How state constitutions became the battleground for American rights and liberties – on both the left and right

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · Aug 11, 2026 · 981 words · By Quinn Yeargain

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What to know about How state constitutions became the battleground for American rights and liberties – on both the left and right

The article discusses the role and function of state constitutions in the United States, explaining how they can provide protections beyond the federal Bill of Rights. It provides historical examples of how both liberal and conservative advocates have used state constitutions to secure rights regarding education, LGBTQ+ issues, abortion, and firearm ownership.

Propaganda risk 10%

Claims checked 14

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Beyond picking governors, state legislators, local officials and representatives to serve in Congress, voters in almost every state this year will have the opportunity to amend the language of their state constitution.

Why it matters

In one state, they could potentially rewrite the constitution altogether.

Common ground

Constitution is rarely amended, voters frequently amend their state constitutions.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: How state constitutions became the battleground for American rights and liberties – on both the left and right?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that voters in Michigan will decide whether to convene a state constitutional convention in 2027?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/how-state-constitutions-became-the-battleground-for-…

analyticsAnalysis

10%

Propaganda Score

confidence: 95%

Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 4

check_circle Corroborated 3

verified Verified By Reference 3

help Insufficient Evidence 2

verified Verified 1

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “voters in Michigan will decide whether to convene a state constitutional convention in 2027”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that Michigan voters will decide on a state constitutional convention rewrite in November, with the process occurring every 16 years.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 United States Senate election in Michigan will be held on November 3, 2026, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the state of Michigan. Democratic former Wayne County he…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_Senate_elec…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Michigan ( MISH-ig-ən) is a peninsular state in the Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the wes…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The University of Michigan (UMich, U-M, or Michigan) is a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1817 and is the oldest institution of higher education in …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Michigan

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “Miranda warnings... the requirement that indigent defendants be provided counsel in criminal trials and the rule that unconstitutionally obtained evidence cannot be used against defendants, came from the Warren Court”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.

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Claim 3: “Michigan’s constitution requires that voters be asked every 16 years whether to hold a convention”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources explicitly state that the Michigan Constitution requires a vote on holding a constitutional convention every 16 years.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Constitution Party, named the U.S. Taxpayers' Party until 1999, is an ultraconservative political party in the United States that promotes a religiously conservative interpretation of the principl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_Party_(United_Sta…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Constitution of the State of Michigan is the governing document of the U.S. state of Michigan. It describes the structure and function of the state's government. There have been four constitutions…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Michigan

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Michigan Senate is the upper house of the Michigan Legislature. Along with the Michigan House of Representatives, it composes the state legislature, which has powers, roles and duties defined by A…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Senate

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 4: “the Supreme Court recognized a right to marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges in 2015”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “the last three times the question appeared on the ballot, voters rejected the idea in landslides”

CORROBORATED

Evidence from multiple sources confirms that the proposal was rejected by voters in 1978, 1994, and 2010 by wide margins/landslides.

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web search NEUTRAL — Most recently, in 2010, 66.6% of voters voted against the measure. The Michigan Constitution has since 1978 required the state to present the question of holding a constitutional convention to voters …
https://michiganindependent.com/Politics/whats-at-stake-as-m…

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web search NEUTRAL — Voters approved holding a constitutional convention in 1961, and the rewritten constitution was approved in 1963. Since then, the ballot question has been rejected by voters by wide margins in 1978, 1…
https://www.detroitcatholic.com/news/michigan-catholic-confe…

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web search NEUTRAL — Midterms and Michigan’s elections. 16-year constitutional convention vote and ballot proposals. Top issues facing voters: Education and reading.
https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2026/07/midterm-elections

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Claim 6: “the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center... overturned Roe v. Wade and held that the U.S. Constitution does not protect a right to abortion”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and multiple web sources explicitly confirm that Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization overturned Roe v. Wade and held that the U.S. Constitution does not confer a right to abortion.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Thomas E. Dobbs III is an American physician currently serving as dean of the John D. Bower School of Population Health at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dobbs previously served as Stat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_E._Dobbs

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court in which the court held that the United States Constitution does not confer…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dobbs_v._Jackson_Women's_Healt…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_St…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “Every state has a constitution, and each constitution has an individual bill of rights”

VERIFIED

Web search results confirm that each state has its own constitution and government, and that state authority is limited by each state's own constitution and fundamental rights.

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web search NEUTRAL — Bill of Rights. Primary tabs. First Amendment [Religion, Speech, Press, Assembly, Petition (1791)] (see explanation ).Tenth Amendment [Rights Reserved to States or People (1791)] (see explanation ).
https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/billofrights

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web search NEUTRAL — In reality, state authority is strictly limited by each state’s own constitution, the text of the U.S. Constitution (such as the 14th Amendment due process and equal protection clauses), and the funda…
https://www.statenationalsrock.com/post/the-10th-amendment-d…

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web search NEUTRAL — Each state has its own constitution and government.One, Palmyra Atoll, is considered to be incorporated, meaning the full body of the Constitution has been applied to it. The other territories are off…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_and_territories…

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Claim 8: “voters in almost every state this year will have the opportunity to amend the language of their state constitution”

SINGLE SOURCE

The evidence provided discusses state constitutions in general and specific examples (Vermont, Nevada), but does not provide data to confirm that voters in 'almost every state' have the opportunity to amend their constitution this year.

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web search NEUTRAL — Vermont’s constitution requires voters in any election to be U.S. citizens. Foreign residents are not allowed. And, frankly, it would take a Herculean effort to change the state charter. To amend Verm…
https://www.libertynation.com/states-prying-open-the-ballot-…

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web search NEUTRAL — State law already offers similar protections, but adding them to Nevada’s constitution would make it harder to roll those rights back. Voters would need to approve the measure twice – this year and ag…
https://www.fastcompany.com/91211407/abortion-ballot-states-…

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web search NEUTRAL — State constitutions by the numbers. State constitutions can be long. They average 39,000 words, while the U.S. Constitution, including the 27 amendments, has 7,591 words.
https://news.ballotpedia.org/2026/08/28/the-first-blueprints…

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Claim 9: “After Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968, he appointed Warren Burger as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, succeeding Earl Warren”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this claim in the search results.

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Claim 10: “In recent years, around 100 amendments have been voted on in each cycle.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence provided discusses the 27 amendments to the US Constitution and unrelated topics (Nasdaq-100, Tilly Smith), but contains no information regarding the number of state constitutional amendments voted on per cycle.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Nasdaq-100 is a stock market index made up of equity securities issued by approximately 100 (currently 101) of the largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The Nasdaq-1…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NASDAQ-100_companies

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tilly Smith (born 1994) is a British woman who, as a child, was credited with saving the lives of approximately 100 beachgoers at Mai Khao Beach in Phuket, Thailand, by warning them minutes before the…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tilly_Smith

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 11: “If Michigan voters do want to call a convention, an election for 148 delegates would be held in 2027”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While the evidence confirms the existence of the 16-year vote for a convention, none of the provided search results mention the specific number of delegates (148) or the specific year 2027 for the delegate election.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of United States state legislatures. Each state in the United States has a legislature as part of its form of civil government. Most of the fundamental details of the legislature are sp…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_legislature…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Michigan is a state in the Midwest region of the United States. According to the 2020 United States Census, Michigan is the 10th most populous state with 10,077,331 inhabitants and the 22nd largest by…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_municipalities_in_Mich…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 12: “In 1973, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution contained no right to education and that a funding disparity among school districts in Texas was not unconstitutional”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 13: “In the 1980s, the high court refused to strike down a Georgia law that criminalized sexual relations between people of the same gender”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 14: “voters in many states ratified constitutional amendments defining marriage as between one man and one woman”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.