§ 15. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action, on mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud; and no person shall be imprisoned for a militia fine in time of peace.

§ 16. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed.

§ 17. Foreigners who are or who may hereafter become bona fide residents of this State, shall enjoy the same rights in respect to the possession, enjoyment, and inheritance of property, as native born citizens.

§ 18. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this State.

§ 19. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable seizures and searches, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.

§ 20. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason, unless on the evidence of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in open Court.

§ 21. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people.

§ 15. No person shall be imprisoned for debt in any civil action, on mesne or final process, unless in cases of fraud, nor in civil actions for torts, except in cases of willful injury to person or property; and no person shall be imprisoned for a militia fine in time of peace.

§ 16. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of contracts, shall ever be passed.

§17. Foreigners of the white race or of African descent, eligible to become citizens of the United States under the naturalization laws thereof, while bona fide residents of this State, shall have the same rights in respect to the acquisition, possession, enjoyment, transmission, and inher itance of property as native-born citizens.

§ 18. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crime, shall ever be tolerated in this State.

§ 19. The right of the people to be secure in their per sons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable seizures and searches, shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but on probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons and things to be seized.

§ 20. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, adhering to its enemies, or giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the evidence of two witnesses to the same overt act, or confession in open court.

§ 21. No special privileges or immunities shall ever be granted which may not be altered, revoked, or repealed by the Legislature; nor shall any citizen, or class of citizens, be granted privileges or immunities which, upon the same terms, shall not be granted to all citizens.

§ 22. The provisions of this Constitution are mandatory and prohibitory, unless by express words they are declared to be otherwise.

§ 23. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the people.

§ 24. No property qualification shall ever be required for any person to vote or hold office.

ARTICLE II.

RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE.

§ 1. Every white male citizen of the United States, and every white male citizen of Mexico who shall have elected to become a citizen of the United States, under the treaty of peace exchanged and ratified at Queretaro. on the thirtieth day of May, eighteen hundred and forty-eight, of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the State six months next preceding the election, and the county or district in which he claims his vote thirty days, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which are now or hereafter may be authorized by law; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to prevent the Legislature, by a two-thirds concurrent vote, from admitting to the right of suffrage Indians, or the descendants of Indians, in such special cases as such a proportion of the legislative body may deem just and proper.

§ 5. No idiot or insane person, or person convicted of any infamous crime, shall be entitled to the privileges of an elector.

§ 2. Electors shall, in all cases except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest on the days of election, during their attendance at such election, going to and returning therefrom.

§ 3. No elector shall be obliged to perform militia duty on the day of election, except in time of war or public danger.

§ 4. For the purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while employed in the service of the United States, nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of this State or of the United States, or of the high seas; nor while a student at any seminary of learning; nor while kept at any almshouse, or other asylum, at public expense; nor while confined in any public prison. § 6. All elections by the people shall be by ballot.

ARTICLE III.

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.

$1. The powers of the Government of the State of California shall be divided into three separate departments: the Legislative, the Executive, and Judicial; and

ARTICLE II.

RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE.

§ 1. Every native male citizen of the United States, every male person who shall have acquired the rights of citizenship under or by virtue of the treaty of Queretaro, and every male naturalized citizen thereof, who shall have become such ninety days prior to any election, of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of the State one year next preceding the election, and of the county in which he claims his vote ninety days, and in the election precinct thirty days, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which are now or may hereafter be authorized by law; provided, no native of China, no idiot, insane person, or person convicted of any infamous crime, and no person hereafter convicted of the embezzlement or misappropriation of public money, shall ever exercise the privileges of an elector in this State.

§ 2. Electors shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest on the days of election, during their attendance at such election, going to and returning therefrom.

§ 3. No elector shall be obliged to perform militia duty on the day of election, except in time of war or public danger.

§ 4. For the purpose of voting, no person shall be deemed to have gained or lost a residence by reason of his presence or absence while employed in the service of the United States, nor while engaged in the navigation of the waters of this State or of the United States, or of the high seas; nor while a student at any seminary of learning; nor while kept at any almshouse or other asylum, at public expense; nor while confined in any public prison. § 5. All elections by the people shall be by ballot.

ARTICLE III.

DISTRIBUTION OF POWERS.

§ 1. The powers of the Government of the State of California shall be divided into three separate departments the legislative, executive, and judicial; and no person

no person charged with the exercise of powers properly belonging to one of these departments shall exercise any functions appertaining to either of the others, except in the cases hereinafter expressly directed or permitted.

ARTICLE IV.

LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT.

§ 1. The Legislative power of this State shall be vested in a Senate and Assembly, which shall be designated the Legislature of the State of California, and the enacting clause of every law shall be as follows: "The People of the State of California, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows."

§ 2. The sessions of the Legislature shall be biennial, and shall commence on the first Monday of December next ensuing the election of its members, unless the Governor of the State shall, in the interim, convene the Legislature by proclamation. No session shall continue longer than one hundred and twenty days. [1862.]

[Amended 1862. The original provided for annual sessions, beginning on first Monday of January.]

§ 3. The members of the Assembly shall be chosen biennially, by the qualified electors of their respective districts, on the first Wednesday in September, unless otherwise ordered by the Legislature, and their term of office shall be two years. [1862.]

[Amended 1862. The original provided for annual elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.]

§ 4. Senators and members of Assembly shall be duly qualified electors in the respective counties and districts which they represent.

§ 5. Senators shall be chosen for the term of four years, at the same time and places as members of the Assembly; and no person shall be a member of the Senate or Assembly who has not been a citizen and inhabitant of the State and of the county or district for which he shall be chosen one year next before his election.

[Amended 1862. Original made term of two years, and residence in county or district of six months.]