Ch. 4
Amendments to the Constitution
The First Amendment
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The Bill of Rights, which was added to
the Constitution in 1791, protects our
civil liberties
the freedoms we have to think and act
without government interference or
fear of unfair treatment
The First Amendment

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The 1st Amendment protects five
basic freedoms:
Religion
Speech
Press
Assembly
Petition
Freedom of Religion

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Congress may not establish a official
religion, favor one religion over another, or
treat people differently because of their
beliefs
People may practice their faith as they wish
Thomas Jefferson referred to it as a, “wall
of separation between church and state
Freedom of Speech

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
In some countries, people can be jailed for
criticizing the government or voicing
unpopular ideas.
We are guaranteed the right to say what is
on our minds, privately or publicly, without
fear of punishment
Freedom of speech includes conversations,
radio, and T.V.; also protects forms of
expression ex. Tinker v. Des Moines
(1965)
Freedom of Press

As American citizens, we are free to express
ourselves in print or other media.

Media includes radio, T.V., and computer networks
(blogs)

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The government can not practice censorship, or
ban printed materials or film because they contain
offensive ideas
Also are prohibited from banning information before
it is published or broadcast.
Freedom of Press

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
1733, John Peter Zenger, publisher for the New
York Weekly Journal was arrested and imprisoned
for criticizing Gov. William Crosby (NY).
Zenger’s lawyer argued that only a free press to
criticize could prevent the government from abusing
its power.
There are some restrictions: you can not publish
materials that can harm a person’s character or
reputation; if its based on fact, its fair game
Freedom of Assembly



We may gather in groups for any reason, as
long as the assemblies are peaceful.
Government can make rules about when
and where activities can be held but cannot
ban them outright.
We may freely join clubs, political parties,
unions and other organizations as we wish.
Freedom of Petition

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We all have the right to petition the government
We can express our ideas and complaints about
government action
Ex. Complain about the traffic situation on Brawley
School Road.
Get other like minded people to sign a petition
(written request) to pressure leaders into action
Limits to the 1st
Amendment

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The Supreme Court has decided that the 1st
Amendment is not an absolute freedom and has to
be limited in scope to protect safety and security.
You may not say anything that may provoke a riot.
You may not write or speak in a way that leads to
criminal activities or any effort to overthrow the
government
Limits to the 1st
Amendment
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People should use civil liberties responsibly and not
interfere with the rights of others. Ex. You are
free to assemble but not in the middle of 150
You may criticize government officials but you can
not spread lies that can harm a person’s reputation.
Doing so is a crime called slander if lies are
spoken, and libel if lies are printed.
Limits to the 1st
Amendment

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
The First Amendment was never intended to give
people unlimited freedom or allow them to do
whatever they want.
The rights of one individual must be balanced
against the rights of others and the community
When there is a conflict, the rights of the
community will always come first, or society would
break apart.
Other Guarantees in the Bill
of Rights: Ch.4.2 Rights of
the Accused
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The right to fair legal treatment is just as
important to our civil liberties.
Without these protections, government
could ransack our homes, drag us to jail,
and hold a trial without you responding to
the charges.
The 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th amendments
prevent this from happening
The Fourth Amendment

The fourth amendment protects us against
unreasonable searches and seizures.

Cannot search your home or property without
probable cause.

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If police believe you have committed a crime, they
can ask a judge for a search warrant – court
order allowing law enforcement officials to search a
suspect’s home or business and take evidence.
Ex. Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
The Fifth Amendment

The fifth amendment gives us protections in a few
ways:
- states that no person can be put on trial for a
serious federal crime without an indictment, a
formal charge by a group of citizens called a grand
jury, who review the evidence.

An indictment does not mean guilt, but it indicates
that the person may have committed a crime
The Fifth Amendment
(cont.)
-
protects a person from double jeopardy
-
people can not be tried and judged for the
same crime twice.
-
Ex. O.J. could not be tried again in California
for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson
and Ronald Goldman when he was acquitted
the first time.
The Fifth Amendment
(cont.)
-
Protects the accused by giving them the right to
remain silent
-
Prevents authorities from threatening, torturing, or
coercing people into a confession.
-
Cannot force people to testify against themselves
-
Protection against self-incrimination
ex. Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
-
The Fifth Amendment
(cont.)
-
States that no one may be denied life,
liberty, or property without due
process
-
Must follow established legal
procedures
The Fifth Amendment
(cont.)
-
Limits the government’s power of eminent
domain – the right of the government to
take private property for public use
-
If your house lies in the way of a proposed
government works project, government
must give you fair price for it.
-
Limits this process.
The Sixth Amendment

Guarantees additional rights to people
accused of crimes.
- requires accused people to be told the
charges against them (writ of habeas
corpus)
- requires that the accused be allowed a trial
by jury, unless the accused chooses a judge
instead (bench trial)
The Sixth Amendment
(cont.)
-
If the accused asks for a jury trial, it
must be speedy and public, with jurors
being impartial.
-
If possible the trial should take place
in the same area in which the crime
took place.
The Sixth Amendment
(cont.)
-
The accused have the right to hear and question
witnesses who testify against them.
-
They also have the right to call witnesses in their
own defense
-
Accused people are entitled to a lawyer/counsel
-
Supreme Court ruled that if a person can not afford
a lawyer, the government must provide one and pay
his/her fees ex. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
The Eighth Amendment

The Eighth Amendment forbids any excessive bail
and excessive fines

Before trial, the accused may stay in jail or pay
bail, a security deposit.

Bail is returned if the person comes to court for
trial; it is forfeited if the person fails to appear.

Bail must meet the severity of the crime; judge
weighs various factors of the individual
The Eighth Amendment
(cont.)
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Also forbids any cruel and unusual
punishment
Many people disagree on what types of
punishments are cruel and unusual but
generally agree that punishment should be
proportional to the crime committed.
Ex. Furman v. Georgia (1972)
Other Protections within
the Bill of Rights
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The 2nd amendment is often debated. Some
believe it only allows states to keep an armed
militia.
Others believe it guarantees the right of all citizens
to “keep and bear arms.”
The courts have generally ruled that government
can pass laws to control, but not prevent, the
possession of weapons by individuals
The Third Amendment
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The 3rd Amendment states that soldiers may
not move into private homes without the
owners’ consent.
Soldiers had done this in colonial times
The government is responsible for
quartering soldiers during war and during
peacetime.
The Seventh Amendment

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The 7th amendment concerns civil
cases – lawsuits involving
disagreements among people rather
than crimes.
Guarantees the right to a jury trial in
civil cases involving more than $20. It
does not require a jury trial however.
The Ninth Amendment
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The 9th Amendment states that
citizens have other rights beyond
those listed in the Constitution.
Ex. people’s right to privacy –this is
not listed in the Constitution
The Tenth Amendment

The 10th Amendment says that any powers
the Constitution does not specifically give to
the national government are reserved to the
states or to the people.

Prevents Congress and the President from
becoming too strong

They have only the powers the people give
them.
Extending the Bill of
Rights: Ch. 4.3
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At first the Bill of Rights applied only to
adult, white males.
Also applied only to the national
government and not to the states or local
governments
Later amendments and court rulings made
the Bill of Rights apply to all people and
level of governments
Civil War Amendments
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The 13th , 14th, and 15th Amendments are
also known as the Civil War Amendments
because they extended civil liberties to
African-Americans during that time period
13th Amendment (1865) officially outlawed
slavery, freeing thousands of African
Americans
Civil War Amendments
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Even after freeing the slaves, this did not
guarantee them full rights
After the Civil War, many southern states
passed “black codes” that excluded African
Americans from certain jobs, limited
property rights, and placed many
restrictions on their lives.
Civil War Amendments
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The 14th Amendment (1868) remedied
this situation by defining citizens as
“anyone born or naturalized in the
United States” which included African
Americans
Requires all states to grant citizens
“equal protection of the laws”
Civil War Amendments
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Over the years this clause has been used to
benefit women, the disabled, and other
groups whose rights have not been
protected fairly.
The 14th amendment also nationalized the
Bill of Rights by forbidding state
governments from interfering with the rights
of citizens.
Civil War Amendments
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The last of the Civil War amendments, the 15th amendment
(1870) says that no state may take away a person’s voting
rights on the basis of race, color, or previous enslavement.

The amendment was clearly intended to guarantee suffrage
–the right to vote – to African Americans.

Keep in mind, it applied only to men

Various states had the power to decide whether women could
vote. Still regardless of race, women could not vote in most
federal or state elections
Later Amendments

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Gradually, the Bill of Rights came to
cover all Americans equally and limited
the power of government at all levels.
Additional amendments would extend
the rights of Americans to participate
fully in the democratic process (voting
rights)
The Seventeenth
Amendment

According to Article I of the Constitution,
the people were to elect members of the
House of Rep., but the state legislatures
were to choose members of the Senate.

Ratified in 1913, this amendment allowed
voters to elect their senators directly.

Gave Americans a greater voice in their
government
The Nineteenth
Amendment
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The Constitution did not grant nor deny women the right to
vote.
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This decision was left for the states under the reserved
powers granted to them by the 10th amendment.
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Some territories such as Wyoming allowed women to vote in
1869, national support for women’s suffrage was slow.

Women’s suffrage movement started around 1848 in NY
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19th Amendment (1920) established women’s right to vote in
all elections
The Twenty-third
Amendment
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Because Washington, D.C. is a district and
not a state, the people who lived there were
not initially allowed to vote in national
elections.
23rd amendment (1961) established that
citizens of D.C. may vote for the President
and Vice President, just as other Americans
do.
The Twenty-fourth
Amendment

The 15th amendment gave African Americans the right to vote,
but many had trouble exercising the right

Many southern states had poll taxes, requiring voters to pay
a sum of money before casting a ballot.

This was a financial burden for African Americans and poor
whites; no pay, no vote.

24th Amendment (1964) made poll taxes illegal in national
elections and then two years later, made them illegal in state
elections
The Twenty-sixth
Amendment
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Throughout history, a young man could fight and
die for his country at the age of 18, but was unable
to vote for leaders until the age of 21.
Constitution does not state an age minimum, this
was established by the states.
26th Amendment (1971) during the Vietnam War,
Americans were guaranteed the right to vote at the
age of 18.
Lowered age minimum from 21 to 18.
The Civil Rights Struggle:
Ch. 4.4
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After the Civil War, African Americans routinely
faced discrimination, or unfair treatment based
on prejudice against a certain group.
“Jim Crow” laws passed in the south required the
social separation of the races which was known as
segregation.
It would take more than 100 years for African
Americans to secure their civil rights – the rights
of full citizenship and equality under the law.
“Separate but Equal”
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“Jim Crow” laws had mandated the
“separate but equal” status for blacks
in America.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
Beginning to Change
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Executive Order 9981 (1948) from
President Harry Truman ordered an
end to segregation in the nation’s
armed forces.
The biggest victory for equality of
rights came with the decision in 1954.
Brown Decision
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Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS
(1954)
NAACP lawyers successfully argued that
segregation in public schools was
unconstitutional.
It violated the 14th Amendments principle of
“equal protection under the law”
Montgomery Bus Boycott


In 1955, one year after the Brown
decision, an African American woman
named Rosa Parks was arrested for
refusing to give up her seat to a white
man.
Arrested for violating Alabama’s
segregation laws.
Montgomery Bus Boycott
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Her arrest spurred the local African
American community to organize a boycott
of the Montgomery, AL bus system.
A year later, Supreme Court ruled that public
bus segregation was unconstitutional.
Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
gained national prominence from their
actions
Peaceful Protests
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Dr. King was a Baptist minister and one of the main
leaders of the civil rights movement.
His ability to speak and his belief in non-violent
resistance helped move the cause.
King helped organize marches, boycotts, and
demonstrations that opened people eye’s to the
treatment of blacks and that change was needed.
Peaceful Protests
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Students were known for staging “sit-ins” at lunch
counters that served only whites
African Americans and whites sympathetic to the
cause were “Freedom Riders” who traveled
together on buses to protest segregation
King’s “I Have a Dream Speech” was and still is
inspirational to those who hope for racial equality.
Civil Rights Act of 1964


In response to the growing demand for
government action, Congress passed the
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
This law prohibited discrimination in:
- public facilities
- employment
- education
- voter registration
Civil Rights Act of 1964
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It banned discrimination by race, color,
gender, religion, and national origin.
Strengthened the 14th Amendment
Other Steps to Equality

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Ratification in 1964 of the 24th Amendment
to protect African Americans when it came
to registering and voting; banned poll taxes
in America.
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 ensured
all citizens the right to vote, regardless of
race.
Affirmative Action


In the 1970’s, the federal government
created programs that were intended
to make up for past discrimination.
These programs encouraged the hiring
and promoting of minorities and
women, and the admission of more
minority students to colleges.
Affirmative Action


From the beginning, affirmative action
has been controversial.
Critics complain that affirmative action
programs give preferential treatment
to women and minorities, amounting
to discrimination against men and
whites. “reverse discrimination”
Racial Profiling

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The struggle for equal rights continues
today.
Each year, the federal government receives
more than 75,000 complaints of workplace
discrimination.
Many people are subject to racial profiling
Racial Profiling

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Racial profiling is being singled out as
suspects because of the way they
look.
Some Americans are also victims of
hate crimes – acts of violence based
on a person’s race, color, national
origin, gender, or disability.