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Archive   : LAWNB3.ZIP
Filename : W-VIRGIN.TXT

CONSTITUTION
OF THE
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA

ARTICLE III

BILL OF RIGHTS

Sec. 1. All men are, by nature, equally free and independent, and
have certain inherent rights, or which, when they enter into
a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or
divest their posterity, namely: The enjoyment of life and
liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing proper-
ty, and of pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

Sec. 2. All power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the
people. Magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at
all times amenable to them.

Sec. 3. Government is instituted for the common benefit, protection
and security of the people, nation or community. Of all its
various forms that is the best, which is capable of produ-
cing the greatest degree of happiness and safety, and is
most effectually secured against the danger of maladminis-
tration; and when any government shall be found inadequate
or contrary to these purposes, a majority of the community
has an indubitable, inalienable, and indefeasible right to
reform, alter or abolish it in such manner as shall be
judged most conducive to the public weal.

Sec. 4. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be
suspended. No person shall be held to answer for treason,
felony or other crime, not cognizable by a justice, unless
on presentment or indictment of a grand jury. No bill of
attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obliga-
tion of a contract, shall be passed.

Sec. 5. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted. Penal-
ties shall be proportioned to the character and degree of
the offence. No person shall be transported out of, or
forced to leave the State for any offence committed within
the same; nor shall any person, in any criminal case, be
compelled to be a witness against himself, or be twice put
in jeopardy of life or liberty for the same offence.

Sec. 6. The rights of the citizens to be secure in their houses,
persons, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches
and seizures, shall not be violated. No warrants shall is-
sue except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirm-
ation, particularly describing the place to be searched, or
the person or thing to be seized.

Sec. 7. No law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press,
shall be passed; but the legislature may by suitable penal-
ties, restrain the publication or sale of obscene books, pa-
pers, or pictures, and provide for the punishment of libel,
and defamation of character, and for the recovery, in civil
actions, by the aggrieved party, of suitable damages for
such libel, or defamation.

Sec. 8. In prosecutions and civil suits for libel, the truth may be
given in evidence; 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 verdict
shall be for the defendant.

Sec. 9. Private property shall not be taken or damaged for public
use, without just compensation; nor shall the same be taken
by any company, incorporated for the purposes of internal
improvement, until just compensation shall have been paid,
or secured to be paid, to the owner; and when private prop-
erty shall be taken, or damaged, for public use, or for the
use of such corporation, the compensation to the owner shall
be ascertained in such manner, as may be prescribed by gen-
eral law; provided, that when required by either of the par-
ties, such compensation shall be ascertained by an impartial
jury of twelve freeholders.

Sec. 10. No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law, and the judgement of his peers.

Sec. 11. Political tests, requiring persons, as a prerequisite to the
enjoyment of their civil and political rights, to purge
themselves by their own oaths, of past alleged offences,
are repugnant to the principles of free government, and are
cruel and oppressive. No religious or Political test oath
shall be required as a prerequisite or qualification to
vote, serve as a juror, sue, plead, appeal, or pursue any
profession or employment. Nor shall any person be deprived
by law, of any right, or privilege, because of any act done
prior to the passage of such law.

Sec. 12. Standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as
dangerous to liberty. The military shall be subordinate to
the civil power; and no citizen, unless engaged in the mili-
tary service of the State, shall be tried or punished by any
military court, for any offence that is cognizable by the
civil courts of the State. 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 to be pre-
scribed by law.

Sec. 13. In suits at common law, where the value in controversy ex-
ceeds twenty dollars exclusive of interest and costs, the
right of trial by jury, if required by either party, shall
be preserved; and in such suit before a judge a jury may
consist of six persons. No fact tried by a jury shall be
otherwise re-examined in any case than according to the
rules of the common law.

Sec. 14. Trials of crimes, and misdemeanors, unless herein otherwise
provided, shall be by a jury of twelve men, public, without
unreasonable delay, and in the county where the alleged of-
fence was committed, unless upon petition of the accused,
and for good cause shown, it is removed to some other coun-
ty. In all such trials, the accused shall be fully and
plainly informed of the character and cause of the accusa-
tion, and be confronted with the witnesses against him, and
shall have the assistance of counsel, and a reasonable time
to prepare for his defence; and there shall be awarded to
him compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor.

Sec. 15. No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any relig-
ious worship, place or ministry whatsoever; nor shall any
man be enforced, restrained, molested or burthened, in his
body or goods, or otherwise suffer, on account of his relig-
ious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to pro-
fess, and by argument, to maintain their opinions in matters
of religion; and the same shall, in no wise, affect, dimin-
ish or enlarge their civil capacities; and the Legislature
shall not prescribe any religious test whatever, or confer
any peculiar privileges or advantages on any sect or deno-
mination, or pass any law requiring or authorizing any re-
ligious society, or the people of any district within this
State, to levy on themselves, or others, any tax for the
erection or repair of any house for public worship, or for
the support of any church or ministry, but it shall be left
free for every person to select his religious instructor,
and to make for his support, such private contract as he
shall please.

Sec. 16. The right of the people to assemble in a peaceable manner,
to consult for the common good, to instruct their repre-
sentatives, or to apply for redress of grievances, shall be
held inviolate.

Sec. 17. The courts of this State shall be open, and every person,
for an injury done to him, in his person, property or repu-
tation, shall have remedy by due course of law; and justice
shall be *administered without sale denial or delay.

Sec. 18. No conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture
of estate.

Sec. 19. No hereditary emoluments, honors or privileges shall ever be
granted or conferred in this State.

Sec. 20. Free government and the blessings of liberty can be preser-
ved to any people only by a firm adherence to justice, mod-
eration, temperance, frugality and virtue, and by a frequent
recurrence to fundamental principles.

Sec. 21. Regardless of sex, all persons, who are otherwise qualified,
shall be eligible to serve as petit jurors, in both civil
and criminal cases, as grand jurors and as coroner's jurors.

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