The Rights Of The United States

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, Islamic extremists carried out the deadliest terrorist attack ever to happen on U.S. soil. Not only did almost 3,000 U.S. citizens die, but fundamental American values were put to the test. In response to this tragedy, the country came together, and President George Bush, also shocked and embittered by this calamity, funneled the resulting patriotism to launch his “War on Terror”. The primary weapon of this war was the 2001 U.S.A Patriot Act (“Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism”). A usually precarious balance the government faced between national security and individual rights was tipped entirely towards national security in the wake of 9/11 and the 2001 Patriot Act was signed into law almost unopposed.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the United States of America domestic security and intelligence which also serves as the federal government’s law enforcement agency. Working under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI simultaneously considered as part of the US intelligence community, comprises of many other federal and state agencies and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. The agency performs a leading role in counterintelligence, counterterrorism, and criminal investigative roles making it have jurisdictions of over 200 categories of federal crime. Even though most of FBI’s roles are domestic and limited to crimes within the US borders, it is equivalent to intelligence

This essay focuses on the final topic of week number eight, “Is the Patriot Act a necessary protection against terrorism or a threat to our civil liberties?” The Patriot Act (Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism), has brought much controversy between national security and individual rights. We have seen numerous terrorist attacks abroad, such as the attack of U.S. airliners, U.S. embassies, and U.S. military bases during the 1980’s. Well-planned terrorist attacks continued into the 1990s and into our current year (Sauter & Carafano, 2012).

The U.S. Constitution was a set of fundamental laws and certain rights that each American citizen was meant to live by. The Constitution was signed by delegates during the Constitutional convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787. The constitution was created because many belived that the current governing document (The Articles of Confederation) were weak and allowed the states to operate like independent countries. At the Constitutional convention, the delegates created a plan for a stronger federal government that included three branches–executive, legislative and judicial. They also included the system of checks and balances to ensure no single branch would have too much power. The Bill of Rights–10 amendments guaranteed basic individual

In the United States, the people matter. They are free, and can control what happens in government. The people have certain rights that allow them to do things that make them people, for example, thinking, speaking, and acting. The Founders of the US wanted to protect people’s basic rights as much as possible through the constitution. The Constitution explains, in great detail, that the people are sovereign.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) originated on July 26, 1908, as the Bureau of Investigation by U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte. In 1935 the name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Director Mueller reconstructed the FBI to support the changes the Bureau made “to meet newly articulated strategic priorities” from 2001 to 2013 (Brief History).On September 4, 2013, James B. Comey was sworn in as the seventh Director of the FBI. The main focus of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to prevent terrorist attacks against the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation enforces and carries out the criminal laws of the United States. “The mission of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners” (Quick Facts).

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) originated on July 26, 1908, as the Bureau of Investigation by U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte. In 1935 the name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Director Mueller reconstructed the FBI to support the changes the Bureau made “to meet newly articulated strategic priorities” from 2001 to 2013 (Brief History, 2010). On September 4, 2013, James B. Comey was sworn in as the seventh Director of the FBI. The main focus of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to prevent terrorist attacks against the United States. The Federal Bureau of Investigation enforces and carries out the criminal laws of the United States. “The mission of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is to protect and defend the United States against terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services to federal, state, municipal, and international agencies and partners” (Quick Facts, 2010).

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

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.

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.

It is nearly impossible to comprehend the overwhelming changes the United States has endured over the past 200 years, spanning from 1787 when the Constitution was created, all the way up until today. In the present, new issues arise that would have been unpredictable to the three dozen or so men who attended the Constitutional Convention over two centuries ago. Now in 2014, America is confronted with a myriad of complex issues that the Founding Fathers would never have been able to perceive or address appropriately. Issues of racial and gender inequality, minority rights, due process, the equal protection clause, and countless other problems that plague America today would have been unpredictable when Constitution was written. The

The United States Constitution was designed to enfranchise the white men who, in 1787, were the only citizens included in John Locke’s conception of the social contract (outlined in his Second Treatise of Government). At this time in history, women were not invited to be free and equal, in relation to their husbands and fathers or as citizens in the founding fathers’ new republic. Therefore, the Constitution never addresses abortion, contraception, or marriage. Arguments made in laws and court cases on these topics, specifically reproductive rights, have therefore traditionally rested on a right to privacy the court has interpreted as being found in the first, fourth, fifth, and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution, rather than a right to freedom from sex-based discrimination found in the nineteenth amendment. The landmark supreme court cases Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade were both won on these grounds, both setting a precedent for the expansion of the right to privacy. This protection has also been affected by the 2003 Partial-Birth Abortion Ban and the Hyde Amendment.

The Bill of Rights was passed because concepts such as freedom of religion, speech, equal treatment, and due process of law were deemed so important that, barring a Constitutional Amendment, not even a majority should be allowed to change them. Rule of law is a principle under which all persons, institutions, and entities are accountable to laws that are: publicly promulgated, equally enforced, independently adjudicated, and consistent with international human rights principles. The United States, as a democratic republic, derives ultimate authority and power from the citizens and runs the government through elected officials. Our elected officials follow the same rule of law as the people they govern, and it is the electorate’s hope that the laws they enforce are inevitably followed. However, this is not always the case, and during the thirty-seventh presidency of the United States, the people’s trust of our executive office was shaken by a corrupt Nixon administration and its scandalous ways.

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.

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 impacted the American people without many of them realizing it. The act called for increased monitoring of computer networks, phone lines, and online history inside the United States and allowed the government to deport suspects (ACLU). What was created by the act has snaked its way into all aspects of our lives, creating a sense of order and restricting some freedom. However, some say that this imposition into our daily lives limits our freedoms and actions allowed us by the Constitution. Many interest groups voice strong resentment for the act while others try to demonstrate the strengths and triumphs of the Homeland Security Act. This paper will show the differing viewpoints of those that feel that the