CHAPTER 6: THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Social Science

THE AMENDMENT PROCESS

The addition of the Bill of Rights, or a list of citizen’s rights, to the Constitution was the first test of the amendment process, or the way in which changes are added to the Constitution

The amendment process is as follows: An amendment is approved at a national level

through a two-thirds vote from the Senate and House The same amendment is then proposed by either

Congress or a national convention, or assembly The states, after being presented the amendment,

can either ratify the amendment through three-fourths vote from each state, or by approval by a special convention in three fourths of all states

ADDING THE BILL OF RIGHTS

Madison declared that making a bill of rights would make the Constitution better and stronger

The Bill of Rights is constructed similar to the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights, and actually takes pieces from both documents, along with colonial and state charters

Members of Congress voted to attach the Bill of Rights at the end of the Constitution, and all amendments but two were ratified in 1791 The two that weren’t were to enlarge the

House and to limit when Congress could increase its salaries

PROTECTION OF INDIVIDUAL FREEDOMS

The first main category of the Bill of Rights is the protection of individual freedoms, and is broken up into five parts Freedom of religion: establishes freedom to practice any

religion desired and the separation between church and state, or the situation in which the government may not favor any religion or establish an official religion

Freedom of speech: establishes the freedom to speak and write freely

Freedom of the press: establishes the right for the press to criticize the government without being jailed

Freedom of assembly: establishes the right to gather together in demonstration

Freedom of Petition: establishes the right to ask a government representative to change a law, make a new law, or solve problems that arise

PROTECTION AGAINST ABUSE OF POWER

The second category of the Bill of Rights is the protection of the citizens against abuse of power from the government, and is broken up into four parts Gun ownership: citizens have the right to own guns

At time of writing, militias, or volunteer soldiers, existed, so debate over this amendment still goes on

Housing of soldiers: government must obtain homeowner’s consent first before housing soldiers

Unreasonable searches and seizures: police must obtain a search warrant from a judge before entering a citizen’s home or going through a citizen’s property

Protecting Property Rights: the government has the right of eminent domain, or taking private property for public use

Government must pay owners fair price for their property first

PROTECTION AGAINST THE ACCUSED

The third category in the Bill of Rights is the protection against the accused, that citizens are entitled to due process of law, or a process by which the government must treat accused persons fairly according to rules established by the law, and is broken down into three parts The Fifth Amendment: nobody may be forced to

answer questions that can go against themselves in court, that those who are accused of serious crimes must be indicted by a grand jury first, and citizens are protected from double jeopardy, or being tried for the same crime twice

PROTECTION AGAINST THE ACCUSED

Right to Trial by Jury: a citizen has the right to a speedy, public, and fair trial in front of a jury of their peers, has the right to advice from a lawyer, has the right to know what they are being tried for, can ask questions to witnesses against them

Bails, Fines, and Punishments: protects the accused from unfair treatment before and after a trial, the accused can be allowed to make bail, or pay a deposit to the court to go free, the bail must not be unreasonably high, and protects the accused from cruel and unusual punishment

Distribution of powers: powers of the nation belong to either the state government or the people

INTERPRETING THE BILL OF RIGHTS

The original Bill of Rights were constructed with loose interpretations in order for them to apply to several situations

It is the job of our nation’s courts to interpret the Bill of Rights and use their legal expertise to rule if an individual’s rights are being violated

We will now examine two case studies, or descriptions of situations or conflicts, the issues involved, and the decisions made, in order to better understand the role of the courts

TINKER & ECKHARDT V. UNITED STATES

Mary Beth Tinker and Christopher Eckhardt were teenagers in 1965 when they decided to wear armbands to protest American involvement in the Vietnam War They were suspended from school when

they entered wearing the armbands The parents of Tinker and Eckhardt

argued that they did not disrupt school or interfered with the student’s rights, and the they had the right to protest, protected by the First Amendment, while the school argued the suspensions were for disciplinary reasons and that school was not a place for protest

The case went to the Supreme Court, where the justices ruled in favor of the Tinker and Eckhardt

AMERICAN NAZI PARTY V. UNITED STATES

The American Nazi Party wanted to march through Skokie, Illinois, where many Jewish survivors of the Holocaust lived

The town demanded that in order to march, the party had to put down $350,000 for insurance

The party tried to protest, but the town forbade them to do so

The case proved difficult to interpret One side stated that since the Nazis would destroy

the right to speak if they were in power, why should they have this right

The other side stated that if the United States forbade the Nazis to organize, they would have the power to do it again

In the end, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Nazis, saying that the insurance was too high for them to pay, and that they could organize, march, and wear their uniforms