Peterson, Justice.
*267**179The State is prosecuting Andrea Elliott for driving under the influence of alcohol. When Elliott was arrested, she refused to submit to a breath test. Georgia statutes allow the State to use her refusal against her in her criminal trial, and the State has sought to do precisely that. The United States Supreme Court has held that the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution does not bar the State from using such a refusal, in part because the Fifth Amendment gives Elliott no right to refuse to act in the first place. But we have held - and hold again today - that the protection against compelled self-incrimination provided by Article I, Section I, Paragraph XVI of the Georgia Constitution does afford the right to refuse such a test. So Elliott argues to us that Paragraph XVI gives her the protection that the Fifth Amendment does not, and thus renders invalid the portions **180of the statutes allowing her refusal to be admitted against her. We agree.
In Olevik v. State, 302 Ga. 228, 806 S.E.2d 505 (2017), we held that - unlike the Fifth Amendment - the Georgia Constitution's right against compelled self-incrimination prevents the State from forcing someone to submit to a chemical breath test. Given that holding, and relying on a combination of decisions by this Court and Fifth Amendment decisions of the United States Supreme Court, Elliott argues that assertions of that right cannot be admitted against her. The State argues that we were wrong in Olevik and should overrule it, but also argues that the right - properly understood - does not prohibit the State's use of refusal evidence against a defendant.1 We adhere to Olevik, and, after extensive review of the historical record and our case law, conclude that our state constitutional right does prohibit admission of evidence that Elliott refused a breath test.
After a review of the undisputed facts, we begin by reviewing three principles that guide our constitutional interpretation in this case. Turning then to the State's argument that we should overrule Olevik, a careful application of those interpretive principles leads us to adhere to Olevik . We properly interpreted Paragraph XVI in the light of this Court's consistent holdings that Paragraph XVI's materially identical precursors protected defendants from being compelled to perform affirmative acts. We then review the relevant history and case law regarding admission of a defendant's refusal to act and the drawing of adverse inferences therefrom. We conclude that although the pre-Revolution English common-law right against self-incrimination did not preclude admission of defendants' refusals to incriminate themselves or adverse inferences therefrom, legal developments in the United States and specifically *268in Georgia in the years leading up to and around the time of the adoption of the 1877 Constitution demonstrate that the original public meaning of the 1877 Constitution's precursor to Paragraph XVI (the "1877 Provision") did preclude the admission of such evidence. Finding no basis to conclude that the meaning of Paragraph XVI itself as adopted in 1983 is different in that respect, we conclude that the Georgia statute permitting admission of Elliott's refusal violates Paragraph XVI.
I. Background
The relevant facts are not in dispute. In August 2015, a police officer stopped Elliott after observing her commit several traffic **181violations, including a failure to maintain her lane. During the stop, Elliott admitted to consuming alcohol earlier that day. After smelling the odor of alcohol and observing several signs of impairment, including several clues during a field sobriety test, the officer arrested Elliott for DUI and other traffic offenses and read her the statutorily mandated implied consent notice. See OCGA § 40-5-67.1 (b).2 Elliott replied that she was overwhelmed and unsure of what was happening, so the officer explained why he stopped her, why he asked her to perform field sobriety tests, why he read her the implied consent notice following her arrest, and that a refusal to submit to a state-administered breath test could result in certain consequences, including that her refusal to submit might be offered into evidence against her at trial. Elliott refused to submit to a breath test and was taken to jail. She filed a motion to suppress her refusal to submit to a breath test, claiming that the introduction of that evidence at trial would violate her right against compelled self-incrimination under the Georgia Constitution and Georgia Code. The trial court denied her motion, leading to this appeal.
II. Principles of Georgia constitutional interpretation
Both Elliott's arguments challenging the denial of her motion to suppress evidence of her refusal and the State's arguments that we should reconsider our decision in Olevik require us to begin by reviewing some important principles that guide our interpretation of the Georgia Constitution in this case.
We have often explained that we interpret the Georgia Constitution according to its original public meaning. And, of course, the Georgia Constitution that we interpret today is the Constitution of 1983; the original public meaning of that Constitution is the public meaning it had at the time of its ratification in 1982. But many of the provisions of the Constitution of 1983 first originated in an earlier **182Georgia constitution; unlike the United States, the State of Georgia has had ten constitutions since declaring independence from Great Britain.3 The meanings of those previous provisions is critical to understanding *269the meaning they carried at the time they were readopted. See Clarke v. Johnson, 199 Ga. 163, 166, 33 S.E.2d 425 (1945) ("A constitutional provision must be presumed to have been framed and adopted in the light and understanding of prior and existing laws and with reference to them. Constitutions, like statutes, are properly to be expounded in the light of conditions existing at the time of their adoption." (citation and punctuation omitted)). Paragraph XVI first appeared in the Constitution of 1877, and was carried forward without material change into the Constitutions of 1945, 1976, and now our current Constitution of 1983. Our focus on the original public meaning of this provision thus requires us to consider two interpretive principles that arise from the provision's multi-constitutional history, and a third principle that simply arises from the independent nature of state constitutions.
A. The presumption of constitutional continuity.
Original public meaning is an interpretive principle that we apply to each of our constitutions. See Padelford, Fay & Co. v. Mayor and Aldermen of City of Savannah, 14 Ga. 438, 454 (1854) ("[T]he Constitution, like every other instrument made by men, is to be construed in the sense in which it was understood by the makers of it at the time when they made it . To deny this is to insist that a fraud shall be perpetrated upon those makers or upon some of them." (emphasis in original))4 ; see also Olevik, 302 Ga. at 235-236 (2) (c) (i), 806 S.E.2d 505 **183(citing cases). Because the meaning of a previous provision that has been readopted in a new constitution is generally the most important legal context for the meaning of that new provision, and because we accord each of those previous provisions their own original public meanings, we generally presume that a constitutional provision retained from a previous constitution without material change has retained the original public meaning that provision had at the time it first entered a Georgia Constitution, absent some indication to the contrary. See, e.g., Lathrop v. Deal, 301 Ga. 408, 428-432 (III) (B), 801 S.E.2d 867 (2017) (interpreting Art. I, Sec. II, Par. V of Constitution of 1983 in the light of the original meaning of the provision as it first appeared in the Constitution of 1861); Ga. Motor Trucking Assn. v. Ga. Dept. of Revenue, 301 Ga. 354, 366 (2) (B), 801 S.E.2d 9 (2017) (interpreting provision of Constitution of 1983 in the light of the meaning of amendments to the Constitution of 1945 that were carried forward); Smith v. Baptiste, 287 Ga. 23, 24-28 (1), 694 S.E.2d 83 (2010) (considering meaning of 1983 provision in part in the light of the meaning of its predecessor provisions); id. at 32-37 (2) - (3), 694 S.E.2d 83 (Nahmias, J., concurring) (same); Nelms v. Georgian Manor Condo. Assn., 253 Ga. 410, 413 (2), 321 S.E.2d 330 (1984) (considering history of 1877 provision carried forward in the 1945 and 1976 Constitutions, and concluding *270that the provision's meaning remained unchanged "[a]s the language of this paragraph remained unchanged in the 1976 Constitution"); Bloomfield v. Liggett & Myers, Inc., 230 Ga. 484, 484-485, 198 S.E.2d 144 (1973) (interpreting Art. I, Sec. I, Par. IV of the Constitution of 1945 in the light of the original meaning of the same provision in the Constitution of 1877)5 ; cf. Bibb County v. Hancock, 211 Ga. 429, 432 (1), 86 S.E.2d 511 (1955) ("It is clear that, in placing [a provision from the Constitution of 1877] in the Constitution of 1945, there was no intention to declare any new **184principle of law, but merely to continue in the new Constitution the same provision of the old, with the same meaning."); cf. State v. Cent. of Ga. R. Co., 109 Ga. 716, 727-728, 35 S.E. 37 (1900) (absent constitutional text making clear a provision was intended to change the law, constitutional text should be interpreted consistent with the common law that preceded it). This presumption of constitutional continuity helps maintain the stability of Georgia's constitutional law, while still yielding when other considerations make clear that the people have changed the meaning of a provision.
B. A constitutional clause that is readopted into a new constitution and that has received a consistent and definitive construction is presumed to carry the same meaning as that consistent construction.
A second interpretive implication arises from applying an original public meaning analysis to a constitutional provision that has been readopted without material change in multiple constitutions, and this principle involves our interpretations of the previous constitutions. In Olevik, we reasoned that "history compel[led] our conclusion" that Paragraph XVI protected individuals from being forced to perform incriminating acts. 302 Ga. at 235 (2) (c), 806 S.E.2d 505. That history revealed a consistent and definitive construction of a self-incrimination clause whose words remained materially unchanged since the clause first appeared in our constitution in 1877. See id. at 239-240 (2) (c) (ii), 806 S.E.2d 505. Given this consistent and definitive construction, we presumed that construction was carried forward into the 1983 Constitution. Id. at 241 (2) (c) (ii), 806 S.E.2d 505.
We have long applied this interpretative approach. In McKnight v. City of Decatur, 200 Ga. 611, 616 (2), 37 S.E.2d 915 (1946), we noted that "[t]he framers of the revised Constitution [of 1945] were presumably cognizant of the foregoing provisions of the earlier Constitutions [of 1868 and 1877, as amended in 1919], and of the interpretations which this court had placed upon them." Of course, the relevant question is not the fact of what specific legislators did or did not know; rather, the point is what was sufficiently part of the public legal context such that a presumption is appropriate.
Soon after our decision in McKnight, we explained the presumption that the framers of a new constitution are not only aware of the provisions of the earlier constitution, but when
[they] adopt provisions contained in a former Constitution, to which a certain construction has been given, [they] are presumed as a general rule to have intended that these provisions should have the meaning attributed to them under the earlier instrument.
**185Thompson v. Talmadge, 201 Ga. 867, 885 (2), 41 S.E.2d 883 (1947). And we have applied this principle in many cases since. See, e.g., Atlanta Indep. Sch. Sys. v. Lane, 266 Ga. 657, 658 (2), 469 S.E.2d 22 (1996) ; City of Thomaston v. Bridges, 264 Ga. 4, 6, 439 S.E.2d 906 (1994) ; Toombs County v. O'Neal, 254 Ga. 390, 391-392 (2), 330 S.E.2d 95 (1985) ; Aldrich v. State, 220 Ga. 132, 135, 137 S.E.2d 463 (1964) ; Hancock, 211 Ga. at 432 (1), 86 S.E.2d 511 ;
*271Griffin v. Vandegriff, 205 Ga. 288, 293, 53 S.E.2d 345 (1949) ; see also McCafferty v. Med. Coll. of Ga., 249 Ga. 62, 70, 287 S.E.2d 171 (1982) (Gregory, J., concurring specially), overruled on other grounds by Self v. City of Atlanta, 259 Ga. 78, 79 (1), 377 S.E.2d 674 (1989) (adopting special concurrence).
Many of our sister states apply a similar principle. See, e.g., Fla. Dept. of Revenue v. City of Gainesville, 918 So.2d 250, 263-264 (Fla. 2005) (adopting prior construction given to prior constitutional provision where framers of new constitution could have changed the meaning by redefining terms or using different terms altogether); Succession of Lauga, 624 So.2d 1156, 1165 (La. 1993) ("When a constitutional provision is identical or very similar to that of a former constitution, it is presumed that the same interpretation will be given to it as was attributed to the former provision."); State ex rel. Ashcroft v. Blunt, 813 S.W.2d 849, 854 (Mo. 1991) (same); Paper Supply Co. v. City of Chicago, 57 Ill.2d 553, 317 N.E.2d 3, 9 (1974) (prior construction applies unless "it is apparent that some other meaning was intended"); Richardson v. Hare, 381 Mich. 304, 160 N.W.2d 883, 886 (1968) (same); First Trust Co. of Lincoln v. Smith, 134 Neb. 84, 277 N.W. 762, 773 (1938) ("[W]hen the form of words used in the constitution is borrowed from an older source, it comes laden with its previous meaning."); Williamson v. City of High Point, 213 N.C. 96, 195 S.E. 90, 94-95 (1938) (where provision reincorporated into new or revised constitution, "it will be presumed to have been retained with a knowledge of the previous construction, and courts will feel bound to adhere to it"); Ex parte Western Union Telegraph Co., 200 Ala. 496, 76 So. 438, 439 (1917) ("bound" by former construction given to a constitutional provision that was readopted into new constitution); Elliott v. Ashby, 104 Va. 716, 52 S.E. 383, 384 (1905) ("We have then a judgment of this court ... construing a provision of the Constitution and a statute passed in pursuance thereof, and the construction placed upon them has not only been unchallenged, but must be taken as having been approved by the adoption of the identical language in the Code and the Constitution."); Cline v. State, 36 Tex.Crim. 320, 37 S.W. 722, 728 (Tex. Crim. App. 1896) (constitutional provision with a settled judicial construction is presumed to have that meaning when it is incorporated into new constitution).
**186The State takes issue with this principle, arguing that its implications would prevent us from ever reconsidering previous decisions no matter how wrong. But our long-standing articulation of this principle is not so restrictive. Indeed, in one of the first cases referring to this principle, we expressly rejected the notion that we could never reconsider such precedent. See Thompson, 201 Ga. at 885 (2), 41 S.E.2d 883 (observing that a rule that precludes a court from revisiting a previous construction is "stated more strongly than we would be willing to put it"). Instead, we explained that the better rule was that "where a constitutional provision that has received a settled judicial construction, and is afterward incorporated into a new or revised constitution, or amendment, it will be presumed to have been retained with a knowledge of the previous construction[.]" Id. (citation and punctuation omitted, emphasis supplied). The same rule applies to statutes. Id. at 885-886 (2), 41 S.E.2d 883 ("The language of an existing statute adopted into a constitution is presumed to be taken with its established construction."); see also Bradshaw v. State, 296 Ga. 650, 654 (2), 769 S.E.2d 892 (2015) (noting that "when judicial interpretations have settled the meaning of an existing statutory provision, repetition of the same language in a new statute indicates, as a general matter, the intent to incorporate its judicial interpretations as well" (quoting Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich, L.P.A., 559 U.S. 573, 589-590, 130 S.Ct. 1605, 176 L.Ed.2d 519 (2010) (punctuation omitted))). The presumption created by a consistent and definitive construction "reflects the value of consistency in the interpretation of legal language." Bridges, 264 Ga. at 6, 439 S.E.2d 906.6
The State also argues that this principle should apply only when constitutional text is ambiguous, citing statements from this Court more than 166 years ago that the first rule of construction is that an unambiguous statute *272or provision "stands self-interpreted, and Courts have nothing to do but to enforce it." Neal v. Moultrie, 12 Ga. 104, 110 (1852). The State also notes similar language in Griffin. See 205 Ga. at 291 (1), 53 S.E.2d 345.
The State is wrong; when we determine the meaning of a particular word or phrase in a constitutional provision or statute, we consider text in context, not in isolation. See Chan v. Ellis, 296 Ga. 838, 839 (1), 770 S.E.2d 851 (2015) ("The common and customary usages of the words are important, but so is their context." (citation **187omitted)); Brown v. State, 290 Ga. 865, 868 (2) (b), 725 S.E.2d 320 (2012) ("words often gain meaning from context"); see also Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Forsyth Cty., 318 Ga. App. 499, 502 (1), 734 S.E.2d 242 (2012) ("[E]ven if words are apparently plain in meaning, they must not be read in isolation and instead, must be read in the context of the regulation as a whole."). For context, we may look to "the broader context in which that text was enacted," including other law - constitutional, statutory, decisional, and common law alike - that forms the legal background of the constitutional provision. Olevik, 302 Ga. at 236 (2) (c) (i), 806 S.E.2d 505 ; see also Undisclosed LLC v. State, 302 Ga. 418, 420 (2) (a), 807 S.E.2d 393 (2017) ; Gilbert v. Thomas, 3 Ga. 575, 579 (1847) (rejecting interpretation of constitutional text read in isolation because broader legal context showed that it was not "the design of the framers of the constitution"). The presumption arising from a consistent and definitive construction is simply a reflection of this principle.
C. Georgia constitutional provisions may confer greater, fewer, or the same rights as similar provisions of the United States Constitution, and decisions of the United States Supreme Court interpreting those similar provisions are persuasive in our interpretation of the Georgia Constitution only to the extent that those decisions are rooted in shared history, language, and context.
When we consider the meaning of a provision of the United States Constitution, we faithfully apply the decisions of the United States Supreme Court as to the meaning of that provision. Such a faithful application is not an act of judgment on our part; it is an act of obedience. But when the provision we consider is a provision of the Georgia Constitution, our approach is different.
When interpreting a provision of our Constitution that parallels a provision of the United States Constitution, we should take seriously decisions of the United States Supreme Court that have interpreted that parallel provision. And here, the federal self-incrimination clause of the Fifth Amendment, see U.S. Const. Amend. V ("No person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself[.]"), is similar to the state self-incrimination clause of Paragraph XVI ("No person shall be compelled to give testimony tending in any manner to be self-incriminating."). But we owe those federal decisions no obedience when interpreting our own Constitution. "Questions of the construction of the State Constitution are strictly matters for the highest court of this State. The construction of similar federal constitutional provisions, though persuasive authority, is not binding on this State's construction of its own