32255Constitution of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands1986

PREAMBLE We the people of the Northern Mariana Islands, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, ordain and establish this Constitution as the embodiment of our traditions and hopes for our Commonwealth in political union with the United States of America.

ARTICLE I: PERSONAL RIGHTS

Section 1: Laws Prohibited. No law shall be made that is a bill of attainder, an ex post facto law, a law impairing the obligation of contracts, or a law prohibiting the traditional art of healing.

Section 2: Freedom of Religion, Speech, Press and Assembly. No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceablyradioactive material and the dumping or storage of any type of nuclear waste within the surface or submerged lands and waters of the Northern Mariana Islands, are prohibited except as provided by law.

Section 10: Privacy. The right of individual privacy shall not be infringed except upon a showing of compelling interest.

Section 11: Victims of Crime. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, and belongings against crime shall be recognized at sentencing. Restitution to the crime victim shall be a condition of probation and parole except upon a showing of compelling interest.

Section 12: Abortion. The abortion of the unborn child during the mother's pregnancy is prohibited in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, except as provided by law.

ARTICLE II: LEGISLATIVE BRANCH

Section 1: Legislative