Sec. 1. All persons are by nature free and independent, and have certain inherent and inalienable rights; among these are life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and of right to keep end beer arms for security or defense of self, family, home, and others' end for lawful common defense, hunting, recreational use, and all other lawful purposes, and such rights shall not be denied or infringed by the state or any subdivision thereof. To secure these rights and the protection of property, governments are instituted among people, deriving their just powers from the consent of 'the governed. (Amended I 988.)

Sec. 2. There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in this state, otherwise than for punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.

Sec. 3. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law, nor be denied equal protection of the laws. (Amended 1998.)

Sec. 4. All persons have a natural and indefeasible right to worships Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences. No person shall be compelled to attend, erect or support any place of worship against his consent, and no preference shall be given by law ton any religious society' nor shall any interference with the rights of conscience be permitted. No religious test shall be required as a qualification for office, nor shall any person be incompetent to be a witness on account of his religious beliefs; but nothing herein shall be construed to dispense with oaths and affirmations. Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the Legislature to pass suitable laws to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of' instruction.

Sec. 5. Every person may freely speak, write and publish on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and in all trials for libel, both civil and criminal, the truth when published with good motives, and for justifiable ends, shall be a sufficient defense.

Sec. 6. The right to trial by jury shall remain inviolate, but the Legislature may authorize trial by a jury of a less number than twelve in courts inferior to the District Court, and may by general law authorize a verdict in civil cases in any court by not less than five-sixths of the jury. (Amended 1920.)

Sec. 7. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated; end no warrant shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized.

Scanned April 6, 2000

Letters and Memos that originated from others, addressed to Gerald Biby were scanned using OmniPage 7.0.  Therefore certain features, i.e. letter head and signatures are not present in the documents listed in this chronicle. Also at the type face may have been changes to make the documents more readable in HTML.   Originals or copies of documents exists for all documents presented.