Article I, Maine Constitution

Maine Constitution
Preamble
Articles
I • II • III • IV-1 • IV-2 • IV-3 • V-1 • V-2 • V-3 • VI • VII • VIII-1 • VIII-2 • IX • X

Article I of the Maine Constitution is entitled Declaration of Rights and consists of 24 sections.

Section 1

	Text of Section 1: Natural Rights Natural rights. All people are born equally free and independent, and have certain natural, inherent and unalienable rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty, acquiring, possessing and protecting property, and of pursuing and obtaining safety and happiness.

Amendments

• Maine Removal of Gender Biased Constitutional Language, Question 7 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 2

	Text of Section 2: Power Inherent in People All power is inherent in the people; all free governments are founded in their authority and instituted for their benefit; they have therefore an unalienable and indefeasible right to institute government, and to alter, reform, or totally change the same, when their safety and happiness require it.

Section 3

Text of Section 3: Religious Freedom; Sects Equal; Religious Tests Prohibited; Religious Teachers All individuals have a natural and unalienable right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, and no person shall be hurt, molested or restrained in that person's liberty or estate for worshiping God in the manner and season most agreeable to the dictates of that person's own conscience, nor for that person's religious professions or sentiments, provided that that person does not disturb the public peace, nor obstruct others in their religious worship; -- and all persons demeaning themselves peaceably, as good members of the State, shall be equally under the protection of the laws, and no subordination nor preference of any one sect or denomination to another shall ever be established by law, nor shall any religious test be required as a qualification for any office or trust, under this State; and all religious societies in this State, whether incorporate or unincorporate, shall at all times have the exclusive right of electing their public teachers, and contracting with them for their support and maintenance.

Amendments

• Maine Removal of Gender Biased Constitutional Language, Question 7 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 4

Text of Section 4: Freedom of Speech and Publication; Libel; Truth Given in Evidence; Jury Determines Law and Fact Every citizen may freely speak, write and publish sentiments on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of this liberty; no laws shall be passed regulating or restraining the freedom of the press; and in prosecutions for any publication respecting the official conduct of people in public capacity, or the qualifications of those who are candidates for the suffrages of the people, or where the matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and in all indictments for libels, the jury, after having received the direction of the court, shall have a right to determine, at their discretion, the law and the fact.

Amendments

• Maine Removal of Gender Biased Constitutional Language, Question 7 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 5

Text of Section 5: Unreasonable Searches Prohibited The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers and possessions from all unreasonable searches and seizures; and no warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing, shall issue without a special designation of the place to be searched, and the person or thing to be seized, nor without probable cause -- supported by oath or affirmation.

Section 6

Text of Section 6: Rights of Persons Accused In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have a right to be heard by the accused and counsel to the accused, or either, at the election of the accused; To demand the nature and cause of the accusation, and have a copy thereof; To be confronted by the witnesses against the accused; To have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in favor of the accused; To have a speedy, public and impartial trial, and, except in trials by martial law or impeachment, by a jury of the vicinity. The accused shall not be compelled to furnish or give evidence against himself or herself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, property or privileges, but by judgment of that person's peers or the law of the land.

Amendments

• Maine Removal of Gender Biased Constitutional Language, Question 7 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 6-A

	Text of Section 6-A: Discrimination Against Persons Prohibited No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor be denied the equal protection of the laws, nor be denied the enjoyment of that person's civil rights or be discriminated against in the exercise thereof.

Amendments

• Maine Removal of Gender Biased Constitutional Language, Question 7 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 7

Text of Section 7: No Person to Answer to Certain Crimes but on Indictment; Exceptions; Juries No person shall be held to answer for a capital or infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases of impeachment, or in such cases of offenses, as are usually cognizable by a justice of the peace, or in cases arising in the army or navy, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger. The Legislature shall provide by law a suitable and impartial mode of selecting juries, and their usual number and unanimity, in indictments and convictions, shall be held indispensable.

Section 8

	Text of Section 8: No Double Jeopardy No person, for the same offense, shall be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.

Section 9

	Text of Section 9: Sanguinary Laws, Excessive Bail, Cruel or Unusual Punishments Prohibited Sanguinary laws shall not be passed; all penalties and punishments shall be proportioned to the offense; excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel nor unusual punishments inflicted.

Section 10

Text of Section 10: Bailable Offenses; Habeas Corpus No person before conviction shall be bailable for any of the crimes which now are, or have been denominated capital offenses since the adoption of the Constitution, when the proof is evident or the presumption great, whatever the punishment of the crimes may be. And the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

Section 11

	Text of Section 11: Attainder, Ex Post Facto and Contract-Impairment Laws Prohibited The Legislature shall pass no bill of attainder, ex post facto law, nor law impairing the obligation of contracts, and no attainder shall work corruption of blood nor forfeiture of estate.

Section 12

	Text of Section 12: Treason; Testimony of 2 Witnesses Treason against this State shall consist only in levying war against it, adhering to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of 2 witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in open court.

Section 13

	Text of Section 13: Suspension of Laws The laws shall not be suspended but by the Legislature or its authority.

Section 14

	Text of Section 14: Corporal Punishment Under Military Law No person shall be subject to corporal punishment under military law, except such as are employed in the army or navy, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger.

Section 15

	Text of Section 15: Right of Petition The people have a right at all times in an orderly and peaceable manner to assemble to consult upon the common good, to give instructions to their representatives, and to request, of either department of the government by petition or remonstrance, redress of their wrongs and grievances.

Section 16

	Text of Section 16: To Keep and Bear Arms Every citizen has a right to keep and bear arms and this right shall never be questioned.

Amendments

• Maine Right to Keep and Bear Arms, Question 12 (1987), which was approved on November 3, 1987.

Section 17

	Text of Section 17: Standing Armies No standing army shall be kept up in time of peace without the consent of the Legislature, and the military shall, in all cases, and at all times, be in strict subordination to the civil power.

Section 18

	Text of Section 18: Quartering of Soldiers on Citizens No soldier shall in time of peace be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner or occupant, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Section 19

	Text of Section 19: Right of Redress for Injuries Every person, for an injury inflicted on the person or the person's reputation, property or immunities, shall have remedy by due course of law; and right and justice shall be administered freely and without sale, completely and without denial, promptly and without delay.

Amendments

• Maine Removal of Gender Biased Constitutional Language, Question 7 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 20

	Text of Section 20: Trial by Jury In all civil suits, and in all controversies concerning property, the parties shall have a right to a trial by jury, except in cases where it has heretofore been otherwise practiced; the party claiming the right may be heard by himself or herself and with counsel, or either, at the election of the party.

Amendments

• Maine Removal of Gender Biased Constitutional Language, Question 7 (1988), which was approved on November 8, 1988.

Section 21

	Text of Section 21: Private Property, When to Be Taken Private property shall not be taken for public uses without just compensation; nor unless the public exigencies require it.

Section 22

	Text of Section 22: Taxes No tax or duty shall be imposed without the consent of the people or of their representatives in the Legislature.

Section 23

	Text of Section 23: Title of Nobility Prohibited; Tenure of Offices No title of nobility or hereditary distinction, privilege, honor or emolument, shall ever be granted or confirmed, nor shall any office be created, the appointment to which shall be for a longer time than during good behavior.

Section 24

	Text of Section 24: Other Rights Not Impaired Other rights not impaired. The enumeration of certain rights shall not impair nor deny others retained by the people.

Section 25

Text of Section 25: Right to food All individuals have a natural, inherent and unalienable right to food, including the right to save and exchange seeds and the right to grow, raise, harvest, produce and consume the food of their own choosing for their own nourishment, sustenance, bodily health and well-being, as long as an individual does not commit trespassing, theft, poaching or other abuses of private property rights, public lands or natural resources in the harvesting, production or acquisition of food.

Amendments

• Ratified as Maine Question 3 on November 2, 2021.

See also

• List of amendments to the Maine Constitution
• State constitution
• Constitutional article
• Constitutional amendment
• Constitutional revision
• Constitutional convention
• Amendments
  • Initiated constitutional amendment
  • Legislatively-referred constitutional amendment
  • Publication requirements for proposed state constitutional amendments
  • Rules about constitutional conventions in state constitutions
  • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures

External links

Suggest a link

• Maine.gov, "Constitution of the State of Maine"
• Maine.gov, "Enacted Constitutional Amendments from 1911 - Present"
• Maine.gov, "Constitution of the State of Maine 1820"
• Maine: An Encyclopedia, "Constitution, Maine"

Additional reading

• Tinkle, Marshall J. (2013). The Maine State Constitution, New York, New York: Oxford University Press
• Palmer, Kenneth T. and Marcus LiBrizzi. (1989). "Development of the Maine Constitution: The Long Tradition, 1819-1988." Maine Historical Society Quarterly
• Hatch, Louis Clinton (1919). Maine: A History, New York, New York: The American Historical Society