Comparing State and U.S. Constitution/The Constitution and Civil Liberties.
Throughout this unit, you explored the causes for the U.S. Constitution and the structure and function of the document. While analyzing
the Bill of Rights and the role the Supreme Court plays, you studied the balance of competing rights. While it is essential to learn about
the U.S. Constitution and the workings of the federal government, most of your daily interactions with any of these principles will be on a
state or local level. Therefore, this portfolio assignment asks you to compare and contrast your state constitution to the U.S. Constitution.
As you complete this assignment, ask yourself the following questions:
0 How does your state constitution compare to the US. Constitution?
What, if any, additional protections does a state constitution provide its residents?
Comparing Constitutions
You will now compose an essay in which you will report on the key similarities and differences between your state constitution and the
U.S. Constitution. This comparison will focus on government structure and civil liberties protections. The rest of this lesson will help you
complete your research and structure your essay accordingly. First, review the four components of the essay:
0 Discuss general similarities and differences between your state constitution and the U.S. Constitution (in terms of government and
document structure).
0 Report on whether your state constitution includes a statement or bill of rights. Summarize the kinds of rights that are protected.
How do they compare with the protections in the U.S. Bill of Rights?
0 Drill down to the specific right to privacy. Why is the right to privacy important? Is it explicitly mentioned in your state
constitution? What are the exact words? Evaluate the scope of privacy protection offered-does it provide more, or less, protection
than the U.S Constitution’s implied right to privacy?
0 Assess the merit of explicit versus general constitutional language in the protection of rights. Is one more preferable than another?
How does the language in your state constitution compare to the language in the U.S. Constitution?
