State Resolutions Toolkit
- Introduction
- Research and planning
- Build a coalition
- Use a petition as an organizing tool
- Write your resolution
- Build support for passage
Passing Statewide Civil Liberties Resolutions
On April 25, 2003, the Hawaii state legislature became the first in the United States to pass a statewide resolution. In May 2003, the legislatures of Alaska and Vermont passed resolutions, and in March 2004, Maine became the fourth state. In April 2005, the Idaho Legislature unanimously passed a resolution supporting the SAFE Act to amend the USA PATRIOT Act. In May 2005, Montana passed a statewide resolution. Several other states have resolutions in progress.
Though each of the 50 states abide by the same U.S. Constitution, individual states and state legislatures are a world unto themselves. Our state constitutions differ, sometimes greatly, though time has standardized much of their content. Though a state constitution cannot contradict the federal Constitution, some state constitutions contain provisions for protection of privacy and individual rights that exceed protections contained in the U.S. Constitution.
There is no one formula or model that will yield a successful state resolution. Many of the organizing ideas and solutions contained here may be practiced by any campaign anywhere anytime. And many of them will fit best only under particular circumstances. Your campaign will not necessarily look like anyone else’s campaign. Your group may have difficulty building a state coalition, while grassroots organizers in another state easily form alliances.
We've developed this toolkit to help you with your state resolution campaign. Not all tools or recommendations here will work for every state, so study your state's political climate and plan accordingly.
To see if others in your state are already working on a statewide resolution, select your state in the Find Your State box to the left.
If your group is working on a statewide resolution that is not listed, please contact us.
Resources
BORDC State Resolution Toolkit
State Legislature Web Sites for Research
Fundamentals of Building a State Resolution