The Colorado State Constitution: A Reference Guide

Created in the roiling years of the Civil War, Reconstruction, and industrial expansion, Colorado's state constitution is indelibly marked by an overt suspicion toward elected and appointed officials (with good reason given their often dubious behavior). Not surprisingly, then, the Colorado Supreme Court has been called on to mediate the frequent and ongoing feuds between that state's citizens and their legislators, which it has done successfully, if spottily at times. The result is one of the longest and most detailed, but ultimately successful, state constitutions in the Union. Collins and Oesterle provide a brief history of the document's creation and evolution, then proceed to discuss the legislation and case law pertinent to understanding every article's and section's current legal interpretation. Valuable to scholars and students of local and legal history, and to practicing attorneys seeking to understand the groundwork of the Colorado state constitution, this reference book provides a wealth of historical and legal information critical to apprehending the past and present of a state that often is at the center of national political controversies.