Opinion ID: 1113751
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 22

Heading: independent and adequate state grounds

Text: Each of the state law holdings in this decision rest[s] on an adequate and independent state ground. Michigan v. Long, 463 U.S. 1032, 1044 [103 S.Ct. 3469, 3478, 77 L.Ed.2d 1201] (1983). The Court's holding that § 256 of the Alabama constitution guarantees schoolchildren equitable and adequate education is based on the unique text and history of that provision. The holding that plaintiffs are deprived of their rights to equal protection and due process rest on this Court's interpretation of the appropriate provisions of the Alabama constitution. [68] This Court's interpretation of those provisions was not compelled by federal constitutional considerations, id. at 1045 n. 10 [103 S.Ct. at 3479], but rather is based on the text and history of the Alabama constitution and case law interpreting it. The statutory rights found by the Court exist in Alabama law independent of any federal statutes. Although this decision in places refers to federal case law, as it does to cases from states other than Alabama, none of those decisions is necessary to the Court's analysis or compels the results reached.