The Renaming Amendments and a Return to the Consititution

1. THE REMAINING
AMENDMENTS AND A RETURN
TO THE CONSTITUTION

2. Introduction
 The Constitution affects every American’s life
 There will continue to be constitutional cases,
analysis and research
 The most well-known amendments have been
discussed thus far
 There are four remaining amendments of the
Bill of Rights that will be looked at in this
chapter
 3rd
, 7th
, 9th
, and 10th

3. The Remaining Amendments of
the Bill of Rights
 3rd
Amendment
 Prohibits housing soldiers in private homes during
peacetime without the owner’s consent and
during the wartime without legal process
 This amendment has never been subjected to
Supreme Court review, it holds historical
relevance and stands for the general principle
that government is to leave people alone without
compelling cause

4. The Remaining Amendments of
the Bill of Rights
 7th
Amendment
 This amendment establishes the right to a federal
jury trial for all suits at common law if the value is
more than $20
 Legal controversies arising out of civil law rather than
criminal law
 Extends the right to a jury trial to civil proceedings
 To determine whether this amendment is a right
to a federal jury trial is bases on whether a suit
involves legal issues similar to issues raised in
cases for which federal jury trial were granted by
common law

5. The Remaining Amendments of
the Bill of Rights
 9th
Amendment
 Established that the rights of U.S. citizens extend
beyond those listed in the Constitution
 This amendment is largely historical
 Rights not specifically listed in the Bill of Rights
were known as unenumerated rights
 Right to privacy, right to interstate and international
travel, right to vote and freedom of association
 The right to privacy has been referred to by the
Supreme Court and has been used to infer such a
right, but the 9th
Amendment does not guarantee this
right

6. The Remaining Amendments of
the Bill of Rights
 Griswo ld v. Co nne cticut (1965)
 Considered to be the first case in which the
Supreme Court addressed the 9th
Amendment
 The 9th
Amendment “shows a belief of the
Constitution’s authors that fundamental rights
exist that are not expressly enumerated in the first
eight amendments and an intent that the lists of
rights… not be exhaustive.”
 There are certain zones of privacy
 Areas into which the government may not intrude

7. The Remaining Amendments of
the Bill of Rights
 10th
Amendment
 This amendment embodies the principle of
federalism
 A principle whereby power is shared by the national
government and the states
 The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by the States, are
reserved to the States respectively, or to the people
 Seeks to ensure to all people that the federal
government will not get to powerful

8. 10th
Amendment
 Delegated powers
 Powers of the national government, both
enumerated and implied by legal authority
 They were delegated or entrusted to the national
government by the states and the people
 Reserve powers
 Powers retained by the states
 Primary reserve power is police power

9. Amendments Beyond the Bill of
Rights
 Additional amendments have come and gone
 Proof that the Constitution possesses the
ability to respond to America’s needs
 11th
Amendment (1795)
 This amendment is the only one that deals with
the judicial power of the federal government and
is actually more an administrative directive
 It was introduced the day after the high court
ruled that a citizen of one state had the right to
sue another

10. Amendments Beyond the Bill of
Rights
 13th
Amendment (1865)
 Abolished slavery
 This amendment overturned the Supreme Court’s
Dred Scott decision
 Using an amendment to overturn a specific
Supreme Court decision is rare, dramatic and a
good illustration of the checks and balances in the
U.S. government

11. Amendments Beyond the Bill of
Rights
 14th
Amendment (1868)
 Due process
 Equal protection of the law
 The Supreme Court has chosen, through case
law and common law, to selectively apply certain
amendments to both federal and state
governments through selective incorporation
 Selective incorporation- provision of the Bill of
Rights are applied to the states through the
due process clause

12. Amendments Related to Election
and Structure of Congress
 Not all amendments and other portions of the
Constitution deal directly with specific rights
and liberties
 Seven amendments deal in detail with
numerous matters related to how the federal
government is to be structured and its officials
elected

13. Amendments Related to Election
and Structure of Congress
 12th
Amendment (1804)
 Established the electoral system
 14th
Amendment (1868)
 Established how representatives are apportioned
and what their qualification are
 17th
Amendment (1913)
 Describes how the U.S. Senate is to be
composed, the qualifications required and how
vacancies are to be filled

14. Amendments Related to Election
and Structure of Congress
 20th
Amendment (1933)
 Established the term of the president and vice-
president end at noon on the 20th
day of January,
and the terms of senator and representatives end
at noon on the 3rd
day of January
 Also established how often Congress meets and
the chain of succession if the president is no
longer able to carry out the responsibilities of the
office

15. Amendments Related to Election
and Structure of Congress
 22nd
Amendment (1951)
 Restricted the term of presidency to two terms
 23rd
Amendment (1961)
 Gave representation to the district that constitutes
the seat of government of the United States, that is
to the District of Columbia
 25th
Amendment (1967)
 Established procedures for filling vacancies and for
actions to take should the president be unable to
discharge the powers and duties of the office

16. Amendments Related to Election
and Structure of Congress
 27th
Amendment (1992)
 To prevent Congress from setting its own salary
because of the apparent conflict of interest
 Congress has continued to give itself cost-of-
living raises which has not been considered the
same as an actual raise

17. Voting Rights
 15th
Amendment (1870)
 Required that the right to vote shall not be denied
because of race, color or previous condition of
servitude
 Black males were given to the right to vote
 19th
Amendment (1920)
 Required that the right to vote should not be
denied on account of sex
 Women get the right to vote 50 years after black
males

18. Voting Rights
 24th
Amendment (1964)
 Requires that the right to vote should not be
denied by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or
other tax
 26th
Amendment (1971)
 Lowered voting age, giving the vote to U.S.
citizens 18 years of age and older

19. Taxes
 16th
Amendment (1913)
 Established the federal income tax
 Congress has the power to lay and collect taxes
on incomes

20. Prohibition
 18th
Amendment (1919)
 Prohibited the sale and purchase of intoxicating
liquors
 Enforcement was seen as hopeless because it is not
what the people wanted
 21st
Amendment (1933)
 Repealing the 18th
article of the amendment to the
Constitution

21. Attempts at Other Amendments
 Various amendments have been proposed
 Congress has considered amendments prohibiting the
burning of the American flag and amendments
establishing victim’s rights
 2003 a Senate subcommittee approved a proposal to
amend the Constitution to guarantee rights to crime
victims
 2003 a proposal to prohibit gay marriages was talked
about
 This would deny rights to a group of people
 Overall, Congress is reluctant to make significant
changes by adding amendments