Georgia Constitution

Sara Asman
1) I find it interesting that there has been more than one constitution for the state of
Georgia. I didnt know that states were allowed to change their constitutions. I find it
particularly interesting that Georgia has one of the newest state constitutions in the
United States. It seems surreal that our state constitution has only been around since the
early 1980s. I think that it is odd that they just dont reinterpret or add amendments as
they see fit instead of just rewriting it completely.
2) The Bill of Rights is interesting because it expounds upon the rights provided in
the United States Constitution. It spends around five sections just further defining the
first amendment, and also adds in specific rights that are not included in the broad scope
of the first ten amendments. These rights include the punishment for treason against the
state of Georgia, as well as the right to fish and hunt within the regulations of the law. I
also found it interesting that there is a right defined as the separation of spousal property.
It is also funny to me that there is a clause that prevents imprisonment for debt when
Georgia started out as a debtors colony.
3) There is a large section of the beginning of the constitution concerning lotteries.
It seems odd that one would place that in a constitution and not merely just have several
laws about it. I didnt know that for profit bingos were illegal either. I considered that to
be separate from playing the lottery, but I suppose in a way that it is rather similar. It also
seems odd that the lottery would help fund universities and not just Grade schools. I
suppose I always thought that since University costs more money to attend than the rest
of school, that that would help pay for it. I knew that there was federal assistance for
public universities, but I didnt know there was State assistance beyond scholarship
programs.
4) I find the marriage clause interesting. This is because I foresee the state being
forced to change it soon, especially in light of 2015s Supreme Court Ruling. I think it
will be interesting to see how they proceed and whether or not they will change it, even
though the Supremacy Clause says they must. I wonder how the people in the State of
Georgia will respond to that change. I tend to doubt that most people will understand
why it has to be changed, and will just rail against it.
5) In general, it surprises me that Georgia's state Constitution is so much longer than
our national one. I suppose I just assumed that it would be along the same lines as the
National Constitution and just give a basic framework as to how things in the government
are supposed to work. I thought that all of the definitions and specifics in our
constitution would belong solely to the legislature and would have less of a place in the

constitution itself. I suppose, however, as the constitution of Georgia has been changed
so often, it has not the same amount of reverence attached to it as does the National
Constitution. Therefore, I suppose that the Constitution of Georgia is more of a modern
day code of law than document that defines government.