Background
- The American Revolution was, in large part, fought because the colonists believed that the British King and Parliament were violating their rights-namely, their right to be free from taxation without representation. When the colonists won independence, they made sure that the new government they created would respect their rights. Today, a variety of Constitutional provisions and laws specifically prevent the government from infringing upon individual rights.
Constitutional Protections Against Government Abuse
- Certain provisions within the first Seven Articles of the Constitution protect individual rights. For instance, the Ex Post Facto clause of Article I, Sections 9 and 10 prohibits both the federal and state governments from punishing persons for actions that were not crimes when they were committed.
- The Bill of Rights is the name given to the first Ten Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. It lists specific rights that the government may not violate.
- The First Amendment protects freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
- The Second Amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms.
- The Third Amendment prevents soldiers from being housed in private homes by the government except during times of war.
- The Fourth Amendment sets the requirements for issuing search warrants and prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.
- The Fifth Amendment protects several rights, including: the right to remain silent, to not be tried twice for the same crime, to have a grand jury review a criminal case before a formal charge is brought, to not have the government seize private property without paying for it, and to not be prosecuted for a crime and/or deprived of your life, liberty, or property without being heard (known as due process of law).
- The Sixth Amendment provides rights relating to a criminal trial, including: the right to an attorney, to cross examine witnesses, to make sure that relevant witnesses are compelled to attend the trial, to have an impartial jury, and to have a speedy trial.
- The Seventh Amendment provides for the right to a jury trial in most civil (non-criminal) trials.
- The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive fines, bail, and cruel and unusual punishments.
- The Ninth Amendment reserves to the people rights not otherwise specified.
- The Tenth Amendment protects the powers of the states.
- The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies most of the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the States. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the States from using the law to treat people differently without sufficient justification.
- Voting is one of a citizen's most important rights in a democracy. Several Constitutional provisions deal with this right, including: the Fifteenth Amendment (gave newly freed slaves the right to vote); the Nineteenth Amendment (gave women the right to vote); the Twenty-Third Amendment (gave residents of the District of Columbia the right to vote in Presidential elections); and the Twenty-Sixth Amendment (lowered the federal voting age to 18).
Laws Prohibiting the Infringement of Individual Rights
- The Constitution only prohibits the government from infringing upon individual rights. With the exception of the Thirteenth Amendment's prohibition of slavery, it does not prohibit private individuals from doing so.
- The Constitution does give the federal government the power to make laws that affect private individuals. The government has used this power to enact laws that prevent private individuals from infringing upon each other's rights, e.g., the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits private businesses from discriminating against persons because of their race, ethnicity, religion, etc.
The Role of the Courts
- The Courts have often been instrumental in protecting rights and liberties. For example, the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education helped to bring an end to segregation.
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