The Amendments Flashcards
What is the first amendment?
Protects freedom of religion, the press, speech and assembly.
Freedom of speech has been interpreted as the freedom to burn the flag and to spend money to support political views.
What is the second amendment?
Protects the right to bear arms
Controversial due to the nature of this but also the constitutions use of the word ‘mafia’
What is the third amendment?
Protects the rights of property owners including a broader protection of privacy
What is the fourth amendment?
Guarantees freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures
What is the fifth amendment?
Guarantees the rights of the accused and includes the ‘due process clause’, whereby no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. It also protects the right to silence in a court of law.
What is the sixth amendment?
Sets our rights for those standing trial and protects against arbitrary arrest and imprisonment
What is the seventh amendment?
This deals mainly with civil law suits mainly
What is the eighth amendment?
Bans ‘cruel and unusual punishment’
Controversial given the existence of the death penalty in many states
What is the ninth amendment?
It is concerned with the rights ‘reserved to the people’ and states that people may have other rights not found in the bill of rights.
This has been used in many privacy cases and Roe v Wade
What is the tenth amendment?
Concerned with the rights reserved to the states.
What is the fourteenth amendment?
It talks of ‘equal protection under the law’
How many amendment have been passed to the Us constitution and what does it require to pass an amendment?
27 and 3/4 of the states and 2/3 of congress
How many amendments have been overruled?
6 amendments
When was the bill of rights passed?
1791
What is the 12th amendment?
1804
This revised the process for election the president and Vice President
What were the 13th 14th and 15th amendments about?
Ending slavery and guaranteeing rights to former slaves
What is the 16th amendment about?
1913
Allowed an income tax to be imposed by the federal government
What is the 17th amendment?
1917
Allowed for the direct election of the senate
Before they were chosen by the state legislature
What is the 22nd amendment?
Limited the president to two terms
What is the 25th amendment?
1967
Dealt with the issues of presidential disability and succession
This was v relevant at the time due to Kennedys assassination
What did the 26th amendment do?
Lower the voting age to 18
1971
What are the 18th and 21st amendment about?
Starting and ending prohibition
How many amendments have been proposed and how many ratified?
27 out of 33
How can the constitution be amended other that through congress?
A national constitutional convention called by congress at the request of 2/3 of the state legislatures. (Never been done, but in 1992 32 state legislatures tried to over a balanced budget amendment)
How is an amendment ratified?
Either
3/4 of the state legislatures agree
Or
State constitutional conventions agree in 3/4 of the states
Only the 21st amendment was ever ratified through constitutional conventions
What is the 19th amendment?
1920
Gave women voting rights
Why is the constitution amended so rarely?
FOUNDING FATHERS MADE IT REALLY DIFFICULT ON PURPOSE
THE FRAMERS MADE THE CONSTITUTION DELIBERATELY UNSPECIFIC
-this has allowed the document to evolve without the need for formal amendment
THE SUPREME COURT’S POWER OF JUDICIAL REVIEW
-interpretive amendment means the court can change the meaning of the words in the constitution
AMERICANS ARE CAUTIOUS OF TEMPERING WITH THE CONSTITUTION
-the 18th and 21st amendment mishap has played an important lesson to not mess with formal amendment for younger generations.
If a right is in the constitution does it mean it is enforced?
No there often has to be law to back it up.
Brown v Board had to be backed with he civil rights act 1964
What did the 24th amendment do?
Guarantee voting rights for racial minorities, notably black people
Name an amendment that came close to passing and didn’t?
The Equal Rights Amendment in 1972
The President and congress really supported it but it failed to gain approval of 38 states
What elastic clauses are commonly used from the amendments?
‘Due process’
‘Equal protection’
- covered women’s rights, gay rights and ethnic minority rights
How many states are needed to block an amendment?
13
When have rights supposedly given in the bill of rights been ignored?
Until the 1960’s very few African Americans or native Americans were assured of the due process of law
Japanese Americans were interned in 1944 as it was feared they might assist an invasion
Interpretation means perhaps rights aren’t being enforced correctly, death penalty for example
The patriot act and the war on terror has bought rights into question
How many votes on proposed constitutional amendments during Bill Clintons presidency?
18 ( this is a very high number)
All these votes occurred when the republicans controlled both houses 1995-2001
In this period the House of Representatives agreed to a balanced budget amendment 1995
They also agreed to a Flag desecrating amendment in 1995,1997 and 1999.
The senate didn’t pass any of these but was 1 vote short of passing the balanced budget amendment and 4 votes short of a flag amendment
How many amendments has congress passed?
33
How many attempts were made to amend the constitution in Bush’s presidency?
10
3 votes for flag desecration amendment won in the house
How many times has a flag desecration amendment been voted on since 1995?
6 times
What happened to the proposed balanced budget amendment in 2011?
Didn’t gain 2/3 in the house
Didn’t even gain a simple majority in the senate
When was the last successful amendment?
1994
Pay rises for members of congress
Why did the Equal Rights Amendment not pass?
Congress passed it
States given ten years to ratify it but they didn’t
Who gets power due to the amendment process being so hard?
Unelected judges
