chron.com/ciecie.chron.com/pdf_tabs/the_constitution_blueprint_for_a_nation.pdf · the simpsons...

chron.com/cieThis program is generously provided by the Houston Bar Association.

chron.com/ciewww.hba.org

2

Constitution DayThe U.S. Constitution was adopted by a convention of the nation’s found-

ers on September 17, 1787. That day is now observed as Constitution Day, and since 2004, a national law has required that schools teach about the Constitution as part of their classes that day. This Newspaper in Education supplement has been created to explain the three branches of government set up by the Constitution and to explore the freedoms established in the Bill of Rights.It also will show students how great a role the Constitution plays in their lives and the lives of their families. From Bill of Rights freedoms, to the actions of the courts and Congress, to the use of power by the president, the Constitution is a presence every day in the lives of Americans. That has made the United States a great nation and has inspired other nations to seek greatness.

That is cause for celebration — today and every day.

Uif qmbo gpsbnfsjdb

America is a big house.

As a country, the United States has many rooms, different floors, old

wings and additions going off in new directions.

It is more than 230 years old, and its structure is admired throughout

the world.

Like any house, the United States didn’t just happen. It was designed

with a thoughtful plan drawn up by the nation’s founders.

That plan was the U.S. Constitution.

Adopted at the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Constitution

was the blueprint for a nation.

It divided national power into three branches of government and

established the idea of “checks and balances.”

It dealt with the rights of individual states and the relationship of

states to the national government.

It outlined what powers leaders should have and how they could be

removed for abusing power.

It addressed issues that would be important years in the future such

as copyrights and scientific discoveries.

And in its first 10 amendments — the Bill of Rights — it spelled out

some of the most important freedoms Americans have.

In later amendments, it demonstrated that a powerful nation can —

and should — make changes to address past wrongs.

The 13th Amendment abolished slavery in 1865 and the 15th

Amendment gave people of all races the right to vote in 1870. The

19th Amendment gave women the right to vote in 1920, and in 1971

the 26th Amendment lowered the voting age for all citizens to 18.

For more than 200 years this blueprint has kept America strong and

made its system of government a model for the rest of the world.

It has demonstrated that the rule of law can carry a nation through

crisis, war and times of change.

It has shown that balanced power and open debate can make a

nation stronger.

And it has shown, most of all, what incredible architects the nation’s

founders were.

Their blueprint not only worked in their time, but in a future they

could not have imagined.

2

Constitution FaCt:since the u.s. Constitution was adopted, there have been a total of 27 amendments to change it.

3

Uif mfhjtmbUjwf csbodi

The legislative branch was created in Article I of the Constitution to be the voice of the people.

The legislative branch gives voters from every state a say in national government through the

elected members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

Together, the House and Senate make up the U.S. Congress, which takes its name from a word

that means “coming together.”

Each branch of Congress has the power to propose new laws (the proposed laws are introduced

for approval as bills). For any law to take effect, however, it must be approved by both the House and

the Senate.

The Senate is in charge of approving or rejecting people that the president wants to make part of

the Supreme Court, or add to his Cabinet. The Senate also approves treaties with other nations.

The House of Representatives has a unique responsibility. Only the House can make proposals for

taxes to raise money to run the national government.

There are 100 senators in the Senate. Each state, no matter how big it is or how many residents

it has, sends two senators, who have been elected by the people of the state. Each Senator serves a

term of six years, with one third of the Senate seats filled by voters every two years.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for election every two years, requiring that

House members go back to the voters for approval if they want to continue in office.

The number of representatives that a state gets to elect is based on how many people live in the

state, but each state elects at least one. For example, both Delaware and Montana elect one repre-

sentative because both have small populations. California, which has more people than any other

state, now elects 53.

Representatives and senators can be re-elected as many times as the people of their states want to

put them in office. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina served in the Senate for more than 47 years,

and John Conyers Jr. of Michigan has been serving in the House of Representatives for 42 years.

The debate and actions of the U.S. Congress make news every day. Look though the Houston Chronicle and find a story about an issue or bill before either the House or Senate in Congress. Write a paragraph summarizing the important points of the bill or issue, then write a paragraph giving your opinion on the issue or bill, and whether you would support it if you were a member of Congress.

The legislative branch of the federal government is headed by the U.S. Congress, which consists of the 435-member U.S. House of Representatives and the 100-member U.S. Senate.

Under the Constitution, all federal legislative powers are held by Congress, and laws must be passed by both the House and Senate to take effect.

Congress has the power to collect taxes, issue money, regulate commerce and declare war.

3

Constitution FaCt:the most recent amendment to the Constitution was passed in 1992. this amendment regulates pay raises in Congress.

Illegal downloading of music and movies is an issue that gets a lot of attention today. It’s also an issue that involves a right guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Article I, Section 8 grants to authors, artists and inven-tors “the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” This “copyright protection” is broken when people download music or movies from the Internet without paying for them. As a class, discuss what things students use most that are covered under copyright law. Should music and movies be covered when they can be so easily shared on the Internet?

the Constitution & You

ipVtUpo dispojdmf bdUjwjUz

Did you know that before 1951, the president of the United States could run for office as many times as he wanted? Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran and won four times in a row and died in office in 1945. Six years later, the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution was passed to limit the time a person can be president to eight total years. The president heads the executive branch of the U.S. government. The Founding Fathers who wrote the Constitution wanted the president to be leader of the government and the military, but not so powerful as to act like a king.While the president was given many

powers, the Constitution also spells out that the U.S. Congress has the power to remove a president through the process known as impeachment.

No president has ever been removed, although impeachment charges were brought against two, Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998.

The president often proposes legisla-tion, and members of Congress will often create bills based on the president’s proposals. Yet the president cannot directly submit legislation to Congress for approval.

The president can either sign into law or veto bills that have passed the Senate and the House of Representatives. When the president vetoes a bill, it means that he wants to make sure it doesn’t become a law, even though the majority of Congress has agreed to it. If Congress wants to overrule the president’s veto, two-thirds of the Senate and two-thirds of the House of Representatives must vote to “override” the veto.The president appoints justices to the Supreme Court and appoints Cabinet members who head depart-

ments such as the Department of Defense, the State Department or the Department of Agriculture. The president also appoints ambassadors. All these appoint-ments must be approved by the Senate.

To be president, a person must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, a resident in the United States for at least 14 years and at least 35 years old.If the president dies or is unable to perform his job, the vice president takes his position. After the vice president in the line of succession is the speaker of the House of Representatives. How exactly does a president get elected? Did you know that four times during the history of the United States, the person who got the most votes did not become president? This can happen because of the

Electoral College, and it last occurred when George W. Bush defeated Al Gore for president in the year 2000.

What is the Electoral College? As set up by the Constitution, it is not

a college like a university. Instead it is a body of representatives who cast ballots in presidential elections on behalf of each state.

Here’s how it works in a presidential election: After all the people’s votes are cast and counted, each state’s members of the Electoral College get together. The number of electoral votes for a state is the number of U.S. senators (two) plus the number of representatives a state has in the U.S. House of Representatives (based on population).

In most states, these members tally which candidate got the most votes and then give all the state’s electoral votes to that candidate. This way, the state votes as a whole. If the candidate you voted for got fewer votes in your state, too bad for you — all the electoral votes go to the candidate with the majority of the popular vote in each state. The only exceptions to this rule are Maine and Nebraska, which have rules that allow members of the Electoral College to split their votes among different candidates in the same election.

Uif fyfdVUjwf csbodiThe executive branch is headed

by the president of the United States and includes departments led by Cabinet officers, such as the Department of Defense and the State Department, which handles dealings with other nations.

Under the Constitution, the president is commander in chief of the military forces, and with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate has the power to appoint judges of the Supreme Court, Cabinet officers, ambassadors and other officials.

The president has the power to propose laws and is required to make a State of the Union report to Congress each year.

Throughout U.S. history, leaders of the three branches of government have sought to assert the powers given them by the Constitution. President George W. Bush strongly believes in the power of the presidency and has moved in different ways to re-establish executive power he feels previous presidents gave up to Congress or the courts. Find a story in the Houston Chronicle about the president using or asserting executive power. Write a paragraph summarizing the issue.

While the president was given many powers, the Constitution

also spells out that the U.S. Congress has

the power to remove

a president.

Constitution FaCt:the Constitution spells out the exact wording of the oath the president must take before entering office: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of the president of the united states, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

4


Uif kVejdjbm csbodiThe judicial branch is headed

by the U.S. Supreme Court and includes less powerful courts

established by Congress.Its power covers all cases

arising under the Constitution and interpretation of the

Constitution in modern times. It has authority to hear

disputes between states, between a state and citizens

of another state and between citizens of different states.The U.S. Supreme Court is

the ultimate court of appeal for decisions by lower courts.

When the framers of the Constitution created the

judicial, or court, branch of the federal government,

they only required that the United States always

have a Supreme Court. The Constitution allowed for

creation of other federal courts if Congress decided

they were needed. Today, the federal courts make up

a large system.

One question was on people’s minds when the

Constitution created the Supreme Court: How would

the states keep their separate powers under one court

of law? A compromise allowed each state to maintain

its own state court system.

Generally, the federal and state courts

are in charge of different areas of deci-

sion-making. For example, the state

courts make decisions about a state’s

laws. The federal courts makes deci-

sions about laws of the nation, the

Constitution, federal programs like Social

Security, and sometimes on lawsuits

between residents of different states.

Sometimes, the power of the two courts

overlaps, and there is a question about

which court will decide a case.

There are eight justices and one chief justice on the

federal Supreme Court. This number can be changed

by Congress, but the court has consistently had

nine since 1869. An effort by President Franklin D.

Roosevelt to expand the Supreme Court was rejected

in 1937.Supreme Court justices serve for life, but in the

last year, two new justices have been appointed by

President George W. Bush. Chief Justice John Roberts

was approved by the U.S. Senate in September 2005,

and Associate Justice Samuel Alito joined the court in

January 2006.

In all the time the Supreme Court has been the most

powerful court in the United States, only two of its

justices have been women. The first was Sandra Day

O’Connor, whose retirement led to the appointment

of Alito.

Only one woman is on the Supreme Court today:

Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

As the debate over the Roberts and Alito appoint-

ments demonstrated, it is a big deal when the presi-

dent gets to propose new candidates for the job. The

president generally will propose people who share his

views, so it is a chance for the president to put a per-

son on the court who will advance those views long

after the president leaves office.

It is the Supreme Court’s job to inter-

pret the Constitution and make sure

that its ideals are upheld by U.S. laws.

The court established this role for itself in

the historic case of Marbury v. Madison

in 1803.Because it is the nation’s most pow-

erful court, the Supreme Court makes

decisions that can change the lives of

many Americans.

For example, in 1954 the Supreme

Court decided in Brown v. Board of Education that

segregation in schools was not legal because of the

14th Amendment to the Constitution. This decision

declared that communities that had so-called “sepa-

rate but equal” schools discriminated against black

students because minority schools rarely had the same

resources as the white schools.

More recently, the Supreme Court has made deci-

sions on affirmative action programs seeking equal

opportunities for women and minorities, on abortion

and on gun control. Because it is the highest court in

the land, any decision of the Supreme Court cannot

be changed by any other court.

It is the Supreme Court’s job to interpret the Constitution and make sure that its ideals are upheld by

U.S. laws.

The judicial branch of the federal govern-ment hears cases rising out of interpretation of rights set forth in the Constitution. The federal law known as Title IX forbids discrimi-nation against girls in school sports and other activities. In March 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court expanded the protections of that law to include "whistleblowers" who file complaints of discrimination on behalf of others.

In a 5-4 ruling, the high court ruled that a person filing a complaint is protected from retaliation even if he or she is not "the victim of the discrimination that is the subject of the ... complaint."

As a class, discuss why you think Congress felt the need to pass Title IX. Then discuss how you think it has changed boys and girls sports at your school.


Constitution FaCt:sandra Day o'Connor was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1981, the first woman to ever sit in the country's highest court.

5

Uif gjstU bnfoenfoU

A recent survey indicates that Americans know more about The Simpsons than they do about the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, which guarantees our fundamental rights.

This alarmed many people, but the alarm might be misplaced. Interfere with Americans’ freedom of expression, religion, the

right to assemble or to demand fair treatment, and you’ll have a fight on your hands. Why? Americans are aware of what rights are guaranteed in the catch-all First Amendment, even if they can’t put them into words.

The Simpsons, in fact, is a TV program that often pushes the envelope. Its characters couldn’t be as free-wheeling and outra-geous as they are if what they say wasn’t protected by the First Amendment.

Curiously, the amendment is worded negatively. It doesn’t say you have certain rights; it lists rights that your government may not limit, or “abridge.”

The amendment applies to Congress specifically, but over time, the courts have held that these protections extend to the executive and judicial branches. After the Civil War, the 14th Amendment extended First Amendment limits to the states.

Although the rights listed in the First Amendment are Americans’ most basic rights, they also are the rights most often interpreted in different ways — and the most frequently contested and argued about in court challenges.

That is because in the United States, no right is absolute. There may be exceptions for the public good, in the interest of national security or other reasons. The courts often are called on to deter-mine when limits are justified.

Freedom of religionExactly how the two freedom of religion clauses are applied is an issue that arises again and again

in the United States, particularly during the Christmas season, when Christmas trees on government property, carols in public schools and Nativity-oriented decorations on public buildings are objected to on First Amendment grounds. So is the posting of the Ten Commandments detailed in the Bible in courthouses.

In a nation like the United States, probably the most religiously diverse on Earth, the government can neither promote nor discourage religious practice. The question asked of the courts is whether having images associated with a particular religion is legal on government land.

Freedom of assemblyFreedom of assembly protects the right of the people to organize and gather together for any lawful

purposes, even to protest government policies. Such gatherings or protests sometimes carry the risk of intimidation or violence, particularly when people’s feelings are strong on controversial issues.

In such cases, public safety may be considered. While local communities have laws prohibiting people from disturbing the peace, courts often must decide whether demonstrators’ rights are more important than a government’s concerns.

This is especially true when the demonstrators are promoting an extremely controversial cause.Some examples include the American Nazi Party’s parade in a strongly Jewish suburb of Chicago (the

court ruled that a permit had to be issued) and a Ku Klux Klan march in mainly black neighborhoods and towns where the majority of the population do not welcome the Klan’s racist messages.

The First Amendment has caused great debate about the “separation of church and state” in America. In 2005, that debate landed in a U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania after the Dover Area School Board voted to require the teaching of “intelligent design” alongside evolution in biology classes. Backers of intelligent design say that living organisms are so complex they must have been created by a higher force, not by the natural selection that is the basis of evolution. After a six-week trial, U.S. District Court Judge John E. Jones ruled that intelligent design was “a religious view… not a scientific theory” and amounted to a “re-labeling” of the Bible’s account of God creating the universe. The judge said the board’s decision was designed to “promote religion” and violated the constitutional separation of church and state. After the case, the backers of intelligent design were voted off the school board, and the new board did not appeal the judge’s ruling. As a class, discuss whether you think intelligent design should be taught in a science class, or be taught in another class.

6


“ 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.”

Freedom of speech and freedom of the pressThe most controversial pieces of the First Amendment are the freedom of speech and free-

dom of the press clauses. Freedom of speech is not just what people say. It also is what they write in books, what

they show in movies or video games, what they put on the air in TV shows, what they include in music CDs or what they promote in advertising. Freedom of the press is not just the print press like newspapers and magazines; it also includes television and radio news, movie documentaries and electronic publishing on Web sites and Web blogs.

Throughout its history, the United States has been the world’s strongest protector of these freedoms.

In a world fearful of terrorism, are these protections in danger? In what situations should there be limits on free expression? What should happen when it collides with someone else’s rights?

If an informed public is essential to democracy, then the press, which informs the public, must be free to gather information and publish it, without fear of government censorship or retribution, according to defenders of the First Amendment. The fact that this right sometimes may be abused does not take away from the press’s role as guardian of the people’s rights.

Yet not all expression is protected. The courts have identified categories not covered by the First Amendment:

The right to freely publish information and opinions places a lot of responsibility on the press. The First Amendment shield can be used for good or bad, depending on motives, values and ethics.

Ethics is the process of determining what is good or bad, right or wrong. Ethics goes beyond law. Law tells us what we can do; ethics tells us what we should do. Sometimes, it’s the same — but not always.

Making the “right” decision is not always easy. No law can be passed requiring that a citizen always make the “right” decisions. When a

journalist publishes something that people think is unethical, there’s a temptation to want to narrow the freedom of the press, but it must be resisted.

First Amendment advocates assert that the best way to fight abuse of the First Amendment is to develop an understanding of it. The more we learn about this cornerstone of American freedom, the more we appreciate and keep one of the most progressive and important ideas of the Founding Fathers alive.

Redress of grievancesPeople have the right to ask for change. The redress of grievances is tied closely to freedom

of speech and freedom of assembly. This clause boldly states that you have the right to speak out, protest and sue if the government or any person or organization does you wrong. You also have the right to ask for compensations or changes that will remedy your situation. Recently, this part of the First Amendment has been used to defend people sued by large corporations for speaking out against them in public, and by people suing the U.S. government for enacting laws and policies that may be unconstitutional.

1) obscenity

2) defamation

3) inciting to lawless action

4) inflammatory words

5) unwarranted invasion of privacy

6) clear and immediate threats to national security

7) copyright violations

8) disruption on school grounds of school activities

Freedom of speech takes many forms. It can be contained in a news-paper editorial, a movie, a song, a TV show, an ad or a video game. In teams, search the newspaper for examples of different ways people can freely express ideas and opinions. Write a paragraph describing how your life might be different if free speech was not protected by the Constitution.

The First Amendment guarantees freedom of speech, but can every person have freedom of speech in every place? In March 2006, a social studies teacher in a Colorado public school was placed on paid leave of absence for mak-ing statements about President Bush in class that some people thought were overly nega-tive. The teacher appealed the school district’s decision. As a class, discuss whether you feel it is acceptable for teachers to share their own political beliefs with their classes. If you were a teacher, how would you teach a class on a subject on which you have strong opinions?

7

Constitution FaCt:President thomas Jefferson asserted, “our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost.”



The problem of violence involving guns is a hot issue in the United States today. Both people who want strict gun control and people who do not want gun control look to the Second Amendment to support their causes.

People who think that the government has no right to limit gun ownership by citizens often quote the part of the amendment that states “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” This is often inter-preted to mean that individuals, except people too young and those who have been convicted of violent crimes, all have the right to own guns.

People who think the Founding Fathers intended to limit gun ownership feel the amendment’s ref-erence to “a well regulated Militia” indicates who shall be allowed to bear arms.

In the days that the Bill of Rights was written, a mili-tia was a group of armed citizens from a town who were loyal to their state and community.

So the question is, does everyone have the right to

own a gun, or only people who are part of an organized force that defends their state and community?

The answer is: We don’t know. The Constitution and its amendments always are being examined and interpreted. The U.S. Supreme Court spends a lot of time trying to figure out how the Constitution should be applied to our modern lives and what the Founding Fathers really meant.

When we learn about the Bill of Rights, it’s important to consider what the Founding Fathers who wrote it had experienced and what was on their minds.

In England at the time, only certain people were allowed to own guns, and those people were either roy-alty or army. This left the average person at the mercy of the monarchy of kings and queens because he couldn’t fight their power. The Americans had just won a war against the monarchy by using guns, so they saw guns as very important to liberty.

One thing the new Americans were terrified of was that

Uif tfdpoe bnfoenfoU

their own government might turn into a monarchy or something like it, and that the people and the indi-vidual states might lose their say in government under a powerful central ruler. They wanted to prevent any president from becoming a king.

The militias were not controlled by the president, but instead by the states. This arrangement gave the people who ratified the Bill of Rights the feeling that the states could keep their rights because they were armed. Most importantly, the militias were the balance to any standing army under command of the president.

The new Americans feared standing armies because of their experiences with English forces liv-ing among them, and because at that time, armies often employed hired soldiers called mercenaries, who were considered wild and unattached to society. In contrast, the militias were groups made of friends and neighbors, who defended their communities and might be called together to defend the rights of the whole country.

Another thing to consider is that when the Bill of Rights uses the phrase “the people,” it means voting citizens. No women or slaves were included, and their right to bear arms was not protected by the Second Amendment.

Does everyone have the right to own a gun, or only people who are part

of an organized force that

defends their state and

community?

Find a story in the Chronicle about a crime that involved a gun. Read the article. Write a paragraph describing how the use of the gun affected the outcome of the crime, then write a paragraph describing how the crime would have been different if no one had a gun. Finish by pairing off and going online to learn about gun laws in your state. Make a short oral report to the class on whether you think your state’s gun laws are effective.


In March 2006, Tariq Blue was sweeping a basketball court in his Philadelphia neigh-borhood. Another youth walked up and shot him to death with a sawed-off shotgun. The murder took place the same week a judge was handing down a verdict in the shooting death of 10-year-old Faheem Thomas-Childs in front of his school. Death by injuries from guns is the second leading cause of unnatural death in children and teenagers. That statis-tic often is cited in calls to limit gun owner-ship in communities across America. Read the Second Amendment carefully, and go online and research how guns affect young peo-ple’s lives, then, write two paragraphs stating two ways we can make young people safer from guns.


“ 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.”

Constitution FaCt:the only constitutional amendment that was ever repealed was the 18th amendment, which called for prohibition and made drinking, selling or making alcohol illegal.8

The Third Amendment may seem a little old-fashioned to readers today. After all, how often have you or anyone you know had to deal with soldiers being quartered to live in your home?

To Americans in the 1700s, this was a vitally important amendment. They had been forced to provide room and board for British soldiers in their homes, and they didn’t like it.

One of the complaints in the Declaration of Independence was that King George III had been “quartering large bodies of armed troops among us.”

How would you like to be ordered to give up a bedroom to strangers, especially armed strang-ers who could be unpleasant, if not downright hostile?

“In time of peace,” the amendment specifies, “no soldier shall be quartered in any house” without the owner’s consent. “In time of war,” troops may be quartered only “in a manner to be prescribed by law.”

To give you an idea how important this was to citizens of the new republic, consider this: When states were proposing amendments to the Constitution, more included this provision than listed freedom of speech.

The amendment’s relevance may seem out of date, especially since military operations on U.S. soil have (fortunately) been infre-quent.

But more recently it has gotten new attention in some court cases as support for a constitutional right of privacy — an increas-ingly important issue in this era of electronic surveillance and mass communications.

It also has been cited in some cases as proof that the Constitution carefully distinguishes between times of war and of peace, an argument that might arise again when measures enacted after the September 11 attacks are challenged in court.

Only once has a federal court been asked to invalidate a law on Third Amendment grounds. It was the case of Engblom v. Carey and it was decided by the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in 1982.

Prison officials in New York had organized a strike and were evicted from their prison facility residences. These residences then were reassigned to National Guard members who had replaced them temporarily as prison guards. At first, the Third Amendment protections of the evicted prison officials were rejected in court on the ground that the prison workers did not actually own the residences. On appeal, the term “owner” was construed more broadly, and the Circuit Court extended Third Amendment protections to tenants.

Because there were no Supreme Court precedents on the Third Amendment, the Circuit Court relied on rulings relating to the Fourth Amendment (which covers search and seizure), since both relate to what are considered “privacy rights.”

As a result, the Third Amendment could gain new prominence in the ongoing national debates over the right to privacy.

Recently, the Third

Amendment has received

new attention in some court

cases as support for a constitutional

right of privacy.

Constitution FaCt:the u.s. Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of independence were stored in secret at Fort Know, Kentucky, during World War ii.

9

“ 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.”

Uif Uijse bnfoenfoU

Uif gpVsUi bnfoenfoU

The Fourth Amendment prohibits “unreasonable searches and seizures,” but does that apply to students? In 2001 the U.S. Supreme Court was asked whether schools could require students involved in sports or other activities to take random drug tests in order to participate. In a 5-4 ruling issued in 2002, the high court declared that athletes gave up their expectation of privacy by participating on teams and changing in locker rooms. The justices said it was “reasonable” to limit privacy rights in the interest of combat-ing drug abuse. Write a page-long essay on whether you think schools should be allowed to make students take drug tests if students want to participate in school activities.

Can a police officer just come into your house and go through the things in your room? Can your school’s sports teams make all athletes take random drug tests? Can law enforcement survey your property from a helicopter 400 feet in the air? Can the government listen to your telephone calls in the fight against terrorism?

These are all questions that rely on the Fourth Amendment for answers, but the answers to these questions are not always clear.

The Fourth Amendment has been interpreted by many courts. All the court cases in which the Fourth Amendment has been used have resulted in an enormous amount of case law — court opinions and decisions on a subject that may be used as standards again in other court cases.

Privacy is a big deal to modern Americans, and also it is something that has been in the news a lot lately. As the United States government seeks to protect the country from terrorists, steps are being taken to watch people that have never been taken in this country before.

For example, the president right now says that he has the power to have phone lines tapped without getting a warrant.

A warrant is an official permission from a court when police or law enforcement officials want to look at or listen to something that people usually expect to be private. The warrant has to say where and when the search will be, what is being searched for and why it is important.

The protections in the Fourth Amendment were adopted to prevent the government or police from abusing power when fighting crime or seeking to achieve goals government leaders wanted.

In answer to the questions at the beginning of this story — the Supreme Court has ruled that police need a warrant to search your room (with excep-tions). Schools have been allowed to make athletes take drug tests, and Florida law enforcement officials have been allowed to survey property from a helicop-ter 400 feet in the air.

As for the wiretaps? That is a question many Americans and legislators are asking themselves, and each other, right now.

Do you expect that your phone calls are private? Are you willing to say that law enforcement can listen to them without getting a warrant? What limits on rights would you accept if they would make the nation safer?

10

Look through today’s Chronicle and find a story about a crime that has been committed. Read the article with a partner, then brainstorm what evidence you would look for if you wanted to find out who had committed the crime. Write a proposal for a search warrant. State where you want to search, what you would look for and why you have a good reason for searching that place.



“ 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 of affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Constitution FaCt:When the representatives at the Constitutional Convention finished writing the Constitution, 42 delegates were present. of these, 39 signed the Constitution.

Uif gjgUi bnfoenfoU

The Fifth Amendment spells out legal protections for people accused of crimes in the United States. These protections are designed to ensure that everyone is treated equally in the legal system. Find a story in the Chronicle about a criminal case going on in a court in your city. Write a paragraph or short essay describing how the case would be different for both the prosecutors and defendant if the Fifth Amendment protections were not part of the Bill of Rights.

In courts in the United States, the Fifth Amendment pro-tects you from having to say anything that will show you are guilty of a crime.

The Fifth Amendment often is not looked upon well, especially when it’s used to prevent self-incrimination by people who are believed to be guilty. Self-incrimination is saying something in court that will show you have done something wrong.

Criminals and others with unpopular positions are criticized for “taking the Fifth,” although no one challenges their Constitutional right to do so.

The Fifth Amendment protects every-one from abuses common in many other societies.

The Fifth applies whenever and wher-ever you have to testify, and allows you to avoid self-incrimination in federal or state court, in civil or criminal proceedings, in grand jury investigations or at congressio-nal hearings.

The Fifth doesn’t only protect people from self-incrimination. It guarantees many of our most fundamental rights such as protection against “double jeopardy.”

Under this clause, you may be tried only once for an offense — with some specified exceptions. Once found not guilty, you may not be tried again for that offense; once convicted, you may not be tried again except in limited circumstances. This does not apply to mistrials.

The Fifth Amendment also protects suspects from being forced to confess when interrogated. Coerced confessions are not admissible in court. In fact, the courts have ruled that statements from interrogation after arrest may not be used unless the prosecution can demonstrate “procedural safeguards effective to secure the privilege against self-

incrimination.” This is the reason people are read what is called the “Miranda Warning” when they are arrested. The Miranda Warning states: “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney...” It basi-cally says, “You don’t have to say anything! You can use your Fifth Amendment right!”

The courts have expanded a suspect’s rights under the Fifth Amendment in other ways. The prosecution, for exam-ple, may not ask the jury to assume you are guilty because

you refused to testify in your own defense. You can be made to testify, however, if the government has granted you “immunity.”

The Fifth Amendment also protects people in other ways from being harmed or punished without “due process of law.”

Under U.S. and state laws, government has the power to take private property for “public use,” through its right to eminent domain. The Fifth Amendment requires “just compensation” if that happens. Court decisions have ruled, however, that prop-erty confiscated doesn’t need to be used

by the public, but must be used in the public interest — to benefit the community as a whole.

This means that if your local government decides that your house and houses of your neighbors should be torn down so that a mall could be built “for the public good,” you can be forced to sell your home. This has made a lot of people mad, as communities look to this kind of plan to provide jobs and services the communities need. It is the key to many cases currently in or headed for the courts.

At times people may be impatient with those “taking the Fifth,” but this amendment is designed to protect all people — not just those who may be guilty.

The prosecution may not ask the jury to assume you are guilty because you refused to

testify in your own defense.

11

“ 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.”

The Fifth Amendment states that govern-ments shall not take private property “for public use, without just compensation.” In 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court expand-ed the definition of “public use” in a case in which the city of New London, Connecticut, wanted to take private property by the process known as eminent domain and transfer it to private developers. In the past, emi-nent domain was used mostly to build projects needed by the public or to improve run-down neighborhoods. The New London ruling made it possible to use eminent domain for economic development, even if properties weren’t run-down. Write a one-paragraph opin-ion on whether the government should be able to use eminent domain to take property for private investors.



The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is jam-packed with directions on how people accused of crimes should be treated and how legal trials should progress. Here’s a look at its six major requirements.

The first portion of the Sixth Amendment talks about a speedy and public trial. This means people can’t be forced to wait an unreasonably long time for a trial, but as you can see, the amendment doesn’t say how long is too long. That is something that is still decided by courts on a case-by-case basis.

The people who created the Bill of Rights made trials public because that was seen as the best way to avoid secret and corrupt trials. Trials today generally are public, but sometimes they will be made private in order to protect witnesses, plaintiffs or defendants.

The Sixth Amendment also states that people should be judged by an impar-tial jury. Juries make the decision of whether a person is guilty in most serious cases. Today, it is considered very important that the people on a jury not know much about a case beforehand, so they don’t have strong ideas about whether a person is guilty. In the time that the Sixth Amendment was written, the jury was not expected to know so little about the case, but they were expected to be unbiased.

Under the Sixth Amendment, a person has to have a trial in or near the place that a crime was committed. For example, you couldn’t steal someone’s wallet in New York City and have to go to Kansas for your trial.

The Sixth Amendment also says a person has the right to know what he is accused of, so that a person cannot be tried for crimes he is not directly informed about. The accused also has the right to question directly everyone who testifies against him and to have his own witnesses present.

Originally, the phrase “to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense” meant that the court could not deny someone a lawyer. In the 1960s, it was expanded to mean that if someone could not afford a lawyer, one would be provided.

As you can see, the rules of the Sixth Amendment control a lot of what is allowed to go on in courts today. It is one of the best outlines early Americans gave us for ensuring that everyone, even people accused of crimes, have their liberties protected.

Uif tjyUi bnfoenfoU

The 2004 brawl between Detroit Pistons fans and the Indiana Pacers violated a lot of rules in the NBA, but did the case that grew from that out-of-control night violate the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution? John Green, a fan accused of throwing a cup at then-Pacers star Ron Artest was found guilty in March 2006 of punching Artest during the incident, but Green and his lawyer would appeal the verdict because Artest did not show up in court to testify against him. “(That) he didn’t show up is a violation of my Sixth Amendment consti-tutional right to have him here,” Green said. A defendant’s right to confront witnesses was written into the Bill of Rights to ensure that trials would be open and people would be able to challenge those who testified against them. In cases more serious than Green’s, convictions in cases involving domestic violence have been challenged because victims did not testify after giving earlier statements to police. Appeals of two of those verdicts were heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in March 2006. As a class, discuss whether it is essential that a witness testify in a trial against a defendant in every case. In what sorts of cases would you not require it?

Under the Sixth Amendment a person has to

have a trial in or near the place that a crime

was committed.

Divide into teams of two. Find a story in the Chonicle about a trial that is going on somewhere in the United States. As a team, think of and write five ways in which the Sixth Amendment is helping the accused person get a fair trial.



“ in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and dis-trict 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.”

12

Uif tfwfoUi bnfoenfoU

Twenty dollars may not seem like much today, but when the Bill of Rights was drafted, it was a sizeable sum.

By “preserving” the right of trial by jury in civil cases in which the value exceeds $20, the Founding Fathers were specifying significant or high-profile cases. Today, the amendment applies to just about every “suit at common law.”

The term “common law” — in which the right to a jury trial was to be preserved — reflected the English legal system, on which the United States legal system is based.

Common law is based on precedent, rather than statutes, and gets its authority from decisions made in previous cases. Also known as case law, it’s created by judges when decid-ing individual disputes. Judges establish common law through written decisions that are binding on future decisions of lower courts.

Generally speaking, common law covers areas of the law relating to property, contracts and cases called torts, in which people sue over a wrongful act, injury or damage.

If both parties agree, the right to trial by jury can be waived, but if either insists on a jury, a court cannot deny it to you. Once that jury has made a decision, no court may “otherwise re-examine” it.

The primary purpose of the Seventh Amendment was to preserve the historic line separat-ing the authority of the jury from that of the judge.

During the trial, however, a judge may express an opinion on the facts, direct the jury to pay special attention to certain evidence and require the jury to answer questions. If the judge decides evidence is insufficient, the judge may direct the jury to find in the defendant’s favor, although the jury can return a verdict contrary to the judge’s direction.

The clause of the Seventh Amendment prohibiting re-examination of any fact found by the jury is not restricted to suits at common law tried before federal courts. It applies equally to a case tried before a jury in a state court if appealed to federal courts. In cases involving claims that constitutional rights have been denied, the Supreme Court is free to examine and review the evidence on which lower court conclusions are based.

Some of the most famous celebrities get involved in cases involving com-mon law. Entertainers Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake were involved in a tort lawsuit in 2004, when two photographers claimed the famous pair had attacked them, causing mental distress and physical harm. The pho-tographers, who had been taking pictures of the pair, wanted payment as compensation. The case was settled out of court.

Constitution FaCt:Future President James Madison wrote the Bill of Rights, but its first advocate was George Mason, a Virginia plantation owner who had been a delegate of the nation’s Constitutional Convention in 1787. Mason, who wrote much of Virginia’s state constitution, had wanted a Bill of Rights to be a part of the U.S. Constitution when it was first written. 13


“ in suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed $20, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-exam-ined in any court of the united states, than according to the rules of the common law.”

The Eighth Amendment packs a lot of power for such a short sentence. In it lies the center of the debate on whether the death penalty is constitutional.

When the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were written, most of the people involved in their creation had good reason to think hard about cruel punishments.

After all, when the American colonies broke from England, the revolution’s leaders became traitors to the English crown. Throughout the 1700s and most of the 1800s, the punishment in England for traitors was public disembowelment, hanging, beheading and having arms and legs cut off. The world of the Founding Fathers was one of cruelty in public that we have a hard time imagining today.

The part of this amendment that doesn’t get much attention is the first phrase, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed.” This sets forth the idea that the amount of bail or a fine should have a relationship to the seriousness of the crime or violation, and with what other people have to pay.

Did the Bill of Rights have a definite opinion on whether the death penalty is cruel? It’s up for debate.

Today, each state makes the decision on whether it will use the death penalty, but has to stay in line with the laws for trials and acceptable punishment set forth by the Supreme Court.

It is clear that ideas about the death penalty are changing in modern society. In fact, just 70 years ago in the United States, public execution was still practiced.

Another reason the Eighth Amendment is in the news is because the United States is now holding “enemy combatants” taken prisoner in the “war on terror” at the Guantanamo facility in Cuba. Human rights advocates have argued that the prisoners at Guantanamo are held by the U.S. government but not given protections afforded U.S. citizens under the Bill of Rights. Nor are they given the protections in the international prisoner-of-war rules known as the Geneva Conventions. The treatment of the prisoners may amount to “cruel and unusual punishment,” rights advocates argue. The govern-ment says the prisoners are entitled to no rights or protections because they were taken prisoner in Iraq, Afghanistan or other places, and the Guantanamo facility is not located within the United States.

Uif fjhiUi bnfoenfoU

Look through the Chronicle for a story about someone who is on trial for a crime. Read the story, and go online to find out more about the crime. Write one paragraph about what you have learned about the crime. Write a second paragraph about what you have learned about the evi-dence against the person on trial. Write a final paragraph giving your opinion on whether you think the accused person is guilty. If you believe he or she is guilty, write how you think he or she should be punished.

In 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it is “cruel and unusual punishment” to execute a person for a crime committed before the person turned 18. People younger than 18 can still receive life in prison. The court decided, however, that because people under 18 are not completely mature mentally and emotionally, they should not be executed for crimes for which a person older than 18 might be executed. Write one paragraph giving your opinion on use of the death penalty in general, then write a second paragraph stating whether you agree with use of the death penalty for people younger than 18 for crimes such as murder.

Constitution FaCt:Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution, on December 7, 1787.


“ excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”


14

Uif ojoUi bnfoenfoU

The Ninth Amendment makes clear that the Bill of Rights, specific as it is, was not ruling out other rights. It addresses the early Americans’ fears that some people might think that only rights listed in the Constitution could be protected.

The 10th Amendment says that powers the Constitution doesn’t spe-cifically give the federal government, or deny the states, belong to the states. It addresses fears that the federal government would get too much power over the individual states.

Many people believe these amendments support the idea that rights exist independently of the government’s laws, and that the Bill of Rights does not constitute a grant of rights from the government to the people. That seems to reflect the Founding Fathers’ views, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence.

Taken together, these amendments have been interpreted in many ways and used to justify many, often contradictory, positions.

For example, the 10th Amendment was the basis for one of the argu-ments used to support the southern states’ fight to form the Confederacy, which separated many states from the federal government and led to the Civil War.

From time to time, state and local governments have used the 10th Amendment in efforts to exempt themselves from various federal regulations.

Congress, however, has claimed authority to pass laws in matters not mentioned in the Constitution, by invoking the Constitution’s “Commerce Clause.” If an activity affects interstate commerce in any way, Congress says it has the authority to regulate that activity.

Beside citing the Commerce Clause, Congress has used another technique to bring the states into line. Because the federal government has the power to tax but not the power to force states and citizens to conform with federal rules — such as income tax deductions and a national speed limit — Congress has threatened to deny states federal funding if they do not abide by federal guidelines.

In frequent court challenges, people who are against “big govern-ment” say that the federal government is going against the wishes of the framers of the Constitution, and that federalism — the sharing of power by federal and state governments — is dead.

Uif UfoUi bnfoenfoU CREDITS

The Newspaper In Education supplement “The Constitution — Blueprint for a Nation” was created by Hollister Kids for syndication to newspapers nationally. Copyright © 2006. All rights reserved. The accompanying poster “The Constitution — Blueprint for a Nation” was created originally for Detroit Newspapers In Education and syndicated by agreement. Copyright © 2006. All rights reserved.

The graphic designer for both the supplement and the poster was Kimberly Rogers. The writers for the supplement were Sara Shahriari and Don Harrison. The editors

for the supplement were Sara Shahriari and Peter Landry. The writer for the poster was Peter Landry.

15

“ the enumeration in the Constitution, of cer-tain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

“ the powers not delegated to the united states by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, to the people.”

America has been compared to a big house, and the different branches of government are like the different parts of a house. Use the graph-ic organizer in the house on this page to record top news events this week from the Legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. List the events in the spaces provided, then on a sheet of paper write a sentence or two for each, explaining why each is important.

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

1.

2.

3.

chron.com/cieThis program is generously provided by the Houston Bar Association.

chron.com/ciewww.hba.org

Uif ipVtf pg bnfsjdb

17

www.hba.org

ipVtUpo cbsbttpdjbUjposftpVsdftFoR ChilDRen, teens, PaRents anD eDuCatoRsFor more information about any of the programs listed below, as well as many other public service and education programs, visit the HBA Web site, www.hba.org or call 713-759-1133.

KidZone – This section of the Houston Bar Association Web site provides information and resources for kids, teens, adults and educators on the law and your legal rights/ responsibilities, courts and government, safety, and helpful links. Visit KidZone at www.hba.org/home-elements/kidzone.html.

The Importance of Jury Service – This program educates high school students and adults about the importance of the American jury system and their rights and responsibilities in serving on a jury.

Constitution Day Readings – On Constitution Day, September 17, attorneys volunteer to read an age-appropriate book on the Constitution to elementary school classes throughout the Houston area. The book is then donated to the school’s library.

Law Day Activities – In the weeks surrounding Law Day, May 1, attorneys volunteer to read a selected law-related book to elementary school classes throughout Houston. A new book is chosen each year and the book is donated to the school’s library after the readings. The Houston Bar Association also sponsors a Law Day Poster Contest in elementary and middle schools and a Law Day Essay Contest in high schools, all of which feature cash prizes for students and their teachers. There also is a team poster contest for special education classes. A “Dialogue” program in high schools sends teams of a judge and a lawyer to engage in interactive conversation with students about a legal issue or topic related to each year’s Law Day theme.

IDEA Program – The Interprofessional Drug Education Alliance (IDEA) sends teams of lawyers and medical professionals to talk to 5th grade classes about the legal and health consequences of drugs, alcohol and tobacco. The IDEA program is presented twice each year, in the fall and spring.

LegalLine – Twice each month, the public can call the HBA at 713-759-1133 and talk to volunteer attorneys for the answers to legal questions, brief legal advice and other resources. LegalLine is held on the first and third Wednesday of each month, from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.

chron.com/cie Chronicle In Education is proud to partner with the Houston Bar Association.

http://www.hba.org/home-elements/kidzone.html

http://www.hba.org/home-elements/kidzone.html

http://www.hba.org

chron.com/ciecie.chron.com/pdf_tabs/the_constitution_blueprint_for_a_nation.pdf · the simpsons...

Documents