Desiree Downey
Bayles
WYUS const. Essay
March 27, 2015
Wyoming vs United States America. Freedom. Two words which are not uncommon to hear together in a sentence. As humans, our constitution has granted us certain unalienable rights, so that we may live in a land of opportunity and dreams. The rights listed to us in our constitution, however, are not the only rights we the people have as citizens of this great nation. Some freedoms and boundaries are left up to the states. As you will come to see, when comparing and contrasting the rights endowed upon us by our Nation as to the rights given by the states, our freedoms are carefully tailored to the area in which every individual lives, yet backed up by the states in their own ways.
To start off, as alway, education will come first. In the US constitution, there is nothing stating that an individual must obtain an education. However, the Wyoming constitution states
“The right of the citizens to opportunities for education should have practical recognition. The legislature shall suitably encourage means and agencies calculated to advance the sciences and liberal arts.” (Wyoming Constitution) This means that the state will do what they can and have the ability to do to insure that every child is afforded the opportunity to obtain a proper education. This is no matter the wealth status, race, religion. or sex! Even though our US constitution does not state that each person has the right to an education, our nation is among the
top 5 most educated countries in the world due to the fact that our state constitutions protect our right to education. (Frohlich)
To proceed our right to education, I will mention another amendment unique to the
Wyoming constitution. This right, would be section 5 of the 1st amendment to the Wyoming constitution giving all humans the right to no imprisonment for debt, with the exception of cases of fraud. The right is simply stated and fairly easy for the average citizen to understand. Being as this amendment is unique to the Wyoming constitution, this means that when in drafting the US constitution, the fathers of the constitution found this agenda to be one which should be decided by individual states. Only 15 states do not have laws prohibiting jailing of debtors in cases other than fraud. (Debtors Prison)
Next, is our human right to privacy. This right given to us by our creator is backed up in both the Wyoming and the United States constitution in the same way. This right can be found in the Wyoming constitution under section 4, prohibiting unwarranted search and seizures, and in the US constitution under the 4th amendment. This right means that no matter where you live in the US, an authority figure such as the police cannot search your belongings, or seize evidence without a) your consent b) a search warrant or c) probable cause. Evidence obtained in any other manner may be thrown out in a court of law if you can prove that your constitutional rights have been violated.
Another US constitution amendment mimicked in the Wyoming constitution, is the right of the accused to defend themselves in a court of law. The law states, “In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right to defend in person and by counsel, to demand the nature and cause of the accusation, to have a copy thereof, to be confronted with the witnesses
against him, to have compulsory process served for obtaining witnesses, and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the offense is alleged to have been committed.
When the location of the offense cannot be established with certainty, venue may be placed in the county or district where the corpus delicti is found, or in any county or district in which the victim was transported.” (Wyoming Constitution) This basically means that an accused person has the right to defend his/her self in front of a jury and with a
