Bill Of Rights
Ke'Ira Wilson,3rd block,12/17/2014
10 admentments
1st Admentment:Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition
1st amendment summary:freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition.
Court Case:
Marbury v. Madison (1803)Summary : Established the doctrine of judicial review.
In the Judiciary Act of 1789, Congress gave the Supreme Court the authority to issue certain judicial writs. The Constitution did not give the Court this power. Because the Constitution is the Supreme Law of the Land, the Court held that any contradictory congressional Act is without force. The ability of federal courts to declare legislative and executive actions unconstitutional is known as judicial review
2nd admentment
2nd admentment:Right to bear arms
2nd amendment summary:Right to keep and bear arms.
Court Case:
McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)Summary: The Constitution gives the federal government certain implied powers.
Maryland imposed a tax on the Bank of the United States and questioned the federal government's ability to grant charters without explicit constitutional sanction. The Supreme Court held that the tax unconstitutionally interfered with federal supremacy and ruled that the Constitution gives the federal government certain implied powers
3rd admentment:Quartering soldiers
3rd amendment summary:Soldiers can not stay in people house's without their consent.
Court Case:
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Summary: Separate schools are not equal.
In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court sanctioned segregation by upholding the doctrine of "separate but equal." The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People disagreed with this ruling, challenging the constitutionality of segregation in the Topeka, Kansas, school system. In 1954, the Court reversed its Plessy decision, declaring that "separate schools are inherently unequal."
4th admentment:Right of search and seizure regulated
4th amendment summary:Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Court Case:
Cooper v. Aaron (1958)Summary: States cannot nullify decisions of the federal courts.
Several government officials in southern states, including the governor and legislature of Alabama, refused to follow the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision. They argued that the states could nullify federal court decisions if they felt that the federal courts were violating the Constitution. The Court unanimously rejected this argument and held that only the federal courts can decide when the Constitution is violated
5th admentment:Protection against double jeopardy. No self-incrimination
5th amendment summary:Right to due process of law, freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy. Private property cannot be taken away without compensation (pay).
Court Case:
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
Summary: Illegally obtained material cannot be used in a criminal trial.
While searching Dollree Mapp's house, police officers discovered obscene materials and arrested her. Because the police officers never produced a search warrant, she argued that the materials should be suppressed as the fruits of an illegal search and seizure. The Supreme Court agreed and applied to the states the exclusionary rule from Weeks v. United States (1914).
6th admentment:Right to a speedy trial. Jury trial for a criminal case
6th amendment summary:Rights of accused persons, e.g., right to a speedy and public trial.
Court Case:
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)Summary: Indigent defendants must be provided representation without charge.
Gideon was accused of committing a felony. Being indigent, he petitioned the judge to provide him with an attorney free of charge. The judge denied his request. The Supreme Court ruled for Gideon, saying that the Sixth Amendment requires indigent criminal defendants to be provided an attorney free of charge
7th admentment:Right to a trial by jury Civil case
7th amendment summary:Trial by jury in certain civil cases (non-criminal cases).
Court Case:
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)Summary: Police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning.
After hours of police interrogations, Ernesto Miranda confessed to rape and kidnapping. At trial, he sought to suppress his confession, stating that he was not advised of his rights to counsel and to remain silent. The Supreme Court agreed, holding that police must inform suspects of their rights before questioning
7th admentment
Holding: Stop and frisks do not violate the Constitution under certain circumstances.
Observing Terry and others acting suspiciously in front of a store, a police officer concluded that they might rob it. The officer stopped and frisked the men. A weapon was found on Terry and he was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon. The Supreme Court ruled that this search was reasonable
8th admentment:No cruel and unusual punishment no excessive bail required.
8th amendment summary:Prohibits excessive fines or bans. Prohibits cruel and unusual punishment.
Court Case:
Terry v. Ohio (1968)
Summary: Stop and frisks do not violate the Constitution under certain circumstances.
Observing Terry and others acting suspiciously in front of a store, a police officer concluded that they might rob it. The officer stopped and frisked the men. A weapon was found on Terry and he was convicted of carrying a concealed weapon. The Supreme Court ruled that this search was reasonable.
9th admentment:Rules of construction of constitution
9th amendment summary:The rights not specifically granted to the people in the Bill of Rights, still belong to the people.
Court Case:
U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
Summary: The President is not above the law.
The special prosecutor in the Watergate affair subpoenaed audio tapes of Oval Office conversations. President Nixon refused to turn over the tapes, asserting executive privilege. The Supreme Court ruled that the defendants' right to potentially exculpating evidence outweighed the President's right to executive privilege if national security was not compromised.
10 admentment:State - reserved powers
10th amendment summary:Any powers that aren't either given to the national government or denied to the state government belongs to the state.
Court Case:
U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
Summary: The President is not above the law.
The special prosecutor in the Watergate affair subpoenaed audio tapes of Oval Office conversations. President Nixon refused to turn over the tapes, asserting executive privilege. The Supreme Court ruled that the defendants' right to potentially exculpating evidence outweighed the President's right to executive privilege if national security was not compromised.