WE, the people of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- Preamble. tations, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and to transmit the same, unimpaired, to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this constitution of government.

ARTICLE I.

Declaration of certain Constitutional Rights and Principles. In order effectually to secure the religious and political freedom. established by our venerated ancestors, and to preserve the same for our posterity, we do declare, that the essential and unquestionable rights and principles hereinafter mentioned shall be established, maintained, and preserved, and shall be of paramount obligation in all legislative, judicial, and executive proceedings.

SECTION 1. In the words of the Father of his Country, we declare, that "the basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and alter their constitutions of government; but that the constitution which at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon

all."

Right of the people to make constitution.

and alter their

SEC. 2. All free governments are instituted for the protection, safety, and happiness of the people. All laws, therefore, should be made for the good of the whole; and the burdens of the state ought to be fairly distributed among its citizens.

SEC. 3. Whereas Almighty God hath created the mind free; and all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations, tend to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness; and whereas a principal object of our venerable ancestors, in their migration to this country and their settlement of this state, was, as they expressed it, to hold forth a lively experiment, that a flourishing civil state may stand and be best maintained with full liberty in religious concernments: we, therefore, declare, that no man shall be compelled to frequent or to support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatever, except in fulfilment of his own voluntary contract; nor enforced, restrained, molested, or burdened in his body or goods; nor disqualified from holding any office; nor otherwise suffer on account of his religious belief; and that every man shall be free to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience, and to profess and by argument to maintain his opinion in matters of religion; and that the same shall in nowise diminish, enlarge, or affect his civil capacity.

SEC. 4. Slavery shall not be permitted in this state.

SEC. 5. Every person within this state ought to find a certain remedy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which he may receive in his person, property, or character. He ought to obtain right and justice freely and without purchase, completely and without denial; promptly and without delay; conformably to the laws.

SEC. 6. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, papers, and possessions, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but on complaint in writing, upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and describing as nearly as may be, the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

SEC. 7. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or other infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment by a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, or of such offences as are cognizable by a justice of the peace; or in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger. No person shall, after an acquittal, be tried for the same offence.

SEC. 8. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted; and all punishments ought to be proportioned to the offence.

SEC. 9. All persons imprisoned ought to be bailed by sufficient surety, unless for offences punishable by death or by imprisonment for life, when the proof of guilt is evident or the presumption great. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety shall require it; nor ever without the authority of the general assembly.

SEC. 10. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury; to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, to be confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory process for obtaining them in his favor, to have the assistance of counsel in his defence, and shall be at liberty to speak for himself; nor shall he be

deprived of life, liberty, or property, unless by the judgment of his peers, or the law of the land.

tled to relief.

SEC. 11. The person of a debtor, when there is not strong pre- Debtors entisumption of fraud, ought not to be continued in prison, after he shall have delivered up his property for the benefit of his creditors, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.

SEC. 12. No ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall be passed.

SEC. 13. No man in a court of common law shall be compelled to give evidence criminating himself.

SEC. 14. Every man being presumed innocent, until he is pronounced guilty by the law, no act of severity which is not necessary to secure an accused person shall be permitted.

SEC. 15. The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate. SEC. 16. Private property shall not be taken for public uses, without just compensation.

SEC. 17. The people shall continue to enjoy and freely exercise all the rights of fishery, and the privileges of the shore, to which they have been heretofore entitled under the charter and usages of this state. But no new right is intended to be granted, nor any existing right impaired, by this declaration.

No ex post fac-
to law, &c., to
be passed.
No man to

criminate him-
self.

Presumption of innocence. Ac

cused to be secured without severity.

Trial by jury.

Private property secured. Rights of fish

ery.

SEC. 18. The military shall be held in strict subordination to the Military suborcivil authority. And the law martial shall be used and exercised in such cases only as occasion shall necessarily require.

dinate. Martial law.

SEC. 19. No soldier shall be quartered in any house, in time of Of quartering peace, without the consent of the owner; nor, in time of war, but in soldiers. a manner to be prescribed by law.

secured.

SEC. 20. The liberty of the press being essential to the security Liberty of press of freedom in a state, any person may publish his sentiments on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth, unless published Truth as a de from malicious motives, shall be sufficient defence to the person charged.

SEC. 21. The citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to assemble for their common good, and to apply to those invested with the powers of government, for redress of grievances, or for other purposes, by petition, address, or remonstrance.

SEC. 22. The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

SEC. 23. The enumeration of the foregoing rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people.

ARTICLE II.

Of the Qualifications of Electors.

fence to libels.

Right of people to assemble, and to petition.

Right to bear

arms.

Rule of con

struction.

estate.

SECTION 1. Every male citizen of the United States, of the age of Of electors twenty-one years, who has had his residence and home in this state owning real for one year, and in the town or city in which he may claim a right to vote, six months next preceding the time of voting, and who is really and truly possessed in his own right of real estate in such town or city of the value of one hundred and thirty-four dollars over and above all incumbrances, or which shall rent for seven dollars per annum over and above any rent reserved or the interest of any incumbrances thereon, being an estate in fee-simple, fee-tail, for the life of any person, or an estate in reversion or remainder, which qualifies no other person to vote, the conveyance of which estate, if