Shouldn’t A State Constitution Inspire With Style?

David Kipen has been reading California’s state constitution – an “imperfect transcript of a continuing 155-year constitutional convention, which shows no sign of adjourning. And there’s not a drop of poetry in it, unless you count the surreal juxtaposition of our right to fish in public waters and, on the very next page, the state’s right to execute prisoners without falling afoul of the ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ clause.” Compare this to the US Constitution, which is short and sings to its citizens…