 Republicans opposed the ratification process , and were infuriated that the Democrats were attempting to revise the entire constitution without calling a constitutional convention , as had been called for the state 's two previous constitutions . Marshall argued that no convention was needed because the existing constitution did not call for one . Republicans took the issue to court and the Marion County Circuit Court granted an injunction removing the constitution from the 1912 ballot . Marshall appealed , but the Indiana Supreme Court upheld the decision in a judgment which stated that the Constitution of Indiana could not be replaced in total without a constitutional convention , based on the precedent set by Indiana 's first two constitutions . Marshall was angry with the decision and delivered a speech attacking the court and accusing it of overstepping its authority . He launched a final appeal to the United States Supreme Court but left office in January 1913 while the case was still pending . Later that year , the court declined the appeal , finding that the issue was within the sole jurisdiction of the state courts . Marshall was disappointed with the outcome . Subsequent historians , like Professor Linda Gugin , have called the process and the document itself " hopelessly flawed " , and legal expert James St. Claire has written that if the constitution had been adopted , large parts would probably have been ruled unconstitutional by the federal courts . 
