Opinion ID: 901177
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Structural Differences

Text: [¶ 50.] Unlike the Federal Constitution, which grants enumerated powers to the federal government, our State Constitution limits the power of state government. State v. Hy Vee Food Stores, Inc., 533 N.W.2d 147, 148 (S.D.1995); State ex rel. Wagner v. Summers, 33 S.D. 40, 144 N.W. 730, 732 (1913). Under this limitation doctrine, in deciding whether a statute is constitutional, a specific constitutional provision must prohibit enactment of a statute rather than grant authority for its enactment. In re Heartland Consumers Power Dist., 85 S.D. 205, 209, 180 N.W.2d 398, 400 (1970). Accordingly, an explicit statement of rights in our State Constitution might be understood as a guaranty of those rights, not a restriction on them. Cf. Gunwall, 720 P.2d at 815. Where a provision is placed in the structure of the Constitution may also be instructive. [¶ 51.] Although we should usually presume that similar provisions in our State and Federal Constitutions deserve similar interpretations, there may be principled reasons for coming to a conclusion different from the Supreme Court. [I]f the state court deals with federal precedent and persuasively demonstrates that federal court reasoning is unacceptable, its result can no more be called unprincipled than can the original federal holding. CHARLES H. WHITEBREAD & CHRISTOPHER SLOBOGIN, CRIMINAL PROCEDURE, AN ANALYSIS OF CASES AND CONCEPTS § 34.03, at 1038 (4th ed. 2000). Our Constitution should never become mere surplusage, but the burden of proving the unacceptability of the federal reasoning should bear heavily on the one challenging it.