CONSTITUTION - Bill of Rights Flashcards
I
Freedom of speech
II
Right to keep and bear arms
III
No quartering of soldiers - this means putting up the British soldiers when they were on US soil
IV
No unreasonable search and seizure without a warrant
V
Due Process/Rule of Law
VI
Speedy and public trial-the definition of speedy is vague in the constitution
VII
Trial by jury in civil cases
VIII
No Cruel and Unusual Punishment – in addition to being hung, drawn, and quartered.
IX
Other rights of the people – to allow any further rights which hadn’t been covered in the Bill
X
Power not delegated to the Federal Government are reserved to the States or people (this is a fundamental difference between Unitary states and Federal states). – particularly for defence and maintenance of law and order.
Bill of Rights - some basic info
The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments of the US Constitution.
This was proposed by Congress in September 1789.
This was ratified by ¾ of the states by December 1791.
This is collectively known as the Bill of Rights – they were written into a separate document.
States were fearful and reluctant to support the establishment of the (potentially) powerful federal government. The larger states typically wanted larger central control.
They form the fundamental rights – constitutional rights. Every amendment (27 including the first 10 amendments) after the first 10 are referred to as American’s constitutional rights.
They weren’t initially universal rights
ARGUMENTS FOR
Applicable for everyone
This applies to EVERYONE… or at least has provided a justification for arguing for equal treatment of minorities.
ARGUMENTS FOR
Other safeguards
The other Constitutional safeguards did not offer any protection against the tyranny of the majority in the persecution of minorities.
it is ‘counter-majoritarian’
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
Checks and balances are enough
Safeguards in the Constitution would make it near impossible for the government to infringe the liberties and rights of the people. They argue that the system of checks and balances should be sufficient enough.
Aggressively ambitious politicians would be significantly unlikely to respect the charter of the rights regardless, it would be insufficient.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
Knowing rights doesn’t mean they are implemented
Some will refuse to acknowledge rights that were not specified in the Bill anyway. (BLM and hashtagMETOO). This has proved fundamentally true because regardless of how well Americans know their rights, it doesn’t mean they are acknowledged.
