We, the people of this State which state shall henceforth be known as the state of Rhode Island, 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.
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.
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.’’
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. No
person shall be deprived of life, liberty or
property without due process of law, nor shall
any person be denied
equal protection of the laws. No otherwise
qualified person shall, solely
by reason of race, gender or handicap
be subject to discrimination by the state, its agents or any person or entity doing business
with the state. Nothing in
this section shall be construed to grant or secure any right relating to abortion or the funding thereof.
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 person
shall be compelled to frequent or to support any religious worship, place, or
ministry
whatever, except in fulfillment of such
person’s voluntary contract; nor enforced,
restrained, molested, or burdened in body or goods; nor disqualified from holding any office; nor otherwise suffer on account of such person’s religious
belief; and that every person shall be free to worship God according to the dictates
of such person’s conscience, and to
profess and by argument to maintain such person’s opinion in matters of religion; and that the same shall
in no wise diminish, enlarge, or
affect the civil capacity of any person.
Slavery
shall not be permitted in this state.
Every person
within this state
ought to find a certain
remedy, by having recourse to the laws, for all injuries or wrongs which may be received in one’s person, property, or character. Every person ought to obtain right and justice freely, and without purchase, completely and without denial; promptly and without
delay; conformably to the laws.
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.
Except in cases of impeachment, 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 be held to
answer for any offense which is
punishable by death or by imprisonment for life unless on presentment or indictment by a grand
jury, and no person
shall be held to
answer for any other felony unless on presentment or indictment by a grand jury or on information in writing
signed by the attorney-general or
one of the attorney-general’s designated assistants, as the general assembly may provide and in
accordance with procedures enacted by
the general assembly. The general
assembly may authorize the impaneling of grand juries
with authority to indict for offenses committed any place within the state and it may provide that more than one grand
jury may sit simultaneously within a county.
No person shall be subject for the
same offense to be twice put in jeopardy. Nothing
contained in this article shall be
construed as in any wise impairing the inherent
common law powers of the grand jury.
Excessive
bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel punishments inflicted; and all punishments ought to
be proportioned to the offense.
All
persons imprisoned ought to be bailed by sufficient surety, unless for
offenses punishable by imprisonment for life, or for offenses involving
the use or threat of use of a dangerous
weapon by one already
convicted of such offense or already convicted of an offense punishable by imprisonment for life, or for offenses involving
the unlawful sale, distribution, manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture, sell, distribute or deliver
any controlled substance or by possession
of a controlled substance punishable by imprisonment for ten (10) years or more, when the proof of guilt is evident
or the presumption great. Nothing in
this section shall be construed to confer
a right to bail, pending appeal of a conviction. 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.
In all
criminal prosecutions, accused persons 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 them, to have compulsory
process for obtaining them in their favor, to have the assistance of counsel
in their defense, and shall be at liberty to speak for themselves; nor shall they be deprived
of life, liberty,
or property, unless by the judgment of their peers, or the law of the land.
The person of a debtor,
when there is not strong presumption of fraud, ought not to
be continued in prison, after such person shall have delivered up property for the benefit of said person’s
creditors, in such manner as shall be
prescribed by law.
No ex post facto
law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts,
shall be passed.
No person
in a court of common law shall be compelled to
give self-criminating evidence.
Every
person being presumed innocent, until pronounced guilty by the law, no act of
severity which is not necessary to secure an
accused person shall be permitted.
The right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate. In civil cases the
general assembly may fix the size of the petit jury at less than twelve but not less than six.
Private property
shall not be taken for public uses,
without just compensation. The powers of the state and of its municipalities to regulate and control
the use of land and waters in the furtherance of the preservation, regeneration, and restoration of the natural
environment, and in furtherance of the protection of the rights of the
people to enjoy and freely exercise
the rights of fishery and the privileges of the shore, as those rights and duties are set forth in Section 17, shall be an
exercise of the police powers of the state, shall be liberally construed, and shall not be deemed to be
a public use of private property.
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,
including but not limited
to fishing from the shore, the gathering
of seaweed, leaving the shore
to swim in the sea and passage along the shore; and they shall be secure in their rights to the use and enjoyment of the
natural resources of the state with due regard for the preservation of their values;
and it shall be the duty of the general
assembly to provide for the conservation of the air, land, water, plant, animal, mineral
and other natural resources of the state, and to adopt all means
necessary and proper by law to protect the natural environment of the people of the state by providing adequate
resource planning for the control and
regulation of the use of the natural resources of the state and for the
preservation, regeneration and restoration of the natural environment of the state.
The
military shall be held in strict subordination to the civil authority.
And the law martial shall be used and exercised in such cases only as occasion shall necessarily require.
No soldier
shall be quartered in any house in time of peace, without the consent of the owner;
nor, in time of war, but in manner to be
prescribed by law.
The
liberty of the press being essential to the security of freedom in a state, any person may publish
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 from malicious motives,
shall be sufficient defense to the person charged.
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. No law abridging the freedom of speech shall be
enacted.
The right
of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
A victim
of crime shall, as a matter of right, be treated by agents of the state with dignity, respect and sensitivity during all phases of the criminal justice process. Such person
shall be entitled to receive, from the
perpetrator of the crime, financial compensation for any injury or loss
caused by the perpetrator of the crime, and shall receive such other
compensation as the state may provide. Before sentencing, a victim
shall have the right to address the court regarding the impact which
the perpetrator’s conduct has had upon the victim.
The enumeration of the foregoing rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained
by the people. The rights
guaranteed by this
Constitution are not dependent on those guaranteed by the Constitution of the United
States.