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- CONSTITUTION OF THE
- STATE OF NEW MEXICO
- ADOPTED JANUARY 21, 1911
- (AS AMENDED THROUGH 1974)
-
- PREAMBLE
-
- We, the people of New Mexico, grateful to Almighty God for
- the blessings of liberty, in order to secure the advantages
- of a state government, do ordain and establish this Consti-
- tution.
-
- ARTICLE II
-
- BILL OF RIGHTS
-
- Sec. 1. The State of New Mexico is an inseparable part of the Feder-
- al Union, and the Constitution of the United States is the
- supreme law of the land.
-
- Sec. 2. All political power is vested in and derived from the peo-
- ple, all government of right originates with the people, is
- founded upon their will and is instituted solely for their
- good.
-
- Sec. 3. The people of the state have the sole and exclusive right to
- govern themselves as a free, sovereign and independent
- state.
-
- Sec. 4. All persons are born equally free, and have certain natural,
- inherent and inalienable rights, among which are the rights
- of enjoying and defending life and liberty, of acquiring,
- possessing and protecting property, and of seeking and ob-
- taining safety and happiness.
-
- Sec. 5. The rights, privileges and immunities, civil, political and
- religious guaranteed to the people of New Mexico by the
- Treaty of Guadeloupe Hidalgo shall be preserved inviolate.
- (ADOPTED BY TH PEOPLE NOV. 2, 1971)
-
- Sec. 6. No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and
- bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and
- recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing
- herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed
- weapons.
-
- Sec. 7. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall never be
- suspended, unless, in case of rebellion or invasion, the
- public safety requires it.
-
- Sec. 8. All elections shall be free and open, and no power, civil or
- military, shall at any time interfere to prevent the free
- exercise of the right of suffrage.
-
- Sec. 9. The military shall always be in strict subordination to the
- civil power; no soldier shall in time of peace be quartered
- in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time
- of war except in the manner prescribed by law.
-
- Sec. 10. The people shall be secure in their persons, papers, homes
- and effects, from unreasonable searches and seizures, and no
- warrant to search any place, or seize any person or thing,
- shall issue without describing the place to be searched, or
- the person or things to be seized, nor without probable
- cause, supported by oath or affirmation.
-
- Sec. 11. Every man shall be free to worship God according to the dic-
- tates of his own conscience, and no person shall ever be
- molested or denied any civil or political right or privi-
- lege on account of his religious opinion or mode of religi-
- ous worship. No person shall be required to attend any place
- of worship or support any religious sect or denomination;
- nor shall any preference be given by law to any religious
- denomination or mode of worship.
-
- Sec. 12. The right of trial by jury as it has heretofore existed
- shall be secured to all and remain inviolate. In all cases
- triable in courts inferior to the district court the jury
- may consist of six. The legislature may provide that ver-
- dicts in civil cases may be rendered by less than a unani-
- mous vote of the jury.
-
- Sec. 13. All persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties, except
- for capital offenses when the proof is evident or the pre-
- sumption great. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor
- excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments
- inflicted. (ADOPTED BY THE PEOPLE NOV. 4, 1924)
-
- Sec. 14. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, felonious
- or infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a
- grand jury or information filed by a district attorney or
- attorney general or their deputies, except in cases aris-
- ing in the militia when in actual service in time of war or
- public danger. No person shall be so held on information
- without having had a preliminary examination before an ex-
- amining magistrate, or having waived such preliminary exam-
- ination. A grand jury shall be composed of such number, not
- less than twelve, as may be prescribed by law. Citizens
- only, residing in the county for which a grand jury may be
- convened and qualified as prescribed by law, may serve on
- the grand jury. Concurrence necessary for the finding of an
- indictment by a grand jury shall be prescribed by law; pro-
- vided, such concurrence shall never be by less than a major-
- ity of those who compose a grand jury, and, provided, at
- least eight must concur in finding an indictment when a
- grand jury is composed of twelve in number. Until otherwise
- prescribed by law a grand jury shall be composed of twelve
- in number of which eight must concur in finding an indict-
- ment. A grand jury shall be convened upon order of a judge
- of a court empowered to try and determine cases of capital,
- felonious or infamous crimes at such times as to him shall
- be deemed necessary, or a grand jury shall be ordered to
- convene by such judge upon the filing of a petition there-
- for signed by not less than seventy-five resident tax payers
- of the county, or a grand jury may be convened in any addi-
- tional manner as may be prescribed by law. In all criminal
- prosecutions, the accused shall have the right to appear and
- defend himself in person, and by counsel; to demand the na-
- ture and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the
- witnesses against him; to have the charge and testimony in-
- terpreted to him in a language he understands; to have com-
- pulsory process to compel the attendance of necessary wit-
- nesses in his behalf, and a speedy public trial by an impar-
- tial jury of the county or district in which the offense is
- alleged to have been committed.
-
- Sec. 15. No person shall be compelled to testify against himself in a
- criminal proceeding, nor shall any person be twice put in
- jeopardy for the same offense; and when the indictment, in-
- formation or affidavit upon which any person is convicted
- charges different offenses or different degrees of the same
- offense and a new trial is granted the accused, he may not
- again be tried for an offense or degree of the offense
- greater than the one of which he was convicted.
-
- Sec. 16. Treason against the state shall consist only in levying war
- against it, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid and
- comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on
- the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on
- confession in open court.
-
- Sec. 17. Every person may freely speak, write and publish his senti-
- ments on all subjects, being responsible for the abuse of
- that right; and no law shall be passed to restrain or a-
- bridge the liberty of speech or of the press. In all crimi-
- nal prosecutions for libels, the truth may be given in evi-
- dence to the jury; and if it shall appear to the jury that
- the matter charged as libelous is true and was published
- with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall
- be acquitted. (ADOPTED BY THE PEOPLE NOV. 7, 1972)
-
- Sec. 18. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property
- without due process of law; nor shall any person be denied
- equal protection of the laws. Equality of rights under law
- shall not be denied on account of the sex of any person. The
- effective date of this amendment shall be July 1, 1973.
-
- Sec. 19. No ex post facto law, bill of attainder, nor law impairing
- the obligation of contracts shall be enacted by the legisla-
- ture.
-
- Sec. 20. Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public
- use without just compensation.
-
- Sec. 21. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action.
- (ADOPTED BY THE PEOPLE SEPT. 20, 1921)
-
- Sec. 22. Until otherwise provided by law no alien, ineligible to
- citizenship under the laws of the United States, or corp-
- oration, co-partnership or association, a majority of the
- stock or interest in which is owned or held by such aliens,
- shall acquire title, lease hold or other interest in or to
- real estate in New Mexico.
-
- Sec. 23. The enumeration in this Constitution of certain rights shall
- not be construed to deny, impair or disparage others retain-
- ed by the people.
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