Bill of Rights - How many remain intact?

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Angus MacDuff

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It would appear that the greatest travesty in recent memory is occurring now. Take a good look at the Bill of Right (and Freedoms) and note, which items appear to have weakened over time. I believe the first, fourth, fifth, sixth, and especially the ninth. Under GWB you do not have "enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."


Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.


Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.


Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.


Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.


Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.


Amendment VII
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 VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.


Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.


Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.



Please express any views in agreement or conflicting with the aforementioned?
 
I think J. Edgar Hoover and his secret wiretaps and files show that we had this problem long before W. and Ashcroft.
 
" I don't think III has been infringed upon, yet."

Give it time. :mad:

"Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace (sic) be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law."

We are "at war," & no longer "at peace." I'm certain "law" will be prescribed soon enough.

All else have been bastardized. We only wait for the 3rd to get beat up ....
 
seeker_two said:
Think of how many military bases have been created using the "imminent domain" laws...
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since I honestly have no idea what you're talking about, would you please elaborate? I'd honestly be interested.

and my take:
1st: infringed. tax breaks for churches, no prayer in school, etc.

2nd: infringed. NFA'34 and others

3rd: details to come once seeker_two elaborates. otherwise, I'm inclined to believe it's intact.

4th: infringed. TSA security searches among others

5th: infringed. have to prove pre-ban status, among other infringements I'm not too well-read on, like traffic tickets.

6th: infringed. key-word is 'speedy,' among other infringments I'm not too well-read on.

7th: AFAIK, PATRIOT act infringed this one, if not sooner.

8th: infringed by the punishments for breaking the laws which infringe on the 2nd amendment, among others I'm sure.

9th: infringed by the legal assumption that if it's not in the BOR or constitution, it's not protected. see the justification for the above infringements

10th: infringed by the fed taking on more of a role than intended

so as far as I can tell, the 3rd is the only one left intact, pending additional information from seeker_two.

they are all still intact, but they have been infringed upon.
 
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4th: infringed. TSA security searches
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Just "TSA Security searches"? The entire concept of the War On Drugs and the War On Drunk Driving and the War On Purt' Near Everything Else is really based on a War On The Fourth Amendment.
 
it should have been pretty obvious I wasn't listing every single infringement. hence why only one gun law was listed, etc. the post was also written at 4am, so I wasn't able to be perfectly consistant with the language. I've added "and others" for you.

besides, the "war on drugs" is a breach of the ninth and tenth amendments, not the fourth. some of the laws brought about by the "war on drugs" may violate the fourth, but I don't know any of the details for those so I'll leave that to someone else.
 
voilsb,

Oh, I wasn't jumping on you; I just wanted to make sure that one got pointed out, that's all.

I'd give specific examples, but I'm going to give the floor over to the pre-eminent expert on Constitutional law in the U.S., author of the paper "Search and Seizure and the Fourth Amendment": Fluffy, the drug-sniffing dog.

Me: So, Fluffy, on your say-so, policemen gan go pretty much anywhere they want, look in anything they want, and seize anything they want?
Fluffy: *woof*
Me: There you go. Who needs judges?

;)
 
that makes sense, though I understand those dogs are pretty well trained so they typically don't give false-positives. on the other side, the dog's ability to smell could be considered an illegal search in and of itself. :)

and sorry about taking it as being jumped on ... I didn't get too much sleep last night and there's a lot going down that's shortening my temper (like the iraqi's executing POWs publically)
 
3rd: details to come once seeker_two elaborates. otherwise, I'm inclined to believe it's intact.
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"Imminent domain" is a legal way that a governmental body (fed, state, or local) obtains land owned by a citizen in order to build pubilc works. Usually, this means that a gov't will condemn the land and then offer the landowner a price (usu. comparable w/ market value) that the landowner must accept or the land would be seized--sort of an "offer that you can't refuse".

While imminent domain is usually enacted for road-building, nat'l or state parks, or gov't buildings, it has been used to obtain land for military installations. Near where I live, Ft. Hood has done this to expand the base perimeter several times, and the landowner has no recourse.

So, in a way, the 3rd Amendment has been undermined similar to the way GCA '36 & '68 did to the 2nd.
 
I see your point, and it's a very thin line which they would probably jusity from the fifth amendment phrase stating "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation"

market value is, technically, just compensation. and just as technically, the soldiers aren't being quartered in anybody's house so it's legally more a fifth amendment issue, I think.

but is a very thin line which can be read either way, and I'm purposefully erring on the side of optimism (which the founding father wouldn't recommend, based on the 9th and 10th)

thanks for the input, too.
 
They are all intact.
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Blackhawk,

I believe in the Easter Bunny, too.

:rolleyes:

Amendment X, anyone?

pax

I miss the serenity of believing I lived under a good government, wisely designed and benevolent in its operation. But, as St. Paul says, there comes a time to put away childish things. -- Joseph Sobran
 
I believe in the Easter Bunny, too.
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pax, there's a lot of difference between an Amendment being intact and it being infringed by unconstitutional laws.

I merely answered the question that was asked.

Maybe what Angus should have titled his tread is "Bill of Rights - How many are not being infringed by laws?"

Am I picky? You'd better believe it! :neener:

BTW, isn't it an Easter Pumpkin...? :D
 
Among all of the Amrendments, the Third is the only one that does not have an ongoing attack against it by any group or individual.
 
Blackhawk,

:eek: I stand corrected.

You are quite right.

pax

The best defense against a usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry. -- Bill Buckley
 
Whichever rights are intact at this time is of no concern if the 2nd is not.
 
I agree with the picky folks who say these Rights still exist, but that government has infringed them. And they have been severely infringed.

Worse it yet to come. Go check out Patriot Act II.
 
It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown. :D

1568.jpg


As to the question at hand, I dunno, lemme think about it.
 
One minor correction

1st: infringed. tax breaks for churches, no prayer in school, etc.
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Actually not taxing churches is an example of amendment 1 being upheld. The power to tax is the power to control or destroy. Allowing the government to tax the church would be an infringement on the free excercise of religion.

The establishment clause refers to the then common practice of taxing the people to support a particular church ala the Anglican Church in England.
 
An example of the violation of the 1st Amendment is the suit against Paladin Press over the book "Hit Man."

Frankly, I believe that the Supreme Court would happily shred any amendment if the existance of a major government power was at stake.
 
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