Unit 3We the People

Article V: Amendment Process

• The US Constitution IS & IS NOT the same document written in 1787

• Some Words have been eliminated, some have been added.

Keys to help

• To propose means to suggest• 2/3 will always apply to the Congress

• Federal Gov't will always propose

• To amend means to change

• To ratify means to approve or pass• ¾ will always apply to the states

• States will always ratify

Amendment Process

• The Constitution cannot be changed by just anyone!!!

• This document is permanent and so are its changes…• Once you

amend/change the document you must amend that amendment!!

• WHAT!?!?!

FIRST

• Proposed by 2/3 of Congress• Ratified by ¾ of State Legislatures

• 26 of 27 Amendments adopted this way

SECOND

• Proposed by 2/3 of Congress

• Ratified by ¾ of Special State Conventions

21st Amendment adopted this way (Repealing Prohibition)

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

• Congress does not present a proposed Amendment to the President for his signature or veto.

Proposed Amendments Continued

• States can change their minds if they first reject an Amendment (not the opposite)

•Only 27 finally ratified

•Congress can set deadlines for the ratification time allowed

Amendment Process Review

• Propose – to put forward; to plan; to make an offer

• Ratification – to officially approve

• How many ways are there to:• Propose an

amendment?• Ratify an

amendment?

Unit 3We the People

BILL OF RIGHTSFirst 10 Amendments to the Constitution

Videos

First Amendment

•Free exercise of Religion•Freedom of Speech•Freedom of Press

•Freedom of Assembly and Petition

•Also Called RAPPS

SECOND AMENDMENT

•The Right to Bare Arms

Third Amendment

•No Quartering of Troops

Fourth Amendment

•No Unreason-

able Searches

and Seizures

Fifth Amendment

Guarantee of Grand Jury

• No Double Jeopardy (can’t be tried for the same crime twice)

• No Self-Incrimination (Plead the fifth)

• Guarantee of Due Process (everyone gets treated the same)

• To taking of Property without Just Compensation ($) (eminent Domain)

O.J. Simpson cannot be charged for the same crime twice under the Fifth Amendment.

SIXTH AMENDMENT• Right to Speedy, Public Trial

• Right to Trial by Jury• Right to be informed of Charge

• Right to Confront Witnesses• Right to obtain Witnesses

• Right to Counsel (Attorney)

SEVENTH AMENDMENT• Trial by Jury in Civil Cases over $20

• In the 1700’s twenty dollars was a lot more money than it is today.

• Now, for any dispute involving less than $1500.00, small claims court will handle the case without a jury.

Eighth Amendment

•No Excessive Bail or Fines

•No Cruel or Unusual Punishment

• An early electric chair• “Dunking” no longer used

8th Amendment Continued

Number of states that use which method of execution:

• Firing Squad - 3 • Hanging - 4 • Lethal Gas - 7 • Electric Chair - 11 • Lethal Injection - 33

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1976 that the death penalty was constitutional

First 8 amendments spell out personal liberties

Ninth Amendment

• Unenumerated Rights not Denied to the People

People still have rights that they are entitled to that may not be expressed directly in the

Constitution.

• This always goes back to Natural Rights…life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

• Includes the right to privacy

Tenth Amendment

• Undelegated Powers reserved for the States

• The tenth amendment sets up the basic principle of federalism

• The governmental powers not listed in the Constitution for the national government are powers that the states, or the people of those states, can have.

10th Amendment Examples

The states determine the rules for: marriages divorces driving licenses voting state taxes job and school requirements rules for police fire departments

What the Bill of Rights Represented

Protection against a strong central government

Protection of Individual liberties

Protection through a trial by jury