Magruder’s American Government
1st Edition
ISBN: 9780133306996
Textbook solutions
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Section 8-1: The Unalienable Rights
Exercise 1
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Individual freedoms and rights are one of the central concepts of the Constitution of the United States, which was adopted in 1787. The Constitution guaranteed rights and freedoms in relation to the actions of the government.
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The Constitution itself did not contain a list of specific rights and freedoms, which was corrected in 1791 when the first ten amendments to the constitution were adopted. We call these ten amendments the **Bill of Rights**. Several other amendments related to freedom and rights were later adopted. One of the main ideas is that all citizens of the United States have the same basic rights on the entire territory of the federal state.
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The Bill of Rights provides a list of civil liberties and rights, and the principles that guide to their protection. Here are some of them:
– freedom of religion, speech and press
– the right to bear arms
– prohibition of unreasonable interrogation and arrest
– civilians can be tried only after a grand jury lawsuit
– a fast and public trial by an objective jury is guaranteed
– excessive bail and fines are prohibited
– cruel and unusual punishments are forbidden
– freedom of religion, speech and press
– the right to bear arms
– prohibition of unreasonable interrogation and arrest
– civilians can be tried only after a grand jury lawsuit
– a fast and public trial by an objective jury is guaranteed
– excessive bail and fines are prohibited
– cruel and unusual punishments are forbidden
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The Bill of Rights was adopted to clearly distinguish the private sphere of personal freedom from government interventionism. It is recognized that the preservation of these freedoms and rights implies restrictions on government.
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One of the **main functions of the U.S. Constitution is the protection of individual rights against government**. Since the government operates on the theory of popular sovereignty, it composes of checks and balances, has the power divided, and is based on the Amendments.
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The primary protection of the citizens is a document called the Bill of Rights. **The Bill of Rights**, through its ten amendments, clearly defines the citizen’s rights that are equal for all. Its sole purpose is to guarantee rights and liberties to all individuals from the government by the document. It consists of ten Amendments.
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These are the main ideas of the Amendments:
*1st Amendment*: freedom of press, assembly, speech, and religion.
*2nd Amendment*: people can legally bear arms for their own protection.
*3rd Amendment*: restriction of housing soldiers in homes.
*4th Amendment*: unreasonable search and seizure is forbidden.
*5th Amendment:* protection against self-testimonies, and seizure of personal property that is under eminent domain.
*6th Amendment*: the rights to service of lawyer and trial by jury.
*7th Amendment*: cases that have certain dollar amount are guaranteed a trial by jury.
*8th Amendment*: excessive bail, fines, and cruel punishment are all prohibited.
*9th Amendment*: the right in the Bill of Rights do no put other rights in no effect.
*10th Amendment*: The power that is not given to the federal government is for the states or individuals.
Exercise 2
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**Individual rights and freedoms** are someone’s freedom and right to act and be in a human environment. The rights are necessary because they assist individuals in pursuing their dreams and having an everyday life. However, the key is that an individual’s liberty does not interfere with someone else’s liberty. Thus, freedom cannot be complete.
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The **limited government** operates by obliging set rules and principles that give it the authority within defined limits. It is made to restrict the government that obliges the constitution to protect and serve the people. For example, a police officer can help someone in trouble but can not hurt someone who is just walking down the street. The federal government is a limited government with a set of rules that provide a particular level of authority.
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The **limited government provides and ensures its citizens with liberty by enforcing the laws whose goal is to protect them**, provide education, clean air and water, create opportunities, and prosecute wrongdoings by making everyone subject to the law if it is violated. It assures freedom and rights because the limited government can never cross certain limits that oppress the citizens.
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The citizens, in return, have to oblige the law and carry out their duties. The government has its authority because of the people and is made to serve them. The limited government is a system and mechanism that aims to achieve that.
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The Constitution of the United States guarantees individual rights and freedoms. Personal freedoms and rights are largely threatened by the government. The government itself implies authority over the citizens – without that authority, the government would not be able to perform its function. However, state interventionism must be limited so as not to jeopardize individual rights and freedoms. For this purpose, the Constitution as well as its amendments, especially those that make up the Bill of Rights, in addition to stating individual rights and freedoms, also state the mechanisms that guarantee them.
Exercise 3
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The **main reason individual rights are not absolute** is that, because many people could be entitled and have a right to do whatever they desire, it would **interfere with someone else’s liberty**. It would make a collision with other individual rights; thus, freedom cannot be complete. Plus, particular behaviors are not acceptable. If everyone did anything they intended to, it would collide with society’s interest and possibly harm the citizens or create negative influences.
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**Some examples** are; everyone has a right to freedom of speech and expression. However, this does not apply to insulting, and humiliating others is acceptable. This makes freedom of expression not absolute. Furthermore, the right to freedoms that belongs to all individuals does not mean a right to kill.
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The Constitution of the United States guarantees individual rights and freedoms. However, these rights are relative rather than absolute. First of all, people’s behavior cannot endanger the rights and freedoms of other people. Further, people’s behavior cannot jeopardize the public interest.
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As an example we can take the concept of freedom of the press which is guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. This freedom cannot be absolute, that is, the press should not abuse this right by deliberately writing untruths or false news. Also, for example, the right to freedom of religion should not be abused by preaching militaristic religions that call for the endangerment of other people.
Exercise 4
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Initially, the Constitution of the United States did not contain a list of human rights and freedoms that it guarantees. Subsequently, 10 amendments were adopted emphasizing individual rights and freedoms and we call them the Bill of Rights. After the first 10 amendments, several more have been adopted over the years, and one of the most significant is the 14th amendment.
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The 9th amendment states that the list of rights guaranteed by the Constitution is not final and that there are certainly other rights that belong to people.
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The 14th amendment establishes who are the citizens and declares that all citizens have equal protection of the law. One of the important concepts of this amendment is the **Due Process Clause**. This principle means that States cannot deny any person the rights that are fundamental and essential to the concept of liberty.
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To conclude, both of these amendments concern fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution. While the 9th amendment addresses the volume of these rights, in the sense that it indicates that people are not only guaranteed the rights listed in the Constitution, the 14th amendment deals with defining who are the citizens who enjoy the constitutionally guaranteed rights and and the concept of equality before the law. Also, while the provisions of the 9th amendment apply to the National Government, the provisions of the 14th amendment apply to the governments of the States.
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The **14th Amendment** states that the government grants citizenship to all individuals who are born in the U.S. or naturalized. It guarantees equal protection to all the citizens by the law. It contains the Due Process Clause that states the government can not deny anyone of their individual property, liberty, and life without the process of law.
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The **9th Amendment** states that all the rights that are not listed in the Constitution, and there are rights that aren’t not listed, belong to the people. Furthermore, the government puts citizen’s liberty first by stating that individual rights are not limited to only those rights stated in the Constitution.
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They are **similar** because both of the amendments prioritize individual rights and freedoms over other matters and are equal for all citizens.
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**Differences** would have to be that the 14th Amendment has clearly defined rules, while the 9th Amendment leaves the space for the principles and rights that exist and might yet be determined.
Exercise 5
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In the **federal system**, powers are divided in different ways (three branches) and levels (federal, state, local) to ultimately achieve order and balance in the states as a whole. Personal rights are a necessity to that equation. That is why the government is based on the Constitution that contains the Bill of Rights and other defining documents. However, it is not the most straightforward task to accomplish individual rights in a system of that margin and complexity.
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That is why **some of the Supreme Court rulings and the 14th Amendment address this challenge**. The Supreme Court notes that the amendments from the Bill of Rights should be applied to all individual states. All states should follow the principle of the **Due Process Clause** per the 14th Amendment.
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The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection to all citizens by the law. The Due Process Clause from this Amendment states the government can not deny anyone of their individual property, liberty, and life without the process of law. This further protects individual rights from possible oppression of the federal system.
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Federalism is one of the fundamental principles of the political system of the United States. This system implies a division of power between the Federal Government and the States. In such circumstances, the system of guaranteeing and protecting individual rights is very challenging.
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In addition to the Constitution of the United States, each individual State has its own constitutions and laws. Also, just as the Constitution of the United States contains amendments concerning the principles of human rights and freedoms (Bill of Rights), the Constitutions of individual States have provisions that refer to the stated principles.
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The first ten amendments to the United States Constitution were made with the aim of limiting the power of the Federal Government in terms of ensuring human rights and freedoms. Although they cannot be applied to the governments of individual States, it is clear that these governments cannot deny the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the federal Constitution. First of all, part of the constitution of each individual state is its bill of rights. Also, Amendment 14th of the Federal Constitution guarantees that an individual State cannot deny to any individual a right that is fundamental and crucial to the American concept of liberty.
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The Supreme Court in its practice very often takes the position that the provisions contained in the Bill of Rights are very applicable to the governments of individual States, precisely referring to the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause.
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