Protections in the New York State Constitution Beyond the Federal Bill of Rights

Abstract

Our State Constitution, like every human endeavor, is susceptible to improvement. One of the unique features of our State Constitution is the ability of our citizens to actively shape and improve it—an opportunity they get beginning this November. The desire to improve the document should not overshadow its distinctive value for 240 years in safeguarding the rights and liberties of our State’s citizenry and institutions. Less heralded than its Federal counterpart, our State Constitution has often been interpreted to more broadly protect and supplement key fundamental rights and protections. This is not happenstance, but rather a reflection that the Federal Constitution, while establishing minimal standards for the protection of individual rights, allows each state to exceed these standards and fashion broader rules. New York’s Constitution has done so in many areas, including public education, environmental protection, and labor rights, just to name a few. As important, should the protections afforded by the Federal Constitution be interpreted in an unduly constrained manner, our State Constitution with the aid of our judiciary may offer safe harbor. The chapters in this pamphlet provide snapshots of the panoply of rights, individual and collective, found in New York’s Constitution.