government doesn't want it to get bigger or to change anything in the building facade.
Oral arguments have been heard and now we are awaiting the pronouncement of the fate of the RFRA of 1993. If it is upheld, there is still an enormous distance to go before there is actual religious freedom involving the use of psychoactives in the USA. If you use ganja or LSD religiously you are more likely to be a martyr than a winner if you go to court.
Medical Marijuana:
This is now legal under California law. Unfortunately we don't just live under California law. We also live under Federal Law. This is called the "dual sovereigns" doctrine. If one doesn't get you, the other will. So the first constitutional issue that comes up is basically one of states rights. Can California legalize marijuana? Can Hawaii legalize gay marriages? On the other hand, could Arkansas segregate its school system? When the question is: who is in charge here? The answer is almost always: the Feds are in charge here.
There are practical problems for the Feds which have left them muttering threats at doctors rather than taking any direct action to enforce the prohibition of medical marijuana. They have threatened to get any doctor who prescribes or possibly who even discusses medical marijuana with a patient. That leads us to the second constitutional issue: can doctors and patients talk candidly about illness and treatment? Or can the Feds tell doctors what to say? A group of doctors and patients have sued the Feds on this issue. It's way too soon to know what the outcome will be but Federal District Judge Fern Smith issued a TRO telling the feds that they could not sanction Doctors for actions taken while the TRO was in effect.
The issue arises because under California law a doctor may "recommend or approve" a patient's use of medical marijuana. If he does, then the patient can use the medical marijuana. So can the patient's caregiver. Whatever a caregiver is. That's the next legal issue, and its a California issue. What is a caregiver? Is it only the devoted spouse or child who has spent 10 years treating an ailing relative? Or is it also the good people who operate the local Cannabis Buyers Club? The clubs have turned out to be the way that most medical marijuana is supplied in practice. Are they patient networks? Are they caregivers? Or are they outlaws? Are they criminal conspiracies to violate the marijuana laws?
And if the clubs are caregivers, what are the people who grow marijuana for the clubs? Are they caregivers too? The clubs think so. They are issuing contracts which attempt to transfer caregiver rights to the contract cultivators. Lord only knows if this will work. Its sensible, but will the courts support it? Look at it from the Feds point of view. Who would you rather prosecute: a dying patient using a few ounces of marijuana, the doctor approved to alleviate the effects of radiation who owns no assets to seize, or a perfectly healthy person with 49 plants that they intend to sell, growing on land they own, who can not name the person that they are "caregiver" to?
The states' rights issue, and the California constitutional issues are joined by the same issues that industrial hemp raises: can the Federal Government pass laws which are arbitrary and overbroad since they include medicinal marijuana in their prohibition of psychoactive pot?
Pot:
Which brings us to pot -- plain old recreational use of the mildly psychoactive herb. The constitutional issues here are far reaching but don't stand much chance in court under the present legal climate. For instance it is generally considered the state government's sole right to legislate morality. The Feds need some other reason to pass laws, and that reason has to be listed in the US Constitution. What listed power lets them regulate home grown marijuana for personal use? Probably the power to regulate interstate commerce. The fiction that everything that happens affects interstate commerce has permitted the astounding extension of Federal law into everyday life. That fiction got a setback at long last when the Supreme Court threw out the Federal law against carrying guns near a school. The justices thought it was a great idea that the schools not be war zones; but most of them just couldn't link gun-free schools to interstate commerce. The government was shocked. However its a long step from this decision to a real restoration of the powers Congress has usurped over many years to the States or to the People. Such a journey will upset many an applecart, and is not likely to happen in a hurry. Still as the philosopher said, the longest journey begins with a single step, and this case might have been that step.
With pot, as with hemp, ganja, and medical marijuana, the temptation is to make the argument that prohibition is arbitrary and overbroad. The argument would be that pot use certainly doesn't hurt any one so how can it be illegal. However the argument for how serious the loss to the individual caused by the law is legally weakest when it comes to pot. After all we are not talking about money, God, or relieving pain here. We're just talking about fun, and protecting your right to have fun is not a high priority in the American legal system.
Constitutional law is expensive law. It costs a fortune and takes forever. That gives us some stability as a society. It also means that wrongs can go on for decades unabated. I'm sure that there are other constitutional issues that could be argued regarding marijuana. I would be very happy just to see a couple of these litigated. May it happen in my lifetime.
The United States Constitution
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Article. I.
Section 1.
All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Section. 2.
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall chuse their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
Section. 3.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six Years; and each Senator shall have one Vote.
Immediately after they shall be assembled in Consequence of the first Election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three Classes. The Seats of the Senators of the first Class shall be vacated at the Expiration of the second Year, of the second Class at the Expiration of the fourth Year, and of the third Class at the Expiration of the sixth Year, so that one third may be chosen every second Year; and if Vacancies happen by Resignation, or otherwise, during the Recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make temporary Appointments until the next Meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such Vacancies.
No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen.
The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided.
The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States.
The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any Office of honor, Trust or Profit under the United States: but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law.
Section. 4.
The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every Year, and such Meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall by Law appoint a different Day.
Section. 5.
Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications of its own Members, and a Majority of each shall constitute a Quorum to do Business; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the Attendance of absent Members, in such Manner, and under such Penalties as each House may provide.
Each House may determine the Rules of its Proceedings, punish its Members for disorderly Behaviour, and, with the Concurrence of two thirds, expel a Member.
Each House shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time publish the same, excepting such Parts as may in their Judgment require Secrecy; and the Yeas and Nays of the Members of either House on any question shall, at the Desire of one fifth of those Present, be entered on the Journal.
Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the Consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other Place than that in which the two Houses shall be sitting.
Section. 6.
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, beprivileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
No Senator or Representative shall, during the Time for which he was elected, be appointed to any civil Office under the Authority of the United States, which shall have been created, or the Emoluments whereof shall have been encreased during such time; and no Person holding any Office under the United States, shall be a Member of either House during his Continuance in Office.
Section. 7.
All Bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills.
Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.
Every Order, Resolution, or Vote to which the Concurrence of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a question of Adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United States; and before the Same shall take Effect, shall be approved by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two thirds of the Senate and House of Representatives, according to the Rules and Limitations prescribed in the Case of a Bill.
Section. 8.
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
To borrow Money on the credit of the United States;
To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes;
To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States;
To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures;
To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States;
To establish Post Offices and post Roads;
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries;
To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court;
To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations;
To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water;
To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years;
To provide and maintain a Navy;
To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces;
To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions;
To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;
To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, byCession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And
To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.
Section. 9.
The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.
The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.
No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.
No Capitation, or other direct, Tax shall be laid, unless in Proportion to the Census or Enumeration herein before directed to be taken.
No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State.
No Preference shall be given by any Regulation of Commerce or Revenue to the Ports of one State over those of another: nor shall Vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay Duties in another.
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law; and a regular Statement and Account of the Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time.
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Section. 10.
No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.
No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts or Duties on Imports or Exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing it's inspection Laws: and the net Produce of all Duties and Imposts, laid by any State on Imports or Exports, shall be for the Use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such Laws shall be subject to the Revision and Controul of the Congress.
No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage, keep Troops, or Ships of War in time of Peace, enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power, or engage in War, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent Danger as will not admit of delay.
Article. II.
Section. 1.
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years, and, together with the Vice President, chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.
The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this Purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the VicePresident, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.
The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
Section. 2.
The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.
Section. 3.
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
Section. 4.
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Article. III.
Section. 1.
The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court, and in such inferior Courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The Judges, both of the supreme and inferior Courts, shall hold their Offices during good Behaviour, and shall, at stated Times, receive for their Services, a Compensation, which shall not be diminished during their Continuance in Office.
Section. 2.
The judicial Power shall extend to all Cases, in Law and Equity, arising under this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made, or which shall be made, under their Authority;--to all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls;--to all Cases of admiralty and maritime Jurisdiction;--to Controversies to which the United States shall be a Party;--to Controversies between two or more States;--between a State and Citizens of another State; --between Citizens of different States, --between Citizens of the same State claiming Lands under Grants of different States, and between a State, or the Citizens thereof, and foreign States, Citizens or Subjects.
In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make.
The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.
Section. 3.
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.
Article. IV.
Section. 1.
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
Section. 2.
The Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all Privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.
A Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.
No Person held to Service or Labour in one State, under the Laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in Consequence of any Law or Regulation therein, be discharged from such Service or Labour, but shall be delivered up on Claim of the Party to whom such Service or Labour may be due.
Section. 3.
New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new State shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or Parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.
The Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be so construed as to Prejudice any Claims of the United States, or of any particular State.
Section. 4.
The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion; and on Application of the Legislature, or of the Executive (when the Legislature cannot be convened) against domestic Violence.
Article. V.
The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose Amendments to this Constitution, or, on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one or the other Mode of Ratification may be proposed by the Congress; Provided that no Amendment which may be made prior to the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any Manner affect the first and fourth Clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; and that no State, without its Consent, shall be deprived of its equal Suffrage in the Senate.
Article. VI.
All Debts contracted and Engagements entered into, before the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution, as under the Confederation.
This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.
The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.
Article. VII.
The Ratification of the Conventions of nine States, shall be sufficient for the Establishment of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the Same.
done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names,
Delaware
George Read
Gunning Bedford Jr.
John Dickinson
Richard Bassett
Jacob Broom
Maryland
James McHenry
Daniel Carroll.
Dan of ST Thomas Jenifer
Virginia
John Blair--
James Madison Jr.
George Washington
North Carolina
William Blount
Richard Dobbs Spaight
Hugh Williamson
South Carolina
John Rutledge
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney
Charles Pinckney
Pierce Butler.
Georgia
William Few
Abraham Baldwin
New Hampshire
John Langdon
Nicholas Gilman
Massachusetts
Rufus King
Nathaniel Gorham
Connecticut
Roger Sherman
William Samuel Johnson
New York
Alexander Hamilton
New Jersey
William Livingston
David Brearley.
William Paterson.
Jonathan Dayton
Pennsylvania
Benjamin Franklin
Thomas Mifflin
Robert Morris
George Clymer
Thomas FitzSimons
Jared Ingersoll
Gouverneur Morris
James Wilson
UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
The Constitution and Marijuana
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