HISTORICAL ANTECEDENT
Article VI of the United States Con-
stitution requires that members of the
three branches of the state governments
affirm their support of the federal con-
stitution, although provision for such an
oath need not appear in state constitu-
tions.
More than forty state constitutions
require an oath such as Maryland's which
is contained in Article I, Section 6 of the
Constitution :
"Every person elected, or appointed,
to any office of profit or trust, under
this Constitution, or under the Laws,
made pursuant thereto, shall, before
he enters upon the duties of such office,
take and subscribe the following oath,
or affirmation: I, ———— , do swear, (or
affirm, as the case may be), that I will
support the Constitution of the United
States; and that I will be faithful and
bear true allegiance to the State of
Maryland, and support the Constitu-
tion and Laws thereof; and that I will,
to the best of my skill and judgment,
diligently and faithfully, without par-
tiality or prejudice, execute the office
of — —— — — — , according to the Con-
stitution and Laws of this State (and,
if a Governor, Senator, Member of the
House of Delegates, or Judge), that I
1 This article was prepared for the Commis-
sion by Kenneth L. Lasson and Albert R.
Snyder, research assistants to the Constitu-
tional Convention Commission. Mr. Lasson is
at present Assistant to the Dean at the Univer-
sity of Maryland School of Law; B.A., 1963,
and M.A., 1967, The Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity; LL.B., 1966, University of Maryland;
member of the Maryland Bar. Mr. Snyder is at
present a member of the Peace Corps; A.B.,
1963, Holy Cross College; LL.B., 1967, Uni-
versity of Maryland.
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will not directly or indirectly, receive
the profits or any part of the profits
of any other office during the term
of my acting as — —— — ."
Among the states requiring an oath are
those with recent constitutions — Hawaii,
Alaska, Michigan, Connecticut, and Ken-
tucky (proposed).2 The Model State
Constitution also endorses an oath.3
The Maryland enacting statute is
Article 70, Sections 1-7, which sets out
the procedural aspects of the oath for
public officers. In Maryland, this is the
only oath allowed because Article 37 of
the Maryland Declaration of Rights
states, in part:
". . . nor shall the Legislature pre-
scribe any other oath of office than the
oath prescribed by this Constitution."
Ten other state constitutions have a sim-
ilar prohibition, including, most recently,
that of Michigan. The Connecticut and
Kentucky (proposed) constitutions are
silent in this regard while the constitu-
tions of Hawaii and Alaska are unique
in affirmatively providing that- "the legis-
lature may prescribe further oaths or
affirmations."
The following history of the Maryland
provision appears in A. niles, mary-
land constitutional law:
"In none of the constitutions of
Maryland previous to 1867 was there
2 The articles and sections where the oaths
are found in these constitutions: hawaii
const, art. XIV, § 4; alas. const, art. XII,
§ 5; mich. const, art. XI, § 1; conn.
const, art. XI, § 1 ; and ky. const, (pro-
posed) art. XIII, § 3.
3 national municipal league, model
state constitution § 1.07 (6th ed. 1963).
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