A Few Thoughts on the Oregon Constitution

The second chapter of the Rowe text discusses the Oregon Constitution, which is published in the Oregon Revised Statutes. I was not surprised to read that much of it parallels the U.S. Constitution. I was surprised to learn that some of what is covered in the Constitution is very similar to statutory law, and that some later articles cover what seem to me to be rather odd and arbitrary topics - like "Seismic Rehabilitation of Public Education Buildings." I am wondering if this is a result of Oregon's unique initative process whereby Oregon voters can amend the Constitution directly, or if this is common in many states by historical quirks.

I found the section on how the Oregon Supreme Court goes about interpreting the original provisions of the Constitution using "the Priest framework" to be interesting. It hadn't occurred to me before that anything outside the text wording itself could be considered in interpretation, but this does allow for a more nuanced understanding by the courts, especially where the wording might be otherwise vague or confusing. Having done an internship at the Oregon Historical Society, I was also interested to learn about the the three part article written by Professior Claudia Burton about a set of complete documents for each Constitutional article she found there. It just goes to show how present research - or even serendipitous browsing - can dramatically recast our understanding of historical events and documents. It also shows how law and history are intrinsically connected and demonstrates another reason why interpretations of existing law necessarily change over time. In that vein, Rowe also mentions how Oregon courts may look even to the Magna Carta and English law commentary, and how the Oregon Constitution is modeled on Indiana Constitution's Bill of Rights, which may then also be looked to for interpretation. Obviously law is not created in a historical vacuum, and so it makes sense that interpreting it with care may involve that important historical context, even further back than one might at first expect.

Interpreting amendments after 1859 is a bit of a different matter, but still involves careful reading of text, and then historical context, which includes ballot titles, arguments for and against from the voter's pamphlet, and even news articles and editorials of the time of the initiative. It is the intent of the voter that the courts will try to discover. Rowe includes a beginning discussion of the initiative and referenda process in Oregon here, which allows voters to amend the Constitution on their own, bypassing the legislature. She notes that some feel this process allows too much ease in amending the Constitution. More information about the initiative and referendum process can be found the the Oregon Secretary of State's State Initiative and Referendum Manual, as well as the Oregon Blue Book.

While I knew the Oregon Constitution could be found in the Oregon Revised Statutes (as well as WORSA), I did not know that the United States Constitution could be found there as well, and indeed, in every state's published codes. It is, of course, in the United States Code Annotated and in the United States Code Service, but I can imagine research situations covering both state and federal material where having the federal constitution in the state code is quite useful.