etc. Sm., 367. may produce a right to produce all proofs that may be favorable to himself, proofs and be fully heard, to meet the witnesses against him face to face, and to be fully heard in his defense by himself and counsel. And no subject i, 56; 130; 140 shall be arrested, imprisoned, despoiled, or deprived of his property, immunities, or privileges, put out of the protection of the law, exiled, or deprived of his life, liberty, or estate, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land. xlviii, 57; 398. 179. lii, 459.lv, lviii, 314. lxiii, 406. lxiv, 442; 491. lxvi, 577, 633. lxvii, 279. No person to after an ac [ART.] 16th. No subject shall be liable to be tried, after an be again tried acquittal, for the same crime or offense; nor shall the legislature make any law that shall subject any person to a capital punishment (excepting for the government of the army and navy, and the militia in actual service) without trial by jury. quittal; trial by jury in capital cases. lxvii, 278, 279, 280. Criminal Penalties to be proportioned to offenses. [ART.] 17th. In criminal prosecutions, the trial of facts in the vicinity where they happen is so essential to the security of the life, liberty, and estate of the citizen, that no crime or offense ought to be tried in any other county than that in which it is committed, except in cases of general insurrection in any particular county, when it shall appear to the judges of the superior court that an impartial trial cannot be had in the county where the offense may be committed, and, upon their report, the [legislature]1 shall think proper to direct the trial in the nearest county in which an impartial trial can be obtained. [ART.] 18th. All penalties ought to be proportioned to the nature of the offense. No wise legislature will affix the same punishment to the crimes of theft, forgery, and the like, which they do to those of murder and treason. Where the same undistinguishing severity is exerted against all offenses, the people are led to forget the real distinction in the crimes themselves and to commit the most flagrant with as little comTrue design of punction as they do 2 the lightest [offenses]. For the same punishment. reason, a multitude of sanguinary laws is both impolitic and unjust, the true design of all punishments being to reform, not to exterminate, mankind. 1 Substituted for "assembly," 1793. 2 "Those of" stricken out, 1793. 3 Substituted for "dye," 1793. seizures regu i, 140. XXV, 541. xxxvi, 64. xvi, 177, lxviii, 48. [ART.] 19th. [Every subject hath a right to be secure from Searches and all unreasonable searches and seizures of his person, his houses, lated. his papers, and all his possessions. Therefore, all warrants to search suspected places or arrest a person for examination or xlvii, 549. trial, in prosecutions for criminal matters, are contrary to this right, if the cause or foundation of them be not previously supported by oath or affirmation, and if the order, in a warrant to a civil officer, to make search in suspected places or to arrest one or more suspected persons or to seize their property, be not accompanied with a special designation of the persons or objects of search, arrest, or seizure; and no warrant ought to be issued but in cases and with the formalities prescribed by law.]1 in civil causes. in ii, 422. ix, 336. xi,19. xviii,389, XXV,539. XXXV, not 134. xli, 550. con- xlviii, 57. li, 455. lv, 179. lvi, [ART.] 20th. In all controversies concerning property and Trial by jury in all suits between two or more persons, except in cases which it has been heretofore otherwise used and practiced [and 415. xix, 362. except in cases in which the value in controversy does exceed one hundred dollars and title of real estate is not cerned],2 the parties have a right to a trial by jury; and method of procedure shall be held sacred, unless, in cases 60;182; 425. lix, arising on the high seas and such as relates to mariners' wages, 231. lxv. 201. the legislature shall think it necessary hereafter to alter it. this 512. lvii,55;110 146; 334. lviii, 350, 561. lxii, persons to rors, and to be press. [ART.] 21st. In order to reap the fullest advantage of the Only qualified inestimable privilege of the trial by jury, great care ought to be serve as jutaken that none but qualified persons should be appointed to fully comserve; and such ought to [be]3 fully compensated for their pensated. travel, time, and attendance. [ART.] 22d. The liberty of the press is essential to the Liberty of the security of freedom in a state; it ought, therefore, to be inviolably preserved. [ART.] 23d. Retrospective laws are highly injurious, op- Retrospective pressive, and unjust. No such laws, therefore, should be ited. made, either for the decision of civil causes or the punishment iii, 481; 534. of offenses. iv, 16; 287. x, 386. xviii, 547. xxiii, 382. xxiv, 351. xxvii, 294. xxxii, 413. xxxix, 304; 377; 505. li, 376, 383; 559. liv, 167. lvi, 466. lxiv, 295; 409. lxv, 37; 126. 1 Substituted for original article 19, 1793. 2 Inserted, 1877. 3 Not in engrossed copy of 1793. laws prohib Sm., 420. i, 199. Militia. Standing armies. Military, subject to civil power. Quartering of soldiers. Taxes to be levied only by the people or legislature. xiv, 98. Suspension of laws by the legislature only. Freedom of speech. Meetings of legislature, for what. Rights of as sembly, in [ART.] 24th. A well-regulated militia is the proper, natural, and sure defense of a state. [ART.] 25th. Standing armies are dangerous to liberty, and ought not to be raised or kept up without the consent of the legislature. [ART.] 26th. In all cases and at all times, the military ought to be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power. [ART.] 27th. No soldier, in time of peace, shall be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner; and, in time of war, such quarters ought not to be made but by the civil magistrate, in a manner ordained by the legislature. [ART.] 28th. No subsidy, charge, tax, impost, or duty shall be established, fixed, laid, or levied, under any pretext whatsoever, without the consent of the people or their representatives in the legislature, or authority derived from that body. [ART.] 29th. The power of suspending the laws or the execution of them ought never to be exercised but by the legislature, or by authority derived therefrom, to be exercised in such particular cases only as the legislature shall expressly provide for. [ART.] 30th. The freedom of deliberation, speech, and debate in either house of the legislature is so essential to the rights of the people, that it cannot be the foundation of any action, complaint, or prosecution in any other court or place whatsoever. [ART.] 31st. [The legislature shall assemble for the redress of public grievances and for making such laws as the public good may require.]1 [ART.] 32a. The people have a right, in an orderly and struction, and peaceable manner, to assemble and consult upon the common petition. good, give instructions to their representatives, and to request of the legislative body, by way of petition or remonstrance, redress of the wrongs done them and of the grievances they suffer. 1 Substituted for original Article 31, 1793. prohibited. i, 374. xxv, 541. [ART.] 33. No magistrate or court of law shall demand Excessive bail, fines, and excessive bail or sureties, impose excessive fines, or inflict cruel punishments or unusual punishments. [AKT.] 34th. No person can in any case be subjected to law Martial law. martial or to any pains or penalties by virtue of that law, except those employed in the army or navy, and except the militia in actual service, but by authority of the legislature. limited. tenure of It is, lxiii, 576. lxvi, 503, 524. [ART.] 35th. [It is essential to the preservation of the rights Thejudiciary; of every individual, his life, liberty, property, and character, office, etc. Sm., 226. that there be an impartial interpretation of the laws and admin- xxxiii, 89. xlv, 52. istration of justice. It is the right of every citizen to be tried Ixii, 78. by judges as impartial as the lot of humanity will admit. therefore, not only the best policy, but for the security of the rights of the people, that the judges of the supreme judicial court should hold their offices so long as they behave well, subject, however, to such limitations on account of age as may be provided by the constitution of the state, and that they should have honorable salaries, ascertained and established by standing laws.]1 [ART.] 36th. Economy being a most essential virtue in all Pensions. states, especially in a young one, no pension shall be granted but in consideration of actual services; and such pensions ought to be granted with great caution by the legislature, and never for more than one year at a time. [ART.] 37th. In the government of this state, the three The legislative, execuessential powers thereof to wit, the legislative, executive, and tive, and judicial departjudicial ought to be kept as separate from, and independent ments to be kept separate. of, each other as the nature of a free government will admit or 1, 199. as is consistent with that chain of connection that binds the lii, 387. whole fabric of the constitution in one indissoluble bond of lxiii, 574. union and amity. lviii, 451. [ART.] 38th. A frequent recurrence to the fundamental prin- Social virtues inculcated. ciples of the constitution and a constant adherence to justice, lviii, 624. lxvii, 49. moderation, temperance, industry, frugality, and all the social virtues, are indispensably necessary to preserve the blessings of 1 Substituted for original Article 35, 1793. Name of body politic. liberty and good government. The people ought, therefore, to 1 PART SECOND. FORM OF GOVERNMENT. [ART. 1.] The people inhabiting the territory formerly called The Province of New Hampshire do hereby solemnly and mutually agree with each other to form themselves into a free, sovereign, and independent body politic, or state, by the name of THE STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. Legislature, how consti tuted. iv, 565. lviii, 549. lxi, 264. lxiii, 625. lxvi, 634. GENERAL COURT. [ART. 2.] The supreme legislative power within this state shall be vested in the senate and house of representatives, each of which shall have a negative on the other. [ART. 3.] The senate and house shall assemble [biennilxvii, 46, 279. ally], 2 on the first Wednesday of [January] 3 and at such other General court, times as they may judge necessary, and shall dissolve and be when to meet dissolved seven days next preceding the said first Wednesday of [January] [biennially], and shall be styled THE GENERAL COURT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE. and dissolve. Power of 3 [ART. 4.] The general court shall forever have full power and authority to erect and constitute judicatories and courts of record or other courts, to be holden in the name of the state, for the hearing, trying, and determining all manner of crimes, offenses, pleas, processes, plaints, actions, causes, matters, and things whatsoever, arising or happening within this state, or 1 First inserted in this and following articles in Revised Statutes, 1842. 2 Substituted for "Every Year," 1879. 3 Substituted for "June," 1889. • Substituted for "annually," 1879. 4 |
