The state constitution has an amendment carving out public employee pension benefits from diminishment.
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But California voters in November approved Proposition 8, which amended the state constitution to ban gay marriage.
Its supporters argued that Californians long have had the right to change their state constitution through ballot initiatives.
It's true that the Illinois Supreme Court is the final authority when it comes to interpreting the state constitution.
The proposition, which added an amendment to the state constitution, defined marriage as between one man and one woman.
But the judge took issue with the way the plan was enacted, saying it violated "home-rule" provisions of the state Constitution.
In May, a similar amendment in North Carolina to ban gay marriage in the state constitution passed with 61% voter support.
Having learned the lessons of such subsidy deals, the framers of the state constitution included what is known as the gift clause.
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With the passage of the amendment, North Carolina becomes the 29th state to use its state constitution to explicitly ban gay unions.
BBC: North Carolina approves constitutional ban on gay union
In addition, County Executive Rob Astorino has argued that it would violate the state Constitution if the county sued municipalities over zoning.
The court rejected arguments that the measure improperly amended the state constitution.
CNN: Bush v. Gore lawyers launch new same-sex marriage appeal
But a Maryland judge denied the couple's filing, ruling in 2010 that the divorce could not be recognized under the current state constitution.
Another problem: Many states are contractually obligated (under the state constitution in some cases) to exempt interest on their municipal bonds from state income tax.
The New York State constitution bars public employers from slowing the rate at which workers build up their pensions over the course of their careers.
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He simplified the state constitution and, by changing the way oil production was taxed, ensured a windfall for the state treasury in oil's boom years.
Mississippi just added the right to its state constitution in 1992.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette says 170 laws and 18 parts to the state constitution may be overruled in whole or in part by Prop 2.
In a well written, somewhat academic speech Correa lays out these policies including the reformulation of the state constitution and the creation of a Constituent assembly.
California voters decisively approved a ballot measure called Proposition 8, which amends the state Constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
The court said the law did not violate the state constitution's guarantee of religious freedom or a ban on the use of state funds for religious institutions.
"This is simply going to be a case about the Maryland state constitution, " said Mark A. Graber, a law professor at the University of Maryland School of Law.
In November 2010, seventy percent of the voters of Oklahoma approved an amendment to the state constitution that would have barred shariah from being used in Oklahoma's courts.
The Florida court could now reinstate its opinion simply by making clear that it was relying solely on statute, and was just mentioning the state constitution as background noise.
In addition, North Dakota's Republican-dominated legislature last week set up a voter referendum for November 2014 which seeks to amend the state constitution to define life as beginning at conception.
The state's teachers union co-endorsed Crist and Meek, which was a major surprise to political watchers, especially considering it was Meek who changed the state constitution mandating smaller class sizes.
When people have voted as late as 10 months ago, 30 states have put the natural definition of marriage into their state constitution on average by a vote of 67 percent.
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After the South Carolina voters approved an amendment to the state constitution allowing him to run for a second term in 1980, Riley won re-election with 70 percent of the vote.
Illinois currently has more than 33 24-hour rape crisis centers and in 1992 was one of the first states to include rights for victims of violent crime in its state constitution.
Another piece of legislation introduced in the House would amend the state constitution to require future wildlife or natural resource-related initiatives to pass by a two-thirds margin, rather than by a simple majority.
The amendment to the state constitution would prohibit the state from granting preferential treatment or discriminating against any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, skin color, ethnicity or national origin.
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