John F. Kennedy once said, “ Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” Indeed throughout the course of U.S. history, people’s liberty has been emphasized as one of the most important rights of American people. Liberty is understood as a basic right of freedom to which everyone can engage in certain actions without control or interference by a government or other power. Based on that principle, selective incorporation is a process of constitutional law in which some provisions of the Bill of Rights are nationalized to the states through the nationalization of Fourteenth …show more content…
To clarify, Near was accused of violating a law because he revealing wrongdoings of the local government. Moreover, trial judge issued an injunction “preventing Near from publishing the newspaper in the future” (“Near”). As one can see, Minnesota officials felt the need to stop and prevent someone from incriminating their misconducts. But obviously, their decision has violated Near’s freedom of press which states have to obey due to “Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment” (“Near”). At the end, Near appealed the case to the U.S. Supreme Court; finally, the court “voted 5–4 to declare the Minnesota Gag Law unconstitutional “(“Near”). It is important to realize that because of the process of selective incorporation, the federal government has the duty to reinforce states in protecting their people’s liberty. Similar to Near v. Minnesota, selective incorporation had helped Lawrence Robinson win the case of Robinson v. California in which the Supreme Court’s decision regarded of the Eighth Amendment, the cruel-and-unusual-punishment clause. The issue occurs when Robinson was “searched and questioned” by Officer Brown “on the streets of Los Angeles” even
Today, I am presented with a case that puts in question the violation of individual’s Fourth Amendment rights. This case also puts in question the rights of the authority placed in our streets, neighborhoods and towns to perform actions directed towards certain citizens in an effort to serve and protect the overall population. There must be a careful analysis in order to interpret the records of the incident that occurred to conclude who holds the most justified position in this case under the applicable laws. The Court of Appeals of the State of New York must also take into careful consideration the circumstances discussed and the ruling given by the District Court assigned to this case, which I
Contraceptives are widely used throughout the United States in today’s age and age, but in the early 1950s, Connecticut and Massachusetts were the only states in the union that still had anticontraception policies such as the 1879 Connecticut statute prohibiting the distribution of contraceptives (Johnson 6). Estelle Griswold accepted a job as executive director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut, and began a fight to give access for women to use contraceptives legally. It was very predictable the verdicts for the lower court cases during Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) as many judges took the side of the 1879 precedent. However, by the time it reached the Supreme Court, the main issue focused was the right to privacy which
While all the Court Justices in Griswold v. Connecticut agreed that the legislation prohibiting the use of contraception was purely irrational, Justices Douglas and Black differed with the Court’s judgment about the case decision. Justice Douglas expressed the majority’s opinion in which he stated that the Connecticut law that banned the use or supply of contraception was unconstitutional because it failed to obey the “right to privacy” derived from certain privacy rights listed on the Bill of Rights. On the other hand, Justice Black disagreed with Justice Douglas by stating that the rights enumerated by Douglas were a mere implication of privacy and that the “right to privacy” didn’t reflect anything stated directly on the Constitution.
The Bill of Rights is easily one of the most important sections within constitution, and this is because of the way that it protects the citizens of the United States from the government. One of the items therein the Bill of Rights is the 4th Amendment which states that, “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.” Broken down, this one sentence gives the people the right to be secure and not be violated by the government when it comes to their property, papers and effects. This keeps them from being searched or having items seized without a warrant. This warrant that can be created has to be specific about the places that are going to be searched and the items that will be seized. This article will be divided into multiple sections that overall encompass the meaning of, how it came to be, and why it is important. The importance of this specific amendment is absolutely endless, and without it, our country would not be in the place that it is today.
Similar to Near v. Minnesota, selective incorporation had helped Lawrence Robinson win in Robinson v. California in which the Supreme Court’s decision regarded the Eighth Amendment, the cruel-and-unusual-punishment clause. The issue occurs when Robinson was “searched and questioned” by Officer Brown “on the streets of Los Angeles” even though “he was not doing anything wrong” (“Robinson,”
From the time that the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1787, the definition of the second amendment had remained the same. In 1980, Ronald Reagan was elected into office and carried a gun rights enthusiast along with him. At the same time a Republican senator from Utah, Orrin Hatch, was handed the reigns of chairman of an important sub-committee. Senator hatch stated that he had discovered proof that individual citizens could rightfully own firearms under the second amendment. The National Rifle Association then began biased studies to corroborate with Senator Hatch’s opinion. After many disagreements and debates, Senator Hatch rose victorious.
Every year people from all over the world come to the United States for a myriad of reasons. Some to seek employment, some education, and others to seek safe haven from violence and oppression from foreign governments. Regardless of the reason, the beauty of the United States is that the protections afforded by the constitution apply to anyone within its territory. However, since the terrorist attack against the United States on September 11, 2001, the protections of the constitution have since become a blurred line. Legislation such as the Patriot Act, and methods in which law enforcement conduct operations to combat terrorism have pushed the limits of the constitution. Finding the balance of working within the confines of the constitution is a constant challenge. The growing challenge elicits the potential for legal, policy and ethical issues, which ultimately undermine the very purpose of what the constitution is intended to protect.
Many people are not aware of their own rights, let along the fact that there are rights for victims. Before this class, I knew of a couple rights for victims, but not very many. I was uneducated in this area. For a long period of history, victims’ rights were not recognized, because they were not seen as necessary. Now there are thirty-two states that have added an amendment to their state constitutions including the rights of victims. However, these laws are not perfect. They do not apply to all victims of all crimes, and they do not always specify at what point after the crime these laws go into affect. In fact, only about half of the country affords rights to all victims, regardless of the crime. This number is too absolutely too low, but because people in general are unaware of this, there is no movement for change.
What is a bill of rights? What is an amendment? How are the different? A bill of rights is a formality such as the Declaration of Independence and it is the outline of what the citizens feel their born rights are as people of a union. An amendment is the changing or altering of a legal or civil document. Specifically amendments in the United States Constitution include the changing or detailing of what the people need. These two phrases differ in what their purposes are. The bill of rights was set as a clean-up for the Declaration of Independence requested by the general population used to form a more structured government. An amendment is used to overcome a specific objection like slavery or details are government processes.
“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”. This statement is part of the Second Amendment in the United States that shows American citizens have an authority to own a gun legally to protect themselves. Since the United States was founded in 1776, this nation has grown up connected to firearms. After wars such as World War I and World War II, war industries led the United States to become one of the powerful nations in the world. Nowadays, this nation is the most influential and powerful country in the world in terms of culture, economy, society, military, and even war. It is not too much to say that today’s world is following the
Since the ratification of the first ten amendments, also known as the Bill of Rights, a concept of justice and liberty was implemented into the lives of many American citizens. Americans seek equal protection in response to issues and notably, many congressional cases. The rule of law in society had become much more complex than it had been when the century began so, therefore, the United States Supreme Court plays an essential role in weighing our nation’s inalienable rights with natural law. The decisions made by the Supreme Court to selectively “incorporate” the provisions of the Bill of Rights though the Fourteenth Amendment expanded the fundamental rights of the people and imposed limitation on states’ power. Along with the Bill of Rights,
When a government that is created for the people, violates the rights of the people, its value will diminish and the core principles that uphold the State will decay leading to the downfall of the State. This is precisely the reason why I choose to affirm this resolution. Mass surveillance is a direct violation of the basic rights the United States of America was built upon. The core values, principles, beliefs, and morals that make the United States a democracy will be directly dismissed if mass surveillance is considered a justified method of governmental intelligence gathering. Mass surveillance does not only metaphorically rip apart the entire U.S. Constitution, but it would lead to the political demise of the United States of America. Privacy is considered of the basic Lockean rights which include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Although, one important thing to note is that some forms of mass surveillance such as shop cameras or street cameras, may be justified, anything more is a direct breaching of rights. If the government cannot uphold these basic human rights, these basic rights of the people, how can it even serve as a public aid? If the government wants to gather intelligence from its people in order to protect the people, is it really protecting the people if the basic rights of the people are thrown away in the process? If this is true, then it must mean that the protection(the government) has turned in to the danger(the government). It is basic
America has been known to be a nation of the people for the people by the people, but there are individuals may argue a different point. There are those who would claim this country was founded it was founded by and for whit Europeans, people fled a broken system, but subsequently built a flawed system of their own. Our forefathers uprooted themselves and others in order to build the country we live in today. The question quickly becomes a matter of which is it? Upon close examination I believe it shall become quite clear that this country was founded with a certain interest in mind. Indeed, African Americans may not have “found” this land, and the aboriginals certainly had rights to the lands they tended and lived, yet
In 1791 were added 10 amendments to the US Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights. The First amendment is one of the most fundamental and important rights that individuals have. This amendment describes the rights of the citizens of the United States, also the amendment guarantee citizens crucial freedoms, which are freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of press, freedom of assembly and freedom of petition. The First Amendment is very powerful and has the ability to protect us but sometime even harm us (for example some of the lawsuits against First Amendment).
2. Was the Chicago ordinance, as defined in this case, unconstitutional in its contents because it failed to provide support for the First Amendment?