The Supreme Court case, Engel v. Vitale, was an extremely controversial case that directly dealt with the First Amendment. Engel v. Vitale was such a controversial case that it has opened the doorway for other cases dealing with church and state. This Court case established a separation between church and state.
The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects any person within their jurisdiction of their due process and equal protection. The Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment requires the states to apply their laws equally to any person within their jurisdiction. The equal protection clause aims to provide equal application of the law. It is also crucial to the protection of civil rights. There should be no discrimination in its application. Also no state can deny any person of their equal protection rights. The laws of a state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions or circumstances. Due process deals with the fair use or enforcement of laws. The Due Process clause protects any person of their
The 14th Amendment was one of the most significant changes to the Constitution. The amendment contains the equal protection of the laws clause. It was added to the Constitution after the Civil War. The rules that the amendment states have been the result of several Supreme Court cases. The amendment has deeply influenced American History and the perception of equality. The Citizenship clause states that anyone born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the U.S. and their state. The Due Process law states that no state may deprive any person of life liberty or death. Perhaps the most important clause is the equal protection of the law. The equal protection of the law clause guarantees that every citizen receives the same rights,
On July 9, 1868, the Fourteenth amendment was formally introduced to the Constitution and granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” These words have as an ideal purpose that all levels of the federal government must operate within the law and provide fair conditions for all people. As a result, the states had a obligation to the public. Through the Fourteenth amendment, states were forbidden from denying any person “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” or to “deny any person within jurisdiction the equal protection of laws.” By directly mentioning the role of the states, the Fourteenth amendment also expanded civil rights to African American slaves who had been emancipated after the American Civil War.
According to classical republicanism, the major purpose of government is to promote the common good, to create civically virtuous citizens, and to create a well-balanced government. The idea of Promoting the common good can be found in The Affordable Care Act, an attempt by the Obama Administration to provide every United States citizen with quality access to healthcare. Providing each U.S. citizen with healthcare is in the benefit of the entire country subsequently promoting the common good. The Patriot Act another piece of legislation in response to the September 11th attacks, the main purpose is to deter, and punish terrorist acts in America or around the World. Responding to these horrific events demonstrates that the Government is actively
This amendment allowed blacks to have an equal part in American society barring the exception of voting. They were provided with due process of law and a right to a fair trial, this made them equal in the courtrooms in theory. They were still discriminated against in the courts and really did not have fair trials and due process. Many whites still believed themselves superior to blacks, so most times when a black was brought into a legal proceeding they were convicted, no matter if they were innocent or guilty. They also had the right to run for local political offices, while this was a tremendous stepping stone for black rights, those blacks that ran for office never were elected because blacks did not have the right to vote, and no white man would vote for a black in this time period. This amendment helped blacks economically because they could now sue whites for cheating them thanks to due process; however, as previously stated, most times if a black and a white were against each other in a trial, the white man would have the victory due to the prejudices of that time. Socially blacks were forbidden to serve on a jury thanks to the Black Codes being passed under Andrew Johnson’s racist presidency. The fourteenth amendment allowed blacks more freedom in the eyes of the government, but in local settings this tenement was not practiced fully, most of
Chapter 4 of the book We the People talks about Civil Liberties, this chapter mainly talks about the Rights that were placed in the Constitution (not in the Bill of Rights), it also talks about the Bill of Rights and it describes the rights protected by the Bill of Rights. It also talks about specific rights that work close together with the Bill of Rights and Amendments rights. One of the first Amendments that is described in great detail is Freedom of Speech and Religion. The first Amendment protects US citizens right to talk about almost any topic in the United States. I said almost any topic because there are some forms of speech that aren’t protected by the First Amendment (these forms of speech can be limited or prohibited), some of the forms of speech that aren’t protected by the First Amendment are Fighting Words and Hate Speech, Student Speech, Libel and Slander speech. These forms of speech aren’t protected by the First Amendment because they can help to incite people
When the delegates of the 1875-1876 Texas Constitutional Convention came together, their main priority in drawing up a new constitution was to restrict the amount of power the state government had over Texans. After Texas suffered thought the corruption that occurred under the previous governor, Edmund J. Davis, the delegates wanted to ensure that a similar situation would never happen again. The first step they took towards that goal was writing a bill of rights, which would be the first article of the constitution. This article ensured that the people’s rights would be protected from the government such as “guaranteed liberty of speech and press, the right of the accused to obtain bail and to be tried by a jury, and the right of citizens to keep and bear arms.”
The 14th amendment is split into five sections. Section one is the most important of them all and it states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” (The Constitution 2014). However it was put to test in the south early on. Even though it granted Blacks citizenship it did not give them equality, and soon arose numerous
The Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights had an influential impact on the formation of the United States Constitution. The Magna Carta restricted the power of the king and gave many limitations on the government. It gave many rights to the citizens regarding their properties. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution make up our Bill Of Rights. Many of our U.S. Constitution Bill of Rights were based off both of these two documents.
Imagine a world in which The Civil War and the events after never happened. Southern states still hold slaves, there are no laws on immigration or who can become a citizen. The Civil War freed the slaves and allowed laws that dealt with citizenship and immigration to be ratified. This was what led to the creation of the three Reconstruction Amendments, which includes the Fourteenth Amendment. The Fourteenth Amendment has rich history, various meanings and applications, and can be used to shape our nation for the better today.
The Fourteenth amendment is a significant addition to the constitution and although the amendment has five sections, section 1 has had the moral lasting significance through its creation of three important provisions concerning citizenship, due process and equal protection. The Fourteenth Amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof. The fourteenth Amendment also forbid the states to deny their citizens due process of law or equal protection of the law, that is, it made certain provision of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states. Lastly, the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the government at any level from unfairly or arbitrarily denying a citizen their fundamental
To establish which amendment in the Bill of Rights is the most influential to the preservation of liberty, one must first determine the true meaning of the word liberty. The Oxford dictionary defines liberty as “The state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behaviour, or political views.” Not only is this one of the core values ingrained into the base of our American culture, but it is also one of the main characteristics of a successful community (“First Amendment.”) Many societies argue that citizens do not have basic rights, the first amendment does the best job at protecting the nation's rights from the government by giving individuals freedom of speech, religion, and freedom of petition. The First Amendment has five freedoms guaranteed for the American people’s such as the right to religion, speech, and petition. This is arguably the most important amendment to liberty, and a person’s right to free will. The first amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
Before the United States Constitution was changed, the thirteen states went by the Articles of the Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was considered weak because it had too many flaws. There was no power of a nation over taxation, as well as no power over the trading of goods. Under the Article of Confederation each state had the power to make their own money, collect their own tax as well as make its own militia. A Philadelphia Convention wanted to correct the weaknesses of the Article but many of its delegates wanted to create a whole new government instead of fixing the old one. Some of the Founding Fathers suggested that there be a Bill of Rights to protect the people. The Bill of Rights were first seen as a delayed tactic because