Government Unit 4

The first ten amendments to the Constitution. List of rights the government cannot take away from you.

What are Civil Liberties?

Civil liberties - idea that people have these rights because they are people. Like God-given because we are human.

▪ Ex: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness

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Civil rights - comes from social contract and given by the government.

○ Made by the government for the people. It can be changed.

??The religions all start in the same place (like a race), but the best ideas win out. Market of different ideas. Religion with most merit (value).

▪ Ex: freedom of religion

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"Persons": persons have rights, and it has expanded to children, women, and even other countries.

○ Because they are a human with rights. All people who come in our jurisdiction of the government

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Civil Liberties and the Constitution

Article 1, Section 9: limits on congressional power

○ Bills of Attainder - everyone has a change in trial, and only if you are guilty, you can be punished.

○ Ex Post Facto Laws - prohibited that a new law that punished you for something that you did when the action was legal in the past (retroactively).

○ Writ of Habeas Corpus - you get a speedy trial in an appropriate time to the crime.

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Ex Parte Milligan (1866)- There has been times when these have been abused. Lincoln started locking up newspaper men because he was annoyed and he

put them in prison without trial. He Ignored Habeas Corpus.

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The Origin of the Bill of Rights

- Alexander Hamilton thought we did not need the bill of rights; leader of the federalists

- Anti-federalists pushed back

James Madison - Virginia plan, bill of rights, and constitution.

○ Out Bill of Rights is based on Virginia had a Declaration of Rights

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Look at slides for list of 10 Amendments

Extending the Bill of Rights to the States

In the beginning, it just limited the federal government.

○ States could have an established religion, but it is against the bill of rights