US History and Government 3

The Bill of Rights= first ten amendments. There are a total of twenty seven amendments and the first ten were added almost immediately because there were people where people who were afraid that the federal government had too much power. They wanted that people’s rights and the states should be protected.

1. Religious and political freedom- granted the people with:
a. Freedom of religion- the Supreme Court decides the extent of this freedom. If a religion calls for something extreme, such as hallucinated drugs or human sacrifices, freedom of religion might still deny this action.
b. Freedom of speech
c. Freedom of the press
d. The right to assemble
e. The right to petition
2. The right to bear arms- every American has the right to own licensed weapons.
3. Quartering troops- one will never be asked to host troops during peace time. During war though, a law may be passed to require the housing of troops.
4. Search and seizure- this protects the citizen from an unwarranted search of the home. In the event of a warranted search, they must tell the citizen what they are searching for. There have been times in history though, that these rights were ignored such as during the Red Scare. There are some exceptions to the requirement of a search warrant:
a. Moving car
b. Seeing something in plain view
c. Border
5. Rights of the accused:
a. Remain silent- one never has to incriminate himself.
b. Double jeopardy is prohibited- one can’t be accused of the same crime twice.
c. Due process- every person has a fair chance under the law.
d. Eminent Domain- private property won’t be taken from its owner without compensation.
6. The right to a fair, speedy and public trail by an impartial jury in a criminal case.
7. The right to a fair, speedy and public trail by an impartial jury in a civil case.
8. Places limits on fines and punishment- cruel and unusual punishment is illegal. Capital punishment is legal- most states don’t use this form of punishment but some do with a lethal injection.
9. Rights of the people- any rights which were discussed in the constitution shouldn’t be interpreted in any way to abridge the rights of other people. This amendment is nicknamed the elastic clause because it can encompass anything that wasn’t mentioned- just because something isn’t mentioned doesn’t mean that it’s denied. An example of this is the right to privacy- abortion. The Supreme Court passed Roe vs. Wade which says that one can end a pregnancy until the third month.
10. Powers of the state and the people- this is a general statement to the states promising that any power which has not exclusively been given over to the federal government and has not been denied to the state, it can go to the state.