1. The Bill of Rights

2. Scenario 1
Carolyn is arrested for shoplifting a candy bar from a neighborhood convenience store. At trial, she is found guilty. The judge decides that the appropriate punishment is to cut off Carolyn’s hands so that she will not be able to shoplift again.

3. Scenario 2
Mr. Reynolds, an avid hunter, opens the door of his home one day to find agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms outside. They inform him that certain provisions of a new federal law allow them to confiscate his rifles so that he may not engage in terrorist activities or plot against the United States government. They have no evidence that he is connected to any such activities.

4. Scenario 3
Your science teacher asks the class to exchange papers to correct last night’s homework. Your friend, Jamie, refuses to do so and is sent to the principal. Does this violate an Amendment?

5. Amendment 1
Guarantees freedom of religion, speech, assembly, and press, and the right of people to petition the government. 1

6. Amendment 2
Protects the rights of states to maintain a militia and of citizens to bear arms 2

7. Amendment 3
Restricts the quartering of troops in private home 3

8. Amendment 4
Protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” 4

9. Amendment 5
Assures the right not to be deprived of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law. 5

10. Amendment 6
Guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. 6

11. Amendment 7
Assures the right to a jury trial in cases involving the common law ( the law established by previous court decisions). 7

12. Amendment 8
Protects against excessive bail, or cruel or unusual punishment. 8

13. Amendment 9
Provides that people’s rights are not restricted to those specified in the first eight amendment. 9

14. Amendment 10
Restates the Constitution’s principle of federalism by providing that powers not granted to the national government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states and to the people. 10