27 Amendments quiz

1st Amendment

Freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, right to assemble, and right to petition the government

Establishment clause (1st amendment)

The United States cannot have an official religion. Separation of church and state; government cannot support a specific religion or any religion in general.

Free exercise clause (1st amendment)

We, Americans, are allowed to practice (or not practice) a religion of our choosing

• (but there are limitations to all of the rights)

Freedom of speech (specifics)

• protects unpopular opinions, allows us to criticize the government.

• this is because democracy must have an exchange of ideas

• even the kkk has a right to say hate speech

• restrictions include: slander (spoken word that is false and malicious), libel (written word that is false and malicious), and obscenity (which can be banned and is against social norms)

Speech limitations

• Justice Holmes “cannot shout fire in a crowded theater” is there is no “clear and present danger”

• does not protect you from consequences from individuals or business

• if you say racist comments, your company can fire you, but the government cannot punish you

Freedom of the press (specifics)

• press = newspapers, magazines, and other media outlets.

• watchdog of the gov (importance of the press)

Right to assemble

• Americans have a right to gather peacefully, aka protest

  • limitations: violence, may need a permit, and might not be able to do so in private property like malls.

Right to petition the government

• We Americans have a right to have our grievances or complaints heard by the government

• related to right to assemble

Freedom of expression (unwritten)

• expression is not listed in this amendment, but the supreme court has ruled that we have that right

  • ex. we can burn the U.S. flag and wear armbands.

2nd Amendment

• For over 200 years, we did not know what the this amendment meant

• Supreme Court has no states that we have a right to own a gun

• we did not know what this meant until the SUPREME COURT told us what it meant. (test question)

3rd Amendment

• no quartering of troops

• in times of peace, the government cannot require you to give soldiers a place to stay and feed them

• (not an issue now since we have military bases)

4th Amendment

• no unreasonable searches / seizures

• protects the person, houses, papers, and effects from unreasonable searches by the government and/or the police

• in order to search you, your house, etc, the police need a warrant or probable cause

• only a judge (courts) can issue a warrant

• only the police may get a warrant.

• warrants must be based on probable cause

• warrants must list what is being searched for and where.

5th Amendment

Right to a Grand Jury, No double jeopardy, Right to remain silent, Right to due process, Right to eminent domain.

Right to a Grand Jury (5th amend.)

• Grand Jury determines if there is enough evidence to charge you with a crime

• Grand Jury does NOT determine your guilt or innocence

• makes the police have enough evidence before they arrest or charge you with a crime.

No Double Jeopardy (5th amend)

• cannot be charged with the same crime twice at the same level

• once jury finds you not guilty, you can NOT be tried for that crime again

• but, if you commit a state and federal crime (like kill a post office worker) you can be tried at the state AND federal level

Right to remain silent (5th amend.)

• you have a right to not incriminate yourself

• you can “plead the ___”

• if by answering the question you would convict yourself, you can refuse to answer.

Right to Due process (5th amend.)

• before the gov. can take your life, liberty, and/or property, it has to follow the proper steps (read rights, lawyer, trial, etc)

Right to eminent domain (5th amend)

• gov can take your private property for public use (roads, schools, parks, etc) but has to pay you for the property.

6th Amendment

(criminal proceedings)

1. Right to a speedy and public trial - trial needs to happen soon after the crime

   1. - the public (the people in the media) have a right to watch the trial (this helps ensure due process is being followed)

2. Right to an impartial Jury - a jury, 12 people, determine your guilt or innocence, the jury cannot have made up their minds (impartial) about the case.

3. Right to have a trail where the crime was committed (if the crime was committed in San Jose, trial will be in San Jose)

4. Right to know the charges against you, or why you are being arrested.

5. Right to confront witnesses - if a witness testifies against you, you have a right to question that witness

6. Right to obtain witnesses - the person charged with a crime has a right to get their own witnesses to try to prove their innocence

7. Right to a lawyer.

7th Amendment

(civil trials)

• You have a right to a jury trial in a civil case.

• two types of court cases - civil and criminal

• criminal - the law has been broken, the state or the federal gov is trying to put you in jail, fine, make you do community service, put you on probation, or even give you the death penalty.

• civil - dispute between individuals (any lawsuit, divorce, are civil cases)

8th Amendment

(no cruel and unusual punishments)

• No excessive bail, no excessive punishment, no cruel and unusual punishment

No excessive bail (8th amend.)

• you are innocent until proven guilty, so if you are charged with a crime you can get bail (right to leave jail) but have to put up money to ensure you will show up to court

• cannot give you a million dollar bail for stealing a candy bar

no excessive punishment (8th amend.)

• the punishment has to fit the crime

• cannot give you life in jail for cheating on a test

• “3 strikes and out” law (repeated felony) (basically if you do the same crime 3 times, you will definitely be convicted.)

No cruel and unusual punishment (8th amend.)

• cannot “draw and quarter” people (like cutting off private parts or other torture methods)

• death penalty - in debate if this is cruel and unusual.

9th Amendment

• people have rights that are not listed in the Bill of Rights

• Just because many rights have been listed does not mean we lose all the rights that are not listed

• we have right to privacy, education, expression, and travel, even though those rights are not listed.

10th Amendment

• powers not given to the federal gov or prohibited from the states belong to the states

• federal gov has been given the power to declare war, regulate commerce, and print money (the states cannot do these things)

• Education, gambling, and drivers license power was not given to the federal gov or prohibited from the states, so these powers belong to the states

11th Amendment (1795)

• if you sue a state, the case will be in the state court, not the federal court

• (this is because they were scared of federal powers)

12th Amendment (1804)

• separate ballots for president and vice president

• The Electoral College elects the president

• Before this amendment, the person who got the most votes in the electoral college became the president and the person with the 2nd most votes became vice president.

• after this amendment, separate ballot for president and vice president

• (before this amendment, trump would be president and Harris would be the vice president)

13th amendment (1865)

• a civil war amendment

• slavery is not allowed throughout the United States

• (Banned slavery in the United States)

14th Amendment

• (a civil war amendment)

• 1. all people born or naturalized are citizens

  • Dred Scott Decision - 1857 Supreme Court ruled that slaves were properly not citizens, so they could not sue

• 2. No state may take away due process

  • Bill of Rights were protection from the federal gov, NOW the amendments can be applied to the states, meaning the states have to give the amendment rights to the people.

• 3. Equal protection of the law - federal and state laws must be the same for all people, cannot favor or discriminate against some people.

  • for ex. gay marriage - Supreme Court ruled gay couples have the same right to marry based on this amendment.

15th Amendment (1870)

• (a civil war amendment)

• right to vote cannot be taken away because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

• gave African-American men the right to vote

16th Amendment (1913)

• income tax

• constitution gave the federal gov the right to collect indirect tax (ex. sales tax or tariffs)

• Now, federal gov. can collect an income tax, a direct tax

17th Amendment (1913)

• direct election of senators

• before, senators were elected by state legislators, and this led to corruption

• after, the people of each state elect senators.

18th Amendment (1919)

• banned alcohol

• cannot manufacture, sale, or transport alcohol

• the evils of alcohol - damage done to families because of alcohol (abuse, spending paychecks, etc)

• inspired by the Temperance movement

19th Amendment (1920)

• women’s right to vote

• cannot be deprived the right to vote based upon your gender

• why needed? the constitution does not prevent women from voting, but states were preventing women to vote.

20th Amendment

• “Lame Duck” amendment

• after the 20th amend, the election is held in November, and the President takes office on Jan 20th instead of on March

• this amendment cut down the period of being a “Lame Duck”

  • lame duck refers to when the president is still in office but has lost influence.

21st Amendment

• legalized alcohol

• repealed the 18th amendment

• prohibition failed (it led to rise in crime)

• states or countries can still make alcohol illegal.

22nd Amendment

• established 2 terms for the President

• President can only be elected 2 times

• President Franklin Roosevelt was elected 4 times, people felt that was too many terms for president

• president can be elected to 2, 4 yr terms, but the actual maximum number of years a president can serve is 10 years. (8+2)

23rd Amendment (1961)

• 3 electors for Washington D.C.

• Washington D.C. gets electors (electors elect the president)

• Electors are based upon number of House of Representatives and Senators a state has

• D.C. is NOT a state, no House members or senators (so they needed representation, and they got 3 electors)

24th Amendment (1964)

• established the No Poll tax

• people cannot be charged money to vote

• people vote at polls, so its called a poll tax.

25th Amendment (1967)

• If the president dies or resigned, the vice president shall become the president

• if president becomes incapacitated (cannot perform their duties/job), there is way to remove the president.

26th Amendment (1971)

• lowered the voting age to 18 (was 21 before)

• Vietnam war was the cause to lower the voting age because 18 year olds were going to Vietnam to fight a war but had no say in who was sending them to fight

• a “wasted” amendment since only 13%-16% of 18-20 year olds actually vote

• in 2022 = 27% voted (18-20 year olds)

27th Amendment (1992)

• congress pay raise

• congress control their own pay

• if congress gives themselves a pay raise, it does not go into effect until after the next election

• gives voters a chance to have a say in congress.