Law of Connecticut

[5] Prior to the revision of 1672, which was printed in 1675, the laws and orders of the General Court were promulgated only by manuscript copies.

[5] The laws were few and simple, yet they were such as the exigencies of the commonwealth required, and such as may be supposed to exist in the infancy of civil governments.

[5] The Connecticut Supreme Court struck down the "Blue Laws" in 1979 as an unconstitutional breach of the due process and equal protection clauses of the United States Constitution.

[6] Since the famous constitution of 1818 was adopted, revisions to the Connecticut General Statutes have occurred at intervals of a few years; although the first, that of 1821, was in force for a quarter of a century.

[7] In 1835, references to judicial decisions were printed for the first time; and some years afterwards, the Secretary began to publish separately the Private Acts, which in 1870 had accumulated to six volumes.

[7] Many ancient titles which had become obsolete, as Concerning Slavery Taverners, and the like, were left out; many penalties and fines were changed because inadequate or expressed in antiquated terms; and by careful condensation, the whole mass of statues was abridged to a volume little larger than the previous one.

An earlier constitution dating from colonial times, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, remained the basis of government even as Connecticut gained its independence from Great Britain, existed as an independent polity, and joined the United States.