Oklahoma State Constitution Research Paper

Comparing Oklahoma State Constitution to the U.S. Constitution
Cole Murphey
 
 Both of the documents limit the government's power from infringing individual rights. State constitutions are generally more in-depth than the Un.S. Constitution. Not to say that there are not similarities between what is contained in the state constitutions and the federal Constitution. For instance, Oklahoma constitution and the U.S. Constitution both include a preamble that lists general rights afforded to the people of Oklahoma and, the United States. Both constitutions contain articles specifying the powers of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. Oklahoma constitution has 29 articles compared to 7 in the U.S. Constitution. Within these articles
are taxation, local government, public health, etc. This comparative analysis will discuss the Oklahoma constitution to the U.S. Constitution in terms of the similarities and differences in their bill of rights and a comparison of their provisions for protection of privacy rights.

The U.S.
Constitution’s Bill of Rights and the Oklahoma State Constitution’s Bill of rights are similar in their view on Political Power. Like the U.S. Bill of Rights, Oklahomas are specifically guaranteed freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and petition. For example, in article II of the Oklahoman Bill of Rights, “All persons have the inherent right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and the enjoyment of games on their own industry” This is reflective of the article three of the U.S. Bill of Rights which declares that, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Another point of comparison, protections are guaranteed for due process for citizens accused of crimes in both bills of rights. As in Oklahoma rights are protected against discrimination and are promised equal protection under the law. In article 2 section II-7 of the Oklahoma Bill of Rights it states, “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. ” This reiterates article 7 of U.S. Bill of Rights which states, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury…nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law….” Oklahoma like many states adopted inalienable rights from the U.S. foundational documents, which proliferated the model of democracy for their
societies.

In addition , Oklahoma's Constitution is much longer than the US Constitution because it covers things that are unique to our state that the US Constitution would not go into. On the contrary, Oklahomans are guaranteed the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As remember above, equal rights between the sexes are also guaranteed. Segregation is specifically outlawed in the Oklahoma constitution as is imprisonment for debt. In hand, the Oklahoma constitution goes into greater detail in terms of the rights afforded to its citizens (Oklahoma State Constitution, article 2 section II-34).

Another key difference between the U.S foundational and Oklahoma foundational documents is the right to private property, which is stated within the U.S. Constitution but stated indefinitely in Oklahoma,This right is important since it protects people against unnecessary interference from the government as long as they are following the law and not harming others. Oklahoma state constitution: “ No private property shall be taken or damaged for private use,with or without compensation,unless by consent of the owner,except for private ways of necessity, or for drains and ditches across lands of others for agricultural, mining, or sanitary purposes, in such manner as may be prescribed by law (Oklahoma State Constitution, article II, section-23).”This is different from the fourth amendment to the Constitution which abstractly implies the right to private property by protecting citizens from “...unreasonable searches and seizures…” by providing protection for “…people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects….” These differences reflect the freedom of states within a federalist system to adopt the spirit or letter of U.S. Constitutional principles as determined necessary for their individual populations.

In conclusion , in detail documents used to direct society out spoken legislative language to drawrights which are in some cases to seen to evolve with the needs the people. Oklahoma State Constitution is clearly more specific and detailed than the U.S. Constitution with the being 22 more articles of course. The U.S. Constitution’s general language is necessary since there are fifty states that can get more specific about the rights of their citizens. Since the United States covers such a large amount of territory. Oklahoma has a good argument in terms of private property and about Political power of citizens. So, Oklahoma constitution does provide more comprehensive protections to the right of private property and political power as opposed to the U.S. Constitution.