Examples:Amendment 1: You have the right to talk about your religion openly and shall not be punished.
Amendment 2: You have the right to keep weapons in your home. Amendment 3: If the government were to put a troop in your house and tell you to feed him and house him, they would be breaking the law. Amendment 4: If the police were to come into your house without a search warrant and start searching or invading your house, they would be breaking the law. Amendment 5: This keeps the government from trying you until you are convicted; it limits them to one shot a getting a conviction Amendment 6: The accused has the right to a quick trial. This does not mean that their trial must be over in one week. This means that the state can not make them sit in jail for 6 years while they wait to have a trial. Amendment 7: In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. Amendment 8:The courts can not assign the accused an excessive amount for bail. If they could, then a judge might look at someone and decide they look guilty and make the bail 10 million dollars. Amendment 9:It assures people that there are rights that members of a free society are entitled to. Amendment 10: The states determine the rules for marriages, divorces, driving licenses, voting, state taxes, job and school requirements, rules for police and fire departments, and many more. Amendment 11:A citizen of New York, for example, cannot use the federal courts to sue the State of New Jersey. He must sue New Jersey in the courts in New Jersey. Amendment 12: Presidential election process. Vice president and president would be elected separately. Amendment 13: One would break the law if they were still trying to hold people hostage and make them their slaves. Amendment 14: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. Amendment 15: If someone is of another race than white, they are still allowed to equally vote. Amendment 16: Congress has power to lay and collect income taxes. Amendment 17:The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote Amendment 18: If someone was to walk into a bar and ask for an alcoholic beverage and the waiter/waitress served it, they'd be breaking the law. Alcohol was prohibited. Amendment 19: A woman gets her equal power as men. She should be treated equal. Amendment 20: The presidential term and succession. Amendment 21: If someone under the age of 21 was to be drinking, that'd be breaking the law. Amendment 22: A president cannot serve over two terms. Amendment 23:The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as Congress may direct. Amendment 24:The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay poll tax or other tax. Amendment 25: Vice president becomes president if the president dies, resignation from the office or removal. Amendment 26: Someone voting at the age of 18. Amendment 27: No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened. |
The 27 Amendments.
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How an Amendment is proposed:The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures.
How an Amendment is ratified:You cannot get rid of an Amendment, yet you can propose to make a new one. Once the Congress proposes an Amendment, the Archivist of the United States then starts the ratification process. The Constitution provides that an amendment may be proposed either by the Congress with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate or by a constitutional convention called for by two-thirds of the State legislatures (the constitutuinal convention has not been used on any of the 27 amendments.) The amendment is proposed by a joint resolution through Congress. The joint resolution does not go to the White House since the president does not have a constitutional role, it just goes straight to the National Archives and Records Administration Office of the Federal Register for processing and publication. A proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States (38 of 50 States). When the Office of the Federal Register verifies that it has the required number, it drafts a formal proclamation for the Archivist to certify that the amendment is valid and has become part of the Constitution. This certification is published in the Federal Register and U.S. Statutes at Large and serves as official notice to the Congress and to the Nation that the amendment process has been completed.
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