Vincent Cook

Government 6th period

10/27/2014
The United States constitution is a bastion of achievement among the free world.
However, the constitution is by no means perfect. It has faults, and poor judgement written in it.
What makes the constitution great is the ability for it to change. Through congressional
amendments, legal precedents, or a change in interpretation the constitution is a living
document. The supreme court changes the meaning of the constitution through its verdicts.
The highest word in the land, what the supreme court says is final. One prime example of the
Supreme Court changing the meaning of the constitution is Roe v. Wade. Formally overturning
the ruling on separate but equal. The constitution was not thought up overnight, the framers
worked for months on end to draft the constitution, the framers used ideas and precedents from
the enlightenment thinkers, and even the English Bill of Rights. The constitution borrowed ideas
from the English Bill of Rights by having a no cruel or unusual punishment amendment. The
English Bill of Rights also includes due process of law, and the right to bare arms. One of the
biggest breakthroughs of the Constitution were amendments 13, 14, and 15. The 13th
abolished slavery, the 14th made it illegal to discriminate citizenship based on race, the 15th
amendment gave black people the right to vote. Minority/black males finally had the opportunity
to vote and have a free life due to amendments 13, 14, and 15. People from Mexico, Asia, and
other non-white countries were able to get citizenship.
The constitution was further changed by amends 16, 17, 18, and 19. The 16th
amendment introduced income tax. Income tax gave the states the power to tax people over
their income that they made. The 17th amendment allowed the citizens to vote for the senate.
This amendment fixed the problem of state reps either gaming the system, or being unable to
choose senate members over disputes. The one pro of having state reps choose the senate is
allowing someone with experience in government to run congress, however at the same time
corruption and rigging could easily infiltrate the system. Now that everyone has their say, it can
fix problems involving corruption but it allows those less informed to make an impact. The 18th
amendment legalized prohibition against alcohol. Problems would arise with husbands
spending all the family money at bars. At the same time many criminals became obscenely rich
from selling alcohol, one famous example is Al Capone. Crime went up at the same time due to
people being arrested for possession of alcohol. The 19th finally allowed women to have a say
in government by allowing women to vote. Some would argue that the 17th amendment could
hurt our government. People would make uneducated decisions and put someone incompetent
in power. At the same time, state reps could easily rig senators by only putting in certain
senators, or the more evident problem was state reps being unable to vote and deicide. This
period of reform is known as the progressive era. The people were better represented in the
government during this period. Women were able to vote, and even in hindsight it was a bad
decision, the prohibition was in full effect. All from what the people wanted.
More change was brought on with the constitution involving voting rights. The 15th
allowed black males to vote in federal elections, while later on the 19th would allow all women to

vote. The 24th barred poll tax, allowing people of lower income to be able to vote. Finally, the
26th amendment lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. The 15th amendment came around to
deal with the problem of slavery, and finally let free black males vote. The 19th was written in
during the progressive era, and under much protest from women. The 24th was written in to
eliminate discrimination based on income. The 26th is well known for the college students
would be shipped off to vietnam without any say in it. The 15th amendment and 19th
amendment extended the rights of African American males. As rights were being added the
presidential election, terms, and other federal issues were being sorted out. The 12th
amendment made voting for the president and vice president seperate. A very important
amendment, since beforehand the vice president would be decided by the runner up in the
election. A president, later became an amendment with the 22nd. FDR was the reason behind
this amendment when he ran for a third term. Afterwards, congress decided that a two turn limit
should be imposed. The 20th eliminated a slump in the presidential election, it was known as
the lame duck amendment. During elections, there would be a small period of a few months
where the president had to travel and get settled into the white house. However, due to
innovation in our transportation system the president would arrive while the former president
was still in power, leading to slump where nothing could get done. The 23rd amendment was
mainly just a technicality fix, which allowed the District of Columbia to vote, which previously
was unable to. Finally the 25th amendment added a line of succession should the president,
and vp, be incapacitated. The line of succession was needed after the JFK assassination, since
the vp was not in the white house to take power.
The constitution is filled with amendments that range from rights, to voting laws. The
11th amendment was a more different branch. The 11th amendment declared that you cannot
use federal courts to sue a state, or person. Instead, you would have to use that specific states
courts. The 21st amendment repealed the 18th amendment of prohibition. This amendment
now re-allowed the legal sale of alcohol. On the other hand, the 27th amendment stops
congress from giving itself a pay raise until after the next election. It was meant to stop
congress from raising its pay year after year. Stopping congressional pay raises until the next
election was a good idea since congress couldnt just do it themselves. Instead it gave the
people are chance to voice their opinion and possibly vote several members out.
Some of the most important amendments are listed in the bill of rights (amendments 110). The first amendment can be arguable the most important. It allows freedom of speech,
freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. The first amendment is very important for how it
limits the governments power. The government can not come after you for what you say
(limitations apply if what you say can directly hurt or affect someone badly). The government
can also not come after you for your religious beliefs, and lastly, the government cannot change
what the media says. Even with these limitations the government does need to maintain order.
Having a just police force, and knowing its boundaries allows for a fair system. While the first
amendment does give you freedom of speech, its only from persecution of the government.
Any private company can easily kick you out for what you say, you just can't be arrested for it.
The few things you can be arrested is for example inciting panic in a movie theater by shouting
fire. Another example, would spreading libel, or slander against a person that does affect them,

and happens to not be true. Further along with the bill rights, the 2nd amendment gives the
freedom of its citizens the rights to have guns. Any citizen is allowed to own a firearm, granted
they comply with state legislature. The 2nd amendment has raised controversy since some say
guns get people killed, and cause more harm than good. Improper gun ownership has lead to
kids playing with guns and getting killed. At the same time criminals get their hands on guns
and then commit violent crimes. However, at the same time, guns do offer a very nice system
of protection. There have been many instances of home invasions/breakins that were quickly
stopped due to a gun used by the family to protect themselves. At the same time, the media
never talks about the numerous, and far greater responsible gun owners. Finally, violent crimes
have been on the decline, and an unarmed society could adversely increase crime. A criminal
would already break the law, so it wouldnt matter for him to illegally obtain a gun. Simple
robberies would increase from the criminals only wielding knives, since no law abiding citizen
would own a gun. The 3rd amendment isnt really applied today, but it states that the
government cannot force citizens to house troops, and the government cannot have a standing
army when not in a time of war.
One of the second most important amendments is the 4th amendment. It protects the
citizen from illegal search and seizure. In order for a police officer to stop you and search you,
or arrest you depends on probable cause or reasonable suspicion. Reasonable suspicion
would warrant for an officer to stop and question you, if no other suspicion arises, then nothing
else can be down. However, a police officer has evidence or suspicion above reasonable
suspicion then this gives the officer right to detain, or arrest you based on probable cause. For
example, if a person is acting suspicious, like walking around late at night in dark clothing this
can give an officer reasonable suspicion to stop you. If the officer seems like person is acting
shady and has something to hide this can give the officer probable cause to search, and detain
the person. The most common way the police search other than a stop and frisk situation is by
judge issued warrants. There are circumstances where a warrant can be circumvented and still
be legal. On of the simplest examples is if an illegal substance is sitting in plain view. So if an
officer walks by a window and sees drugs on the table the officer can immediately search the
house for the drugs, without a warrant. At the same time, police cannot illegally search
somebody or someplace, find something illegal and use it against the person/place. There is no
ends justify the means clause when it comes to illegally obtaining evidence, and as such illegal
evidence is not admissible in court. Exceptions do apply, especially in schools. In a school, a
police officer can only search a locker or student if he has probable cause. However, a staff
member is allowed to search a student at any time, doesnt matter if there is no good reason, or
if given the circumstances a police officer would be unable to search someone. The fifth
amendment is well known for its self-incrimination clause. A citizen is protected from selfincrimination as long as the person states they will not say anything to protect themselves. The
5th also protects against double jeopardy, where once a person has been tried for a crime they
cannot be tried for the same crime, with the same evidence again. If new evidence opens up
after the person was already acquitted they can be tried again, but only using the new evidence
obtained. Another, very important aspect of the 5th amendment is the due process clause. It
requires that the person be aware of their immediate rights, and helps protect the citizen from
getting themselves in trouble. The 6th amendment states that citizens are allowed the right to a

speedy trial, and cannot be held in jail waiting for their trial of the course of several years. The
amendment also states that the trial must be with their peers, and by people who are not biased
against the accused. The 6th amendment includes the right to a public trial, which is important
for a fair trial. If a trial was behind closed doors then nobody on the outside would be able to
determine if what actually happened was fair. If the trial is public then it would be impossible for
corrupted rulings or severe injustice rulings to take place.
The 7th amendment allows for a jury in civil cases, while the 8th amendment protects
citizens from cruel and unusual punishment. The 8th amendment does not allow the
government to set bail to a point where it would be physically impossible to pay (for example 10
trillion dollar bail). It also stops the government from imposing torture or unusual punishments,
like applying lashes from whips as punishment. The 9th amendment serves as a catch all
amendment. The 9th amendment says that not all rights have to be listed in the constitution,
and therefore people have rights that are not directly stated. This stops the government from
merely using the previous 8 amendments as the only rights given to citizens. The 10th
amendment limits the powers of state, and federal government. Some powers are granted to
only the state, while other powers are granted only to the federal government. On top of that it
states that no form of government can act outside the constitution, including the federal
government. With all the amendments listed, there are still other things that apply with the
constitution. One example is majority rules, and minority rights. Even if the majority agree on
something it still must respect the minorities rights. A good example of the majority rules and
minority rights are the indian reservations. Some laws/powers are granted to indian
reservations that are not normally granted to the average American citizen. This is because
even though the majority agree or follow one way, minority rights cannot be infringed upon.
Minority groups have been guaranteed their rights through history, such as different races
(black, asian, etc.), or certain religious groups, like satanism. The KKK for example is a very
well known minority group. Even if they are despised by the majority they still have rights
guaranteed to them by the government. Slowly but surely social changes do occur in our
government. Take a look back 200 years ago and slavery was common, and today a black
person has the same freedoms as a white person. Even in the present changes are happening,
with the view on gay marriage, and the legalization of marijuana.