This PowerPoint details the first ten amendments to the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and explains the rights and privileges that are granted to citizens, protecting them from expansive government power.

1. The Bill of Rights
Stephen Hilger
U.S. Government

3. Learning Goals
• Understand the origins of the Federalist
and Anti-Federalist comprise that created
the Bill of Rights
• Familiarize yourself with the rights
guaranteed to citizens by the Bill of rights
• Realize how the Patriot Act violates many
of citizens’ rights guaranteed in the U.S.
Constitution.

4. Origins
• The Original Constitution did not include
the Bill of Rights, an outrage to many who
feared a strong central government,
particularly the Anti-Federalists
• The Bill of Rights were added as
amendments (changes) to the
Constitution to garnish broader support in
the ratification process.

5. Anti-Federalist Sentiment
• “Ought not a government, vested
with such extensive and indefinite
authority, to have been restricted
by a declaration of rights? It
certainly ought. So clear a point is
this, that I cannot help suspecting
that persons who attempt to
persuade people that such
reservations were less necessary
under this Constitution than under
those of the States, are wilfully
endeavoring to deceive, and to
lead you into an absolute state of
vassalage.” Brutus Anti-
Federalist 84
The Anti-Federalists wrote
under the pen name of
Brutus, a Roman Senator
who assisted in the
assassination of Cesar, the
famous dictator

6. 1st Amendment
• 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.

7. Establishment Clause
• Congress shall make no
law respecting the
establishment of religion.
• Cannot favor a particular
religion over another, nor
favor religious groups
over nonbelievers or vice
versa.
– President Kennedy’s
Catholic Background

8. Free Exercise Clause
• On the flip side, citizens are
guaranteed the free exercise of
their religious beliefs
• You can believe whatever you
want, but practice may be
limited if it infringes on the
legitimate rights of others
• Use of Peyote, Employment
Division v. Smith, 1990 - Denied
unemployment benefits because
Native American Smith tested
positive for using Peyote, an
illegal drug, even though it was
for religious purposes

9. When is Freedom of Speech
Limited?
• Free Speech Limited if it
presents a “clear and
present danger”
• “”The question in every
case is whether the words
used are used in such
circumstances and are of
such nature as to create a
clear and present
danger.” Justice Oliver
Wendell Holmes Schenk
vs. United States
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes

10. What is a “clear and present
danger?”
• Can’t Shout Fire! In a
crowded theater if there
isn’t one and claim
protection.
• Permissible to advocate
the violent overthrow of
government in abstract,
but cannot incite
anyone to imminent
lawless action
• Limited if on private
property, like a
shopping center
Justice Holmes used the example of
“Shouting Fire in a Crowded Theatre” as
an example of is considered “Clear and
Present Danger.”

11. 11
Freedom of Speech
• More than just face to
face communication
• The Internet, TV and
Media
• Clothing, Music and Art
• Symbolic Speech,
such as burning an
American Flag or
wearing a wristband in
protest
Contrary to popular belief, the
burning of an American flag is
protected under the 1st
Amendment.

12. Freedom of the Press
• The government cannot
censor material, simply
because it disagrees with the
views of material or it is
deemed obscene to the
public.
– Can be allowed during times of
war.
• Freedom of the press serves
as a major “check” against
the government overstepping
its power.
– Sometimes called the “Fourth
Branch” of Government

13. Freedom of Assembly
• You have the right to
associate (form groups)
– Redress the government
on an issue of your
choosing
– Not all assemblies
protected, those that
promote lawless action,
“terrorists, conspiracies,
gangs”
– Are hate groups
protected?

14. Second Amendment
• 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.
• Early American Colonists
viewed weapons as essential
for homesteading and forming
a militia to defend the colonies.
• Discussion Question: What
is the purpose of the second
amendment in modern
society?

15. Third Amendment
• 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.
• Direct response to King
George and the forced
quartering of British
troops

16. Defendants’ Rights
• The 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Amendments
• Criminal Justice system must follow certain
procedures. If you don’t have a standard of
procedures danger of falling into a police state
(totalitarian regime).
– Criminal Justice personnel are limited by the Bill of
Rights.
– Rooted in Anti-Federalists belief that there weren’t
enough protections against government power,
including law enforcement
– Failure to follow the guidelines of these rights
generally invalidates a conviction.

17. 4th Amendment
• 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.

18. Search and Seizures
• Searches and Seizures
– Must establish Probable Cause: The situation
occurring when the police have reason to believe
that a person should be arrested.
– Need a search warrant served or “consent” to
arrest or take evidence
• Warrant acts as a “check” of the Judiciary on the
Executive Department
– Exclusionary Rule: The rule that evidence, no
matter how incriminating, cannot be introduced
into trial if it was not constitutionally obtained.

19. The Patriot Act
• Third-party holders of
your financial, library,
travel, video rental,
phone, medical, church,
synagogue, and
mosque records can be
searched without your
knowledge or
consent, providing the
government justifies it
by saying it is trying to
protect against
terrorism.

20. Patriot Act, Section 205
• Section 205- Permits the
government to obtain
intelligence surveillance
orders that identify neither
the person nor the facility
to be tapped. This
provision is contrary to
traditional notions of search
and seizure, which require
government to state with
particularity what it seeks to
search or seize.
• http://www.youtube.com/wat
ch?v=uAIqtwwUcBk

21. 5th Amendment
• No person shall be held to answer for a
capital, or otherwise infamous crime…, 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

22. The Right to Remain Silent
• “nor shall be compelled in
any criminal case to be a
witness against himself”
• Entrapments, “forced
confession,” may be ruled
unconstitutional
• Discussion Question: When
pulled over for speeding, why
do you think the Officer asks
you how fast you are going?

23. 6th Amendment
• 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
The state must provide lawyers in most
criminal cases. (Gideon vs. Wainwright)

24. Cruel and Unusual Punishment
• The Eighth Amendment
forbids cruel and
unusual punishment.
– “The Punishment must fit
the crime”
– What is considered cruel
and unusual is key
– The Death Penalty
• Varies from state to state
• Cannot be mandatory

25. Guantanamo Bay
• In Guantanamo Bay,
Afghan prisoners among
other were water boarded,
considered a torture by
many. These prisoners are
also held indefinitely without
legal rights.
• Discussion Questions: Is
Water boarding a Cruel and
Unusual Punishment?
• Do foreign prisoners have
rights in the U.S. Judicial
System?

26. Reserved Rights
• 9th- The enumeration
in the Constitution, of
certain rights, shall not
be construed to deny
or disparage others
retained by the people
• 10th- 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.
• Amendments seen as a
major win for Anti-
Federalists, as they
protected state’s authority
over other matters not
listed in the Constitution.

27. The Right to Privacy
• Is There a Right to Privacy?
– Definition: The right to a private personal life
free from the intrusion of government.
– Not explicitly stated in the Constitution
– Implied by the Fourth Amendment (Griswold
vs. Connecticut)
– It is debatable as to how far that right of
privacy extends.

28. Figure 4.1
The Right to Privacy
• Controversy over
Abortion
– Roe v. Wade (1973)
– Planned Parenthood v.
Casey (1992)
– Protections of those
seeking an abortion
– Rights of protesters