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Idaho Constitutional Revision Commission papers

 Collection
Identifier: MG 105

Content Description

Robert C. Strom's collection of papers from the Idaho Constitutional Revision Commission, of which he was a member, are contained in two file boxes. They include correspondence from the chairman of the commission and the chairman of the judiciary subcommittee, letters from state officials with suggestions for revisions, minutes of the full commission meetings in 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969, and minutes of the judiciary subcommittee for 1966 and 1967. Various drafts of the proposed Constitution, many of them annotated, are included as well as a variety of publications.

Divers subcommittees of the Legislative Council also worked on revising sections of the Constitution. Scattered minutes and memoranda of these committees are contained in the collection.

Among the more interesting items included in the miscellaneous material are the legal documents of the Smith vs. Cenarrusa case, the law suit brought against the State on behalf of the taxpayers of Idaho testing the constitutionality of having the voters vote on the entire proposed constitution, rather than article by article.

The contents of this archival collection are described in more detail in the following Description of Series.

Dates

  • Creation: 1965-1970

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Biographical / Historical

"A Constitution belongs to the people. It must be a living document keyed to meeting their needs and answering their aspirations for Idaho." (Governor Robert E. Smylie to a meeting of the Constitutional Revision Commission, June 24, 1965.)

Idaho's first Constitution, adopted in 1889, was drafted in 28 days by a 72 man territorial convention as a requirement for statehood. It was worded to answer every conceivable question, objection, and prejudice, but did not grow out of or meet the local needs of the people. This concern with detail resulted in continual amendment; in 75 years 150 amendments were submitted to the voters, 71 were approved.

In 1965 House Bill 280 of the 38th Legislature (later Idaho Session Laws, chapter 317, 1965) authorized the creation of a Constitutional Revision Commission to serve until December 31, 1970. It was charged with conducting a thorough study and review of the Idaho Constitution and making recommendations for proposed revisions to be considered by the Legislature. The following Idaho citizens were appointed to the commission by the Governor: Douglas D. Kramer, Boyd A. Martin, Frank Seelye who resigned in 1968 and was replaced by E.B. Smith, Mrs. Eugene H. Smith, and Robert C. Strom. Those members appointed by the Legislative Council were Don G. Fredericksen, Orval Hansen who resigned in 1968 and was replaced by Robert M. Rowett, Darrell V. Manning, James C. McClure who resigned in 1966 and was replaced by Eugene L. Bush, and Perry Swisher. The other five members, Carl P. Burke, Raymond L. Givens, Russell Randall, James E. Schiller and Lloyd J. Webb, were appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

From the first meeting which was held June 24, 1965, through 1968 the commission met in more than 35 working sessions to study not only the Idaho Constitution, but the U.S. Constitution and the Constitutions of other states. Extensive material concerned with drafting a constitution was also studied.

The first draft of the proposed Constitution was completed in November 1968 and in 1969 twenty-eight hearings were held around the state. Following these hearings the commission made 32 changes in the proposed revision. In November 1969 the new revised Constitution was presented to the governor and the legislature. The 40th Legislature made several additional changes in the document after which it was approved by the required two-thirds of each house. The proposal to adopt the new proposed constitution was then placed on the November 3, 1970 ballot where the people of Idaho rejected it by a wide margin.

In its final report dated December 7, 1970, the commission urged the legislature to provide for continuing study in the field of constitutional revision and pledged the continuing assistance of individual members of the commission in assisting the legislature in any way possible.

Extent

2 Cubic Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Correspondence and reports of Robert C. Strom, a member of the commission.

Arrangement

The material in this collection has been divided first by organization, i.e., Constitutional Revision Commission or Legislative Council. Material in the Constitutional Revision Commission series was then separated into correspondence and minutes; all material is in chronological order. The Legislative Council material was separated by subcommittee and arranged alphabetically by keyword of the subcommittee.

Of the remaining material, all drafts of the proposed constitution, whether complete or by separate articles, were placed in another series and the remaining material was grouped in the miscellaneous section.

Title
Guide to Idaho Constitutional Revision Commission papers
Status
Completed
Author
Finding aid prepared by Judith Nielsen; updated by Sara Szobody
Date
1981; 2021
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository