The Bill of Rights First ten amendments to the Constitution

The Bill of Rights  The Bill of Rights guarantees things that government has to do for its citizens.  When the Constitution was written, each state had a Bill of Rights  The states insisted the federal government give a Bill of Rights also.

The Bill of Rights  Some of the amendments describe what the government can never do to you. These are called your “civil liberties.”  Other amendments describe what the government must always do for you.  These are called your “civil rights.”

The Bill of Rights  Amendment I  Guarantees that the government will never inhibit free speech, free worship, free assembly, free press  Note that any other group of people (your parents, for example) are not stopped from doing these things to you. Just the government.

The Bill of Rights  Most actions that inhibit free speech, assembly, or religion are ruled to be unconstitutional.  Some are not; courts have said that people can’t make speeches that promote crime. Courts generally rule against people involved in child pornography – no “freedom of the press” for kiddie porn.

The Bill of Rights  Amendment II  Protects a citizen’s right to own weapons for his/her own use  Amendment uses the phrase “well- regulated,” seems to indicate some laws about who can get a gun would be OK  Language is vague, though

The Bill of Rights  Amendment III  Guarantees that government can never force citizens to house soldiers in their own homes  Not a big issue nowadays, but was a major concern during the American colonial period

The Bill of Rights  Amendment IV  Guarantees citizens the right to “be secure” in their homes, their persons, their personal property, from unreasonable searches and seizure by a police force.  “Unreasonable” usually means without a court warrant or a good cause

The Bill of Rights  The Court now interprets Amendment IV as describing a “right to privacy,” even though these 3 words don’t appear in the Constitution  Citizens’ decisions about private matters are often covered by this “right to privacy”  This understanding is controversial; some call it “judicial activism”

The Bill of Rights  Amendment V  A citizen may not be forced to testify against himself/herself when accused of a crime; a citizen cannot be tried twice for the same crime on the same evidence, once he/she has been found not guilty on that evidence  Being tried twice for the same crime would be called “double jeopardy.”

The Bill of Rights  Amendment VI  Guarantees a citizen accused of a crime the right to a speedy trial, a public trial, and a jury trial  Guarantees a citizen the right to bring witnesses to testify on his/her behalf  Guarantees the right to have an attorney

The Bill of Rights  Amendment VII  Guarantees jury trial to anyone who requests one in a civil law matter (a suit, will, etc.) if the citizen wants one and the matter involves more than $25.

The Bill of Rights  Amendment VIII  Guarantees that citizens who are arrested cannot have an unreasonably high bail, and cannot be treated in a cruel, inhumane way while in prison

The Bill of Rights  Amendment IX  Guarantees that the government may never say a right doesn’t exist, just because it’s not mentioned in the original Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights  Amendment X  States that any powers not specifically given to the US Government by the Constitution are presumed to belong to the States, or to the American people  Idea is to keep the central government from getting too strong

The Bill of Rights  These first 10 amendments are considered to be the Bill of Rights and civil liberties  Recall that originally, the Bill of Rights only applied to the central government  Each state had its own bill of rights

The Bill of Rights  After the Civil War, the central government (Congress, in this case) made some decisions for the entire country that were not popular with the states  These all revolved around slavery, which was fully outlawed by the 13 th Amendment

The Bill of Rights  The 14 th amendment is a broad definition of citizenship (“all persons born in the United States are citizens of the United States…”)  The 14 th also states that ALL citizens are entitled to fair and equal treatment under the law, both by the federal government and by each state’s government

The Bill of Rights  Courts and legal historians say that the 14 th amendment, passed in 1867, is actually the completion of the Bill of Rights  Because of the 14 th, the Bill of Rights doesn’t just make the central government guarantee citizens’ rights – it makes the states do so also.