Publication Date
12-19-2025
Document Type
Article
Abstract
Because the State of Georgia has had ten constitutions since declaring independence from Great Britain, the history of those prior constitutions has a lot to do with understanding the Constitution in force today. In particular, when a provision is carried forward from one constitution to the next without material change, the Supreme Court of Georgia’s decisions interpreting that provision under an earlier constitution can be a key piece of evidence for understanding its meaning in the later one.
The Supreme Court of Georgia calls this piece of the historical inquiry the presumption of a consistent and definitive construction: the provision so construed “is presumed to carry the same meaning as that consistent construction.” The court has acknowledged and alluded to the possibility that the presumption can be overcome, but it never has been. And it is not yet clear how the presumption could be overcome.
Recommended Citation
Skedsvold, Miles C.
(2025)
"An Exception to Prove the Rule: Rebutting the Presumption of a Consistent and Definitive Construction,"
Mercer Law Review: Vol. 77:
No.
1, Article 5.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.law.mercer.edu/jour_mlr/vol77/iss1/5