Constitutional revision

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A constitutional revision is a holistic and fundamental change to a state constitution, in contrast to a constitutional amendment, which is a piecemeal change to part of a constitution.

Whether a particular change to a constitution is a revision, or an amendment, is a gray area that has been the subject of litigation.

After Proposition 8 was approved in California in 2008, one of two main lines of reasoning in the various lawsuits filed against it is that it amounted to a revision of the California Constitution, rather than an amendment. Article 18 of the California Constitution says that voters can initiate an amendment. The legal claim was that Proposition 8 amounted to a revision, and revisions can't be accomplished through the ballot initiative process. (The California Supreme Court ruled that Prop 8 was an amendment, not a revision.)

Relevant legal cases

