U.S. Term Limits, Inc. v. Thornton, 514 U.S. 779 (1995). Facts: The people of Arkansas voted to add term limits to the Houses of Congress. Preventing candidates’ names from appearing on the ballot if they had served: 2 terms in the Senate and 3 terms for Representatives. The Arkansas Supreme Court held that the law was unconstitutional. It was appealed to the United States Supreme Court and affirmed the decision.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it state that women are citizens. Women have never been legally declared persons in this country, not by the Founding Fathers, not by the Constitution, not by the Supreme Court. The Fifteenth Amendment guarantees to right to vote to all U.S. citizens, whatever their race, whether they had been born free or born a slave, but it didn’t include women the right to vote. Women fought along for the abolition of slavery. When the battle was won, black men got the right to vote.
Then Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says that no person would have to be a witness against himself. It gives a person the right to refuse to answer any questions that the prosecutor might ask. The right was created because of the British courts that operated from 1487-1641. These courts believed that a prosecutor did not have to prove a case based on evidence, but rather harassing a defendant into a confession was enough evidence, whether the defendant was innocent or guilty. The right to be free from having to incriminate oneself was a law among nine of the colonies before it was included in the U.S. Constitution.
First Amendment rights are guaranteed to all American citizens, but current free speech issues are testing Constitutional boundaries. Where must the line be drawn between free speech and infringement upon others’ rights? Is there some speech so cruel and so appalling that it does not merit protection? These issues have been raised by the recent activities of the Westboro Baptist Church. Based out of Topeka, Kansas[1], this small group of radicals is marked by their hateful views and their contempt for homosexuality. The Westboro Baptist Church has gained notoriety and sparked national outrage with their offensive acts, particularly by protesting the funerals of fallen soldiers.
The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, stating “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Although the Eighth Amendment is typically used in relation to the discussion of the death penalty or the evaluation of a long prison sentence for a nonviolent crime, in 2011 the Supreme Court used the cruel and unusual punishment portion of the amendment to assess Brown v. Plata, a case which determined whether or not the Eighth Amendment protection is violated if prisoners are deprived of basic sustenance. In the case of Brown v. Plata, 46,000 prisoners were to be released from a federal correction facility as a result of unprecedented overcrowding within a
Pleading the Fifth Technology seems to come hand in hand with modernity. It has made most tasks that used to take days to complete much easier. Technology has also improved the channels of communication. The invention of the modern day smart cellphone coupled with social media networking has allowed mankind to be in constant contact with one another from across the globe.
The Importance of the 1st Amendment In 1787 our founding fathers assembled the constitution of the United States of America. Of this which contains the most important document to the American citizen, the Bill of rights. The first Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances” These freedoms granted by the Bill of Rights are often known as freedom of expression. These rights are most important to a truly free society. The first amendment provides us with new ideas and dismisses the fear of punishment
Shannon Rogers Rogers 1 Sherry Sharifian Govs-2305-73012 Feb 9, 2018 Civil liberties and Civil Rights Civil liberties called (fundamental rights) the natural rights you are born with. These rights are for your protection, the rights that cannot be infringed upon by the government, which are listed below. 1 Bill of Rights Civil liberties: 2 Amendment 1 Freedom of Religion, Speech, and the Press Amendment 2 The Right to Bear Arms Amendment 3 The Right to privacy Amendment 4 Protection from unreasonable searches and seizures Amendment 5 Protection of right to life, liberty and property Amendment 6 Rights of accused persons in criminal cases Amendment 7 Rights to a civil case Amendment 8 Excessive bail, fines and punishments forbidden Amendment 9 Other rights Kept by the people Amendment10 undelegated powers kept by the state and the people(www.nccs.net)
The Ninth Amendment states: “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be constructed or deny or disparage others retained by the people” (Bill of Rights). This amendment was made to protect people’s rights. Including things like marriage, abortion, slavery, and police conduct. However, this modification has been compromised several times in the past and the present.
Many people believe that the First Amendment gives the people right to say whatever they want but it’s not true. There is no hate speech exception to First Amendment. There are some kind of words which are not protected especially the fighting or insulting words or speech in which a person threatens to commit a crime that would result in death, serious injury, or damage is not protected by the First Amendment, instead First Amendment gives the right to fight against injustice, inequality and unfairness. For example Black Lives Matter movement, this movement has every right to express their feelings. The ways they are protesting are protected under the First Amendment.
Nearly one hundred years ago, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was formed in order to encourage and protect freedom of speech and other constitutional rights, especially to groups that are often seen as controversial and thus less deserving of those rights. Its position remains largely the same today. The major issues the ACLU champions in the current day are full rights for LGBT Americans, abortion rights, freedom from government surveillance, and combating mass incarceration. The ACLU lobbies, but mostly uses legal means to affect the government. The ACLU provides legal counsel in civil liberties cases, files civil liberties suits, and participates often in amicus curiae briefs.
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.
The United States Constitution was created in September 17, 1787 to replace the Articles of Confederation. Due to arguments between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists, the two groups decided to add amendments to the Constitution to appease the Anti-Federalists. The condition was that two-thirds of the states had to approve the amendment before it’s added to the constitution. These conditions are still held today and there are now 27 amendments. Amendments in the constitution are important because they give natural rights to people.
The First Amendment aims to protect the right of freedom of religion and the right of freedom of expression of all United States citizens. However, Lawrence states “The Supreme Court has held that words that ‘by their very utterance inflict injury or intend to incite an immediate breach of the peace’ are not constitutionally protected.” (Lawrence, pg 175) The First Amendment does not protect speech that maintains a sole purpose to inflict harm on other people. “Racial insults are undeserving for First Amendment protection because the perpetrator’s intention is not to discover truth or initiate dialogue, but to injure the victim” (Lawrence, pg 175)
I am undecided for Freedom of Speech. There are plenty of good and bad qualities, and as much as there are pros there are also an equal amount of cons to freedom of speech. According to the first amendment, we the people have the freedom of speech which allows us the right to speak freely without censorship. Freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on “hate speech”. There are many pros and cons to freedom of speech, which is why I am only discussing three pros and cons, that I find that argues the opposite side, to the point it made me undecided on free speech.
