What information is being presented in the Bills of Rights? What facts are presented?
A: religion (congress cannot establish a religion; congress cannot stop you from practicing); Speech (Congress cannot stop you from expressing your opinions; congress cannot force you to speak); press (Congress cannot restrict the press); Assembly (Congress cannot stop you from peaceably gathering together with others to protest; Congress cannot stop you from gathering with others to express and pursue collective ideas or interests); petition (Congress cannot stop you from complaining to the govt. about anything you do not like); keeping and bearing arms (only the armed forces and law enforcement officials can use weapons to defend the country and its citizens; you are entitled to keep weapons in your home; you are entitled to keep weapons on your person); housing of soldiers (the military may not house its troops in your residence during times of peace without your consent; the military may not house its troops in your residence during times of war except in accordance with the law); privacy (the govt. or any law enforcement official cannot search you or confiscate your things without any good reason; if the govt. or any law enforcement official wants to search or seize your property in your home, they must have a good reason and must get permission to perform the search from a judge); Accused persons in criminal cases (you cannot be tried for a serious crime unless a grand jury decides that there is enough proof or evidence so that a trial is needed; people in the military who commit a crime during a national emergency or a war can be tried without a grand jury deciding if it is necessary first; if you are put on trial for a crime and the trial ends or you are convicted of a crime and serve your time in jail or acquitted, you cannot be tried for the same crime again; the govt. cannot force you to testify against yourself;
The govt. cannot take away your life, property, or freedom without following the steps of due process, which give you a fair chance to prove your innocence; the govt. cannot seize your property for public use without paying you back); speedy and fair trial (if you are accused of a crime, you have the right to get a quick and public trial; your trial must have an impartial jury; your trial must be held in the area where the crime took place; you have the right to find out what you are being charged with or why you are being held in jail; you have the right to ask questions; you have the right to know who is accusing you of committing the crime; you can force any witnesses you think can help with your case to attend your public trial; you have the right to hire an attorney); trial by jury (any disputes that involve amounts that exceed $20 will not be handled by federal courts; if a person goes to court, he will always go to a court recognized by the govt.); excessive bail and fines (federal courts cannot assign you a large or excessive amount of money for bail); cruel and unusual punishment (your punishment for crimes, no matter how severe, cannot be cruel or unusual); certain rights retained by the people (the Constitution cannot be used to deny people rights not specifically listed); states’ rights (any power that is not given to the federal government is given to the people or the states).
2. What does this information mean? What are its implications? What thoughts/emotions does it evoke?
A: religion (There is no religious test to be a citizen; your faith is your business, not the govt.); speech (your right to say something is protected within certain limits; you can freely express yourself without govt. interference or fear; one of the most important human rights); press (News media are free to publish any information or opinion they desire; you can voice your opinions in print without govt. censorship;
Empowers you as a citizen who is able to write whatever he or she wants without fear of being silenced or punished by the government); assembly (citizens can come together to talk about ideas that go against the govt. without fear of being sent to jail;
You can hold public public meetings and form associations; heightens your courage to publicly discuss things you want the govt. to change); petition (you can appeal to the govt. to change its policies; the common man has the power to shape his government); keeping and bearing arms (you can keep a functioning firearm for self-defense in your home without govt. consent or permission; you can own a gun for certain legal activities, such as hunting or target practice; empowers you and makes you no longer vulnerable to domestic threats that cannot be dealt with by the police); housing of soldiers (your rights to the ownership and the use of your property without govt. intrusion are protected; except during a national emergency, whomever you house or let into your home is up to you; your property is yours and the govt. cannot control what you do with it); privacy (any property of yours is private and cannot be searched or seized without a search warrant; you are not protected from searches and seizures, but only those that are deemed unreasonable under the law; you have the right to personal privacy, except when you interfere with the law; one of the most important human rights); accused persons in criminal cases (imposes restrictions on the government's prosecution of persons accused of crimes (If you are accused of a crime, you have a voice that cannot be silenced by the govt. or a judge in court; you have a fair chance to prove your innocence to the jury.
you are protected against the abuse of govt. authority in a criminal case; gives hope to citizens who are wrongfully accused); speedy and fair trial (????????????????????????????); trial by jury (I don't know I don't know); excessive bail and fines (a person will not be able to bail you out of jail because of the amount of money; you are in luck if you are relying on an average-paid person
to get you out of sitting around in a jail cell); cruel and unusual punishment (you cannot be strangled, branded, or burned, or locked in stocks; you don’t have to worry about being tortured by law enforcement officials or the govt); certain rights retained by the people (your rights are not limited to just the Bill of Rights; unenumerated rights include the rights to privacy, to travel, and to choose your occupation; you have the freedom to do everyday things and to make daily decisions on your own and without the govt); states' rights (????????????).
3. So what? What is the significance of this text? What are its impacts?
A: religion (NO matter what a govt. does people will pray or have there own faith; People of all faiths are welcome in the country unless their religion violates the freedom of others); speech (makes our govt. democratic and our society open; enables the truth to emerge from diverse opinions rather than just the govt.); press (enables people to be informed on government policies and actions; provides voters with insight on the policies that they are voting upon); assembly (Unites people for a common purpose; brings attention to important issues that need to be addressed and discussed but are often not); petition (gives the people a voice in how their govt. is run; gives people chances to make changes in the govt.); keeping and bearing arms (enables people to defend their nation against tyranny and fascism;
prevents people from relying heavily on the govt. for their own protection); housing of soldiers (subordinates military authority to civilian control; safeguards against abuses that can be perpetrated by standing armies and professional soldiers); privacy (protects you from being searched by the govt. or the police illegally; safeguards your right to privacy); accused persons in criminal cases (imposes restrictions on the government’s prosecution of persons accused of crimes; ?????); speedy and fair trial (ensures that no person faces potential time in jail without fire having the aid of a lawyer with the time, ability, and resources to present an effective defense; ?????); excessive bail and fines (safeguards Americans against excessive punishments; ????)..............................
.....And I am not sure about the rest of them.
Thee significance of the Bill of Rights is that these (and other unlisted) rights remain with the people and/or the states. The Bill of Rights safeguards citizens against oppression by the federal government.
A couple of clarifications: A jury of one's peers means a jury selected from members of your own community, your equals under law (not an elite group selected by the prosecutor or any other government official(s). It is not required that a jury be used, but the accused has the right to a jury trial.
All of these rights are extended to matters of state law, not just federal law, as the Supreme Court has determined under the due process clause in the 14th amendment.
The "cruel and unusual" punishment provision does, as you note, forbid things like torture, etc. It also has been interpreted to mean that the punishment should fit the crime. In other words, a 15-year-old can't be sent to prison for the rest of his/her life for shoplifting a candy bar.
I don't know where you got the idea that theft of under $20 will not be tried in a federal court. Almost all cases of criminal law (theft, murder, arson, etc.) are tried in state courts. The federal judiciary only gets involved if, in the process of a trial or other adjudication a defendant's rights are violated under the Constitution. Federal law does not usually address criminal behavior at the state and local level. State law does. Thus, for example, some states use the death penalty in cases of murder, others do not, opting instead for long prison sentences (sometimes life in prison, with or without the possibility of parole). It's up to the states.
The second amendment is open to dispute about what, exactly, it means. At the time the Constitution was written, the United States had no standing army. State militias could be called up (like the National Guard today) to form an army if needed to defend the country. Thus, "a well regulated militia". The right of individuals to own and carry firearms has been assumed, but some say the Second Amendment does not guarantee that right. The Supreme Court had never ruled that the individual has that right until very recently (I forget the exact date, but in the last three or four years). Many still believe the Second Amendment does not give everyone the right to be "pistol packin' mama". The matter may not be settled yet, despite the Supreme Court's recent ruling. It could be overturned by the Court in the future. Up until that recent ruling, gun regulation had been left to the states as to whether or not just anybody could go around carrying a gun. (Note that nobody has ever contended that guns be outlawed for hunting, sport [target practice, marksmanship sports, etc.]. The debate is about carrying them in public, on the streets, in stores, in church, in schools, etc.) The debate is about what kind of regulation may be imposed, as in background checks, concealed and open carry permits issued by the state, etc.
Generally, what you have written here does demonstrate an understanding the the Bill of Rights. It's impact and what emotional response a citizen may have about it are a little weak. You tend to repeat the individual rights already explained in the first section. You need to broaden your responses, I think, to discuss how the Bill of Rights defines the citizzens' relationship to his/her government. That's what the questions seem to be asking of you.
I hope this helps!
I note you posted this earlier, too. I had company for dinner tonight, so have not been on line. Remember, we're volunteer tutors and really do have lives! LOL
I meant any disputes that involve amounts that exceed $20 will not be handled in a federal court.
So my answers to the last two questions are essentially reiterations of my answers to the first questions? I thought at least to #5 (religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition) was good? Maybe? I don't know anymore.
So when you say "defines the citizens' relationship to his/her government," what do you mean?
Also, how can I improve my answers regarding the Amendments' impacts and what emotional response a citizen may have about it? I know you helped clarify some things, but I'm not really good at this. I don't know how to response to these kinds of questions.
Okay, I just saw something else that you need to correct. Excessive bail is a matter of judgement. Bail may be set so high that the accused may not be able to pay it IF that person is deemed likely to run away while out on bail (and before any trial or hearings, etc.), and bail is often set very high for really bad crimes, like mass shootings in movie theaters, etc., or even just for one murder.
For the broader questions, about overall impact, etc., you do address it when you say "citizens have a voice". Yes, exactly! The relationship to the government needs to be addressed. Does the government rule every aspect of a person's life (what he/she can say, who to associate with, etc.). Can the government put people in jail for no reason except somebody doesn't like the way you look or the church you go to, etc.? Can the government just come in and take possession of your property (house, furniture, clothes, food, etc.) if it wants to? You've already said it can't do those things. How does that define the relationship between the government and the people? How does that make you feel? How would you feel if these rights were NOT guaranteed and Congress could just pass a law that said everybody in your town had to move because the Congress (or the dictator) decided he didn't like your town or wanted it for some other purpose WITHOUT due process and compensation? How would you feel IF you and your friends decided to petition for better school lunches, and the government could put you in jail for speaking up? Would it make you mad or scared? How does it feel to know the government CAN'T do these things? Or how would you feel if someone lied and said it was you who stole an expensive ring from the jewelry store and you couldn't have a chance to prove it wasn't you and went to jail even though it WAS NOT you? How do you feel knowing that you DO have the right to defend yourself? Those are the things the question wants you to address, not one by one, but in general, using examples as appropriate, I suppose.
In some countries, such as Cuba, one may be jailed just for being critical of the government's policies. Throughout history people could be executed for going to the wrong church, or being of the wrong race, and the government can just take anyone's property for no reason at all. How do you feel about the idea that we don't have to live in fear of such things in the United States?
The text you provided is a summary of the information presented in the Bill of Rights, which is the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution. Each amendment covers different rights and protections for citizens. The facts presented in the Bill of Rights are the specific limitations on the powers of the government and the protections granted to individuals.
The implications of the information in the Bill of Rights are significant. They establish and protect fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals, ensuring that the government cannot infringe upon them. These rights include freedom of religion, speech, and the press, the right to assemble peacefully, the right to petition the government, the right to bear arms, protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, protections for accused persons in criminal cases, the right to a speedy and fair trial, and protections against cruel and unusual punishment. These rights have a profound impact on the functioning of a democratic society, as they protect individual liberties and limit the government's power.
The presentation of this information in the Bill of Rights can evoke various thoughts and emotions, depending on one's perspective and beliefs. It can evoke a sense of empowerment, as individuals are assured that their rights are protected and that they have a voice in their government. It can also evoke feelings of security and safety, knowing that the government cannot intrude on one's privacy or impose excessive punishments. Additionally, it can inspire a sense of patriotism and pride in the principles of freedom and justice.
Overall, the Bill of Rights is a significant and foundational document that sets the stage for the protection of individual rights and the functioning of a democratic society. It serves as a safeguard against potential abuses of power and provides a framework for citizens to exercise their rights and participate in the democratic process.