Talk:Constitution of Tennessee

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 7 January 2019 and 22 April 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Jayaarnold99, Morganausbrooks. Peer reviewers: Michael Galluzzi, NickiM00, Dino d23, Kbbb223.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 18:22, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

Citing sources
This article has a lot of useful information. Unfortunately, it does not cite any sources, so it is not possible for other Wikipedia editors to verify that information. To start, the author could simply add a References section and list the sources that were consulted in writing the article. After that, if the author has the time, he or she could provide references for some specific assertions in the article (for example, by using the form (Author Date, page)).

Some points to consider:
 * 1) When referring to specific provisions in the constitution, cite the specific article and section number from the constitution.
 * 2) * For example, the 3rd paragraph of the section Structure talks about the separation of powers ("The constitution also explicitly states that there are to be three separate branches . . . "); cite Sections 1 & 2 of Article II for this.
 * 3) Some assertions need to be specifically backed up with citations to the source that supports them.
 * 4) * For example, the first paragraph of the section The 1977 convention and its aftermath mentions that one amendment was called the "Fate Thomas Amendment", because it was supposedly enacted to help Sheriff Fate Thomas. This assertion should have a reference to the specific source or sources where the author found this claim.
 * Mateo SA | talk 16:35, Jan 4, 2005 (UTC)

Comments that may not belong in article
Comments that may not belong in article:

The lack of any statewide elective state offices other than governor has caused both parties at times to suffer from a "weak bench". Without offices like secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, or even something like commissioner of agriculture to run for, ambitious young politicians are somewhat limited to seeking Congressional election, as those offices have almost no statewide profile in the way that they are selected in Tennessee. Only political insiders and "junkies" and a few state employees can even name the persons who hold these offices, and the skills developed to pursue them are not that similar to those used in winning elective politics. (A partial analogy is the way that General Wesley Clark though that he had lost of political experience because of his military career. He did; obviously no one gets to be a four-star general without political skill.  However, this is a considerably different political skill set than that used in elective politics, as Clark was to learn.)  This situation is currently affecting both parties, albeit differently. There is only one high-profile Democrat statewide other than Governor Bredesen who is widely regarded as being either capable of being elected to higher office or experentially and temprementally qualified to hold it, U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, Jr. of Memphis. The Republicans have an opposite problem, a surfiet of ambitious pols and nowhere to put them. ____________________________________________________________________________________ George DeHoff, a Church of Christ minister and publisher who is now deceased, was apparently the only person to participate in all five 20th century conventions (1952, 1959, 1965, 1971, and 1977). As such, he was a tremendous resource as to the precedents set at the earlier conventions. This was important, as minutes to the earlier conventions (prior to 1971) do not seem to be widely available, even at the State Archives. (Even though he was a minister his participation was not challenged, perhaps because it was not regarded as his primary occupation; later an African American minister from Memphis sued in federal court over being denied participation on the grounds of First Amendment violation and won, although this archaic provision has not been formally removed and remains in the text of the current document.) Rlquall 21:19, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

States that only elect their governor state-wide
I've edited the page to reflect that in New Jersey, like Hawaii and Tennessee, only the governor is elected state-wide. (a referendum has been proposed but not passed to add a lieutenant governor.) I added New Jersey because I know this to be true, but I can't vouch for other states. Without strong reason for a significant edit, I left the phrase intact, but I suggest that this fact needs to be researched. --AlanK 21:59, 28 September 2005 (UTC)

Creation of the Tennessee Lottery
Didn't TN have to amend its constitution to create a lottery? No mention of that here. Iamvered 08:26, 2 February 2006 (UTC)


 * Scroll WAYY down to "Recent Amendments" and you'll see a comment like "Ban on lotteries repealed because it sucked and it was all Andrew Jackson's fault" in different terms. Infact, just search for "Andrew Jackson" and you'll probably find it. 68.39.174.238 00:00, 7 February 2006 (UTC)

$1,800 (Article II, Section 23)
A full reading of this article (added by amendment) shows that the $1,800 was only meant to be (and served as) a starting place. The clause "The compensation and expenses of the members of the General Assembly may from time to time be reduced or increased by laws ..." means that they can set their pay at whatever they like, or rather whatever they think that they can pay themselves and then still get re-elected, which is why it is currently only $16,500 per year. Rlquall 17:35, 29 March 2006 (UTC)

"Next to impossible"
This is a fairly mindless comment, as the current constitution of Tennessee has been amended on seven occassions. It is harder than the process in many other states, which has prevented it from becoming a veritable book like the Alabama constitution now is. Rlquall 17:48, 29 March 2006 (UTC)


 * Alabama's has other problems with it. Many states have similar or easier amendment processes and have FAR fewer amendments. That said, I do agree that the phrasing is suspect and carries a questionable connotation. 68.39.174.238 23:49, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Reference link to nowhere.
The references are no longer active and without objection will be removed in 4 days. JustinRJoneZ (talk) 03:44, 1 December 2009 (UTC)

Dead reference.
'Bill would make hunting, fishing a protected right in Tennessee by Stan Voit, The Mountain Press, May 23, 2005.'

Dead link.

24.159.1.180 (talk) 05:11, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Nowhere in the Tennessee Constitution: "For the amendment to pass...."
In the third paragraph of the section Legislative method, it currently reads, "For the amendment to pass, the number of yes votes must be greater than one-half the number of votes cast for governor." This simply isn't in the Constitution of Tennessee; unfortunately, this non-existent phrase has been erroneously referenced and repeated by various media in Tennessee, which has undoubtedly resulted in many misinformed voters.

According to Article XI, Section 3 ("Miscellaneous Provisions") of the Constitution of Tennessee, it reads, "And if the people shall approve and ratify such amendment or amendments by a majority of all the citizens of the state voting for governor, voting in their favor, such amendment or amendments shall become a part of this Constitution." p. 20

In other words, a proposed amendment is approved if it gains more "yes" votes than "no" votes and if the "yes" votes equal "a majority of all the citizens of the state voting for governor"; consequently, I believe that last sentence of the third paragraph should be removed or edited to reflect the actual wording and meaning in the previously referenced Article XI, Section 3 of the Tennessee State Constitution. DimeIV (talk) 08:16, 4 November 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070428015752/http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/asp/WebBillInfo/BillCompanionInfo.aspx?BillNumber=HJR0108 to http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/bills/currentga/asp/WebBillInfo/BillCompanionInfo.aspx?billnumber=HJR0108
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Peer Review
This article is very detailed, which is good. I enjoyed how you outlined the specific history of the Constitutions from 1700's-1800's.

Also very helpful how you all distinguished the separation of powers and detailed each and every right given by the TN constitution. Very detailed and helpful to understanding the material. I would have liked to see a longer list of sources and maybe more about the militia.

Overall very nice article! It's extremely detailed which is great for understanding the concepts included.

Kbbb223 (talk) 15:29, 28 March 2019 (UTC)