3/28/2007
Bill of Rights Study Guide
Basic Amendment Information | Basic Amendment Information |
| What was the Year of the Bill of Rights? | 1791. |
| Who was the Father of the Bill of Rights? | George Mason |
| What makes up the First Amendment? | · Free Exercise Clause · Establishment Clause |
| What makes up the Second Amendment? | · Right to Bear Arms |
| What makes up the Third Amendment? | · Right Against Quartering of Troops |
| What makes up the Fourth Amendment? | · Right against Unreasonable Search and Seizur · The “Big Right” to Privacy (Abortion, Birth Control, and Surveillance) |
| What makes up the Fifth Amendment? | · Right to Due Process · Right Against Self-Incrimination · Right to a Grand Jury · Right Against Double Jeopardy · Right to Private Property with Compensation |
| What makes up the Sixth Amendment? | · Right to Council · Right to Trial by Jury · Right to Face Accuser |
| What makes up the Seventh Amendment? | · Right to Sue |
| What makes up the Eighth Amendment? | · No Cruel or Unusual Punishment · No Excessive Fines · No Excessive Bail |
| What makes up the Ninth Amendment? | · Rights of the People |
| What makes up the Tenth Amendment? | · Rights of the States |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the First Amendment? | · Compelling State Interests · Freedom of Expression o Time o Place o Manner o Content |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the Second Amendment? | · State Reserved Powers o Licensing o Time Period o Age |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the Third Amendment? | · Consent · War Time Laws |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the Fourth Amendment? | · State Reserved Powers o Abortion § Parental notification § Time Period § Age · Right Against Unreasonable Search and Seizure o State § Probable Cause § Exigency § Consent o School § Reasonable Suspicion |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the Fifth Amendment? | · Right to Due Process o Hearing or Waiving Miranda Rights · Right to Grand Jury o Military Jurisdiction · Right Against Self-Incrimination o Immunity o Confession o Group Usage · Right Against Double Jeopardy o Changing the Charges · Right to Private Property o Just Compensation o Eminent Domain |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the Sixth Amendment? | · Right to Trial by jury o Choosing a Judge Over a Jury · Right to Face Accuser o Deathbed Declaration o Videotape · Right to Council o Waive your Right |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the Eighth Amendment? | · State Reserved Powers o Means of Execution o Age o Competency o Corporal Punishment o Type of Crime |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the Ninth Amendment? | · Contractual Agreement · Rules and Regulations |
| What are Reasonable Limits on the Tenth Amendment? | · 14th Amendment · Federal mandates/Money |
First Amendment | First Amendment |
| Why can the First Amendment be viewed as paradoxical? | Because the Free Exercise Clause can go head-to-head with the Establishment Clause in some cases |
| What does Jefferson say about the line “Congress Shall Not…” | He says that because of that line, the government is making laws upon itself in regards to religion, and not laws on the people. Congress can’t mess with your religious rights, which are given by nature. |
| What is the Broad Interpretation of the First Amendment? | Congress can only make laws that are absolutely necessary, everything else is forbidden. Unless it has to do with basic human rights, government can take no part. |
| What is the Narrow Interpretation of the First Amendment? | Congress can make almost any law regarding religion, as long as it’s necessary. The government can acknowledge religion, as long as its not any religion in particular. |
| What is the Literal Interpretation of the First Amendment? | This says that Congress simply cannot make a national religion. |
| What is the ‘R’ Equation for Religion? | Religious Rights + Compelling State interests = Reasonable Limits on Religious Free Exercise. |
| What are the three irresponsible acts of expression, and what are some examples? | 1. Clear and Present Danger o Speech leads to riot, lying under oath, giving away national secrets 2. Public Health o Yelling ‘fire’ in a crowded movie theater 3. Slander and Libel o Verbal/written abuse |
| What constitutes Slander and Libel? | 1. The stuff must be wrong 2. The stuff must be knowingly wrong 3. The stuff must have been said/published with malice |
| What are the four reasonable limits on expression, and what are some examples? | 1. Time o Can’t yell F*** on a megaphone at 2AM 2. Place o Can’t yell F*** at a home for the elderly 3. Manner o Can’t yell F***, but you can say F*** 4. Content o Can’t yell F***, but you can yell S*** |
| What is an Established Church? | Churches that were embedded in the society and their respective religion (such as the Church of England). |
We the People Responses | We the People Responses |
| Note: All answers are based on ‘most judges’ – things are up to interpretation, but there are understood interpretations. It’s based on what the teacher said during class, as well as the majority opinion of the class. | Note: All answers are based on ‘most judges’ – things are up to interpretation, but there are understood interpretations. It’s based on what the teacher said during class, as well as the majority opinion of the class. |
| Demonstrators are marching in front of a private home to protest the actions of the person who lives there. | The judge would most likely make side with the security of the individual – the understanding is that they’re obstructing the entrance and exit of the house, and things could conceivably get violent |
| People are assembling to march through a shopping mall. | The mall is a privately owned place, even though people walk through and it’s not considered trespassing. They can ask anyone they want to disband. It’s not your property, your taxes don’t pay for it, you can be asked to leave. |
| People are marching through a public school while it is in session. | A public school is not a public square, just because it’s a ‘public place’ doesn’t mean you can disrupt the education that your taxes paid for. |
| People are blocking the entrance to a factory. | They’re obstructing the entrance and exit of the factory, which is a private place. |
| Pickets are blocking the entrance to an abortion clinic. | Again, the clinic s a private place, you can’t block it. There are ways to still picket though; there are laws on how many feet away from an entrance you can picket. The point is, they’re trying to avoid a confrontation. |
| A group is demonstrating by sitting on the floors of the hallways of government buildings such as city hall, the university, and the courts. | This one offers the most ‘wiggle room’. On one hand, it’s inconvenient, but so what. On the other hand, they’re sitting in the middle of the floor, not on benches provided in the lobby. They’re probably obstructing the government service. |
| A group is demonstrating during rush hour on a bridge over the expressway. | As long as they’re not obstructing traffic, and they’re standing on some sort of sidewalk, reasonable limits apply, but they’re just standing on publically paid for places and protesting. However, it is somewhat based on a case-by-case basis – it says they’re demonstrating as opposed to protesting – what does that mean? Is there any possibility of people getting hurt? |
| Petitioning the Pledge of Allegiance | · More about civic duty than religious affiliation · It's more about the historical nature of it o The traditions of this nation, which go back to the Founding Fathers, has always been under a Supreme Being |
Second Amendment | Second Amendment |
| What does the Second Amendment give us the right to? | Right to Bear Arms. |
| What could an anti-gun activist say regarding the text of this amendment? | It only gives the right to ‘well regulated militias’, not private citizens. |
| What could a gun activist say in response? | The well-regulated militia was made to defend the community from attackers, we no longer have a militia but we can still defend ourselves. |
| Who controls the gun licenses? | The state. |
Third Amendment | Third Amendment |
| What does the Third Amendment give you the right against? | Right against quartering of troops. |
| What is the loophole here? | “Prescribed by Law” – If we’re being invaded and congress makes a law allowing soldiers to stay in your home, they’re staying in your home. |
Fourth Amendment | Fourth Amendment |
| What does the Fourth Amendment give you the right against? | Right against unreasonable searches and seizures. |
| What does the government need in order to search and seize? | Probable Cause. |
| What document can Probable Cause result in? | A Warrant. |
| What must be written within a warrant, and why? | The Who, What, Where, etc. This must be written because otherwise the courts could give cops open warrants to search anyone and everyone, and that defeats the purpose. |
| What are the two major exemptions to getting a warrant? | 1. Exigency – If it’s an emergency, they can search you 2. Consent – If you let a cop into your house and he finds marijuana, he can arrest you |
Fifth Amendment | Fifth Amendment |
| What are the five basic rights given to you under the Fifth Amendment, and what do they mean? | · Right to Due Process o Right for you to be treated fairly in the judicial process. o It's written in the 5th, but it has overlapping power into the sixth, seventh, and eighth · Right against Self-Incrimination o "I plead the fifth" - you don't have to answer a question in court if you fear the answer may harm you o This is the right to make sure that no one acts as a witness against themselves. This means that the government cannot torture a person into giving evidence that would incriminate themselves, because even if they did get evidence, they cannot use it. o One major limit on your rights here is that it only applies to you. You may be forced to incriminate your friends or your family members, just not yourself o If you are granted immunity by the court, you are free from these charges, but then you can't plead the fifth. o If you confess to the crime, assuming all of your rights have been explained to you, confessing will waive the right. o Only you can plead the fifth, but not companies. This is an individual right, not a group right. · Right to a Grand Jury o Juries decide guilty or innocent, but grand jury decides if you can be legally accused or indicted of something. o There is an exemption to grand jury - it can be limited if you're part of the military. · Right against Double Jeopardy o You cannot be tried for the same crime twice o As an exemption, you can change a little bit of the charges. Accuse them of murder instead of manslaughter and get him in jail anyway. · Right to Private Property with Compensation o The government can take your private property if they give you market value for the property o Principle of Eminent Domain |
Sixth Amendment | Sixth Amendment |
| What rights are given to you under the Sixth Amendment? | · Right to Council · Right to Trial by Jury · Right to Face Accuser |
| What happens if the eyewitness is afraid of you? | They can videotape themselves, which still counts as facing them. |
| What happens if the person who accuses you dies? | A ‘deathbed declaration’ or a ‘dying declaration’ – from Wikipedia: “Under the Federal Rules of Evidence, a dying declaration is admissible if: 1. It constituted the last words of a person who was dying or thought he was dying, and 2. That person was aware or believed that he or she was dying, and 3. That person made a statement, based on his actual knowledge, that relates in some way to the cause or circumstances of his or her death. For example, suppose Alice stabs Bob and then runs away, and a police officer happens upon Bob as he lies in the gutter, bleeding to death. If Bob manages to sputter out with his last words, "I'm dying - Alice stabbed me" (or even just "Alice did it"), the officer can testify to that in court. The declarant does not actually have to die for the statement to be admissible, but they need to have had a genuine belief that they were going to die, and they must be unavailable to testify in court |
Seven Amendment | Seven Amendment |
| What right is given to you under the Seventh Amendment? | You have the right to sue. |
| What’s the penalty for losing a civil suit? | Compensation – you usually have to pay for the other guy’s lawyer fees. |
Eighth Amendment | Eighth Amendment |
| What are the Three Big No’s in this amendment? | 1. No cruel and unusual punishment 2. No excessive fines 3. No excessive bail |
| What is taken into account when debating ‘cruel and unusual punishment’? | · The states have the reserved power to determine what, exactly, is cruel and unusual · Even if the state says its OK, you cannot give a jaywalker the electric chair · Age also is taken into account - states determine the minimum age for death · Competency - mental state of the perpetrator. Should someone with mental disabilities, who committed the most heinous crime ever, be put to death? |
1. Expression
a. You can express yourself.
2. Guns
a. You can express yourself by shooting people.
3. Quartering
a. If Michael Jackson shows up at your door saying that Congress says he can sleep there, you can express yourself by shooting him.
4. Privacy, Search and Seizure
a. If Jacko calls the cops, they need a warrant to search you for more guns, but if it’s an emergency, they don’t need one.
5. Due Process, Self-Incrimination, Double-Jeopardy
a. If MJ sues you for shooting him and loses, he can’t just sue you again. You can’t be forced to admit to shooting him.
6. Trial by Jury, Face Accuser
a. You have the right to look Wacko Jacko right in the face. I don’t know why you’d want to, but you can and that’s the point.
7. Suing
a. Unfortunately, Jacksonian has the right to sue you.
8. Cruel and Unusual Punishment
a. They could give you the electric chair for shooting the King of Pop.
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