The American Constitution

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The constitutional commission is headed by Communist Party head and former president Raul Castro. Widespread persecution continued through the s. While Havana and some other Cuban cities have flourishing gay communities, anti-homosexual attitudes remain deeply rooted among much of the population. Cubans who ordinarily shy from open criticism of the government spoke out in large numbers against the proposed constitutional Article 68 promoting gay marriage during public consultations on the draft constitution throughout the year.

The dropping of the gay marriage language is the third dramatic reversal this month for a government that for decades has issued most laws and regulations with little public debate or insight into the working of the ruling Communist Party. The government last week eliminated some of the most-disliked sections of new restrictions on entrepreneurs that were met with widespread public criticism.

And tough new limits on artistic expression were delayed after protests and complaints from Cuban artists. The chief executive was to be a single figure a composite executive was discussed and rejected and…. In the United States, for example, a comprehensive church school and educational…. The Constitution of the United States delegates to the federal government certain activities that concern the whole people, such as the conduct of foreign relations and war and the regulation of interstate commerce and foreign trade; certain other functions are shared between the federal government and….

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Thank You for Your Contribution! The Continental Congress, which still functioned at irregular intervals, passed a resolution on September 13, , to put the new Constitution into operation with the eleven states that had then ratified it.

United States Constitution

However, the initial meeting of each chamber of Congress had to be adjourned due to lack of a quorum. Several ideas in the Constitution were new. These were associated with the combination of consolidated government along with federal relationships with constituent states. The Due Process Clause of the Constitution was partly based on common law and on Magna Carta , which had become a foundation of English liberty against arbitrary power wielded by a ruler.

Among the most prominent political theorists of the late eighteenth century were William Blackstone , John Locke , and Montesquieu. In his Institutes of the Lawes of England , Edward Coke interpreted Magna Carta protections and rights to apply not just to nobles, but to all British subjects. In writing the Virginia Charter of , he enabled the King in Parliament to give those to be born in the colonies all rights and liberties as though they were born in England.

William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England were the most influential books on law in the new republic. British political philosopher John Locke following the Glorious Revolution was a major influence expanding on the contract theory of government advanced by Thomas Hobbes.

Locke advanced the principle of consent of the governed in his Two Treatises of Government. Government's duty under a social contract among the sovereign people was to serve the people by protecting their rights. These basic rights were life, liberty and property. Montesquieu's influence on the framers is evident in Madison's Federalist No. Jefferson, Adams, and Mason were known to read Montesquieu. Biddle , 21 U. Wood , 39 U. United States , U.

Administrator of General Services , U. Peterson , U. Montesquieu emphasized the need for balanced forces pushing against each other to prevent tyranny reflecting the influence of Polybius 's 2nd century BC treatise on the checks and balances of the Roman Republic. In his The Spirit of the Laws , Montesquieu argues that the separation of state powers should be by its service to the people's liberty: A substantial body of thought had been developed from the literature of republicanism in the United States , including work by John Adams and applied to the creation of state constitutions.

The constitution was a federal one, and was influenced by the study of other federations, both ancient and extant. The United States Bill of Rights consists of 10 amendments added to the Constitution in , as supporters of the Constitution had promised critics during the debates of Both require jury trials , contain a right to keep and bear arms , prohibit excessive bail and forbid "cruel and unusual punishments".

Many liberties protected by state constitutions and the Virginia Declaration of Rights were incorporated into the Bill of Rights. Neither the Convention which drafted the Constitution, nor the Congress which sent it to the thirteen states for ratification in the autumn of , gave it a lead caption. To fill this void, the document was most often titled "A frame of Government" when it was printed for the convenience of ratifying conventions and the information of the public.

The preamble to the Constitution serves as an introductory statement of the document's fundamental purposes and guiding principles. It neither assigns powers to the federal government, [47] nor does it place specific limitations on government action. Rather, it sets out the origin, scope and purpose of the Constitution. Its origin and authority is in "We, the people of the United States". This echoes the Declaration of Independence. The scope of the Constitution is twofold. First, "to form a more perfect Union" than had previously existed in the "perpetual Union" of the Articles of Confederation.

Second, to "secure the blessings of liberty", which were to be enjoyed by not only the first generation, but for all who came after, "our posterity". Article One describes the Congress , the legislative branch of the federal government. Section 1, reads, "All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives. Representatives must be at least 25 years old, be a citizen of the United States for seven years, and live in the state they represent.

Senators must be at least 30 years old, be a citizen for nine years, and live in the state they represent. Article I, Section 8 enumerates the powers delegated to the legislature. Financially, Congress has the power to tax, borrow, pay debt and provide for the common defense and the general welfare; to regulate commerce, bankruptcies, and coin money. To regulate internal affairs, it has the power to regulate and govern military forces and militias, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.

It is to provide for naturalization, standards of weights and measures, post offices and roads, and patents; to directly govern the federal district and cessions of land by the states for forts and arsenals. Internationally, Congress has the power to define and punish piracies and offenses against the Law of Nations, to declare war and make rules of war. The final Necessary and Proper Clause , also known as the Elastic Clause, expressly confers incidental powers upon Congress without the Articles' requirement for express delegation for each and every power.

Article I, Section 9 lists eight specific limits on congressional power. The Supreme Court has sometimes broadly interpreted the Commerce Clause and the Necessary and Proper Clause in Article One to allow Congress to enact legislation that is neither expressly allowed by the enumerated powers nor expressly denied in the limitations on Congress. Maryland , the Supreme Court read the Necessary and Proper Clause to permit the federal government to take action that would "enable [it] to perform the high duties assigned to it [by the Constitution] in the manner most beneficial to the people", [49] even if that action is not itself within the enumerated powers.

Chief Justice Marshall clarified: Article Two describes the office, qualifications, and duties of the President of the United States and the Vice President. The President is head of the executive branch of the federal government , as well as the nation's head of state and head of government. Article two is modified by the 12th Amendment which tacitly acknowledges political parties, and the 25th Amendment relating to office succession.

The president is to receive only one compensation from the federal government. The inaugural oath is specified to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. He or she makes treaties with the advice and consent of a two-thirds quorum of the Senate. To administer the federal government, the president commissions all the offices of the federal government as Congress directs; he or she may require the opinions of its principal officers and make " recess appointments " for vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate. The president is to see that the laws are faithfully executed, though he or she may grant reprieves and pardons except regarding Congressional impeachment of himself or other federal officers.

The president reports to Congress on the State of the Union , and by the Recommendation Clause , recommends "necessary and expedient" national measures. The president may convene and adjourn Congress under special circumstances. Section 4 provides for removal of the president and other federal officers. The president is removed on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. Article Three describes the court system the judicial branch , including the Supreme Court.

There shall be one court called the Supreme Court. The article describes the kinds of cases the court takes as original jurisdiction. Congress can create lower courts and an appeals process. Congress enacts law defining crimes and providing for punishment. Article Three also protects the right to trial by jury in all criminal cases , and defines the crime of treason. Section 1 vests the judicial power of the United States in federal courts, and with it, the authority to interpret and apply the law to a particular case.

Also included is the power to punish, sentence, and direct future action to resolve conflicts. The Constitution outlines the U. In the Judiciary Act of , Congress began to fill in details. Currently, Title 28 of the U. Code [50] describes judicial powers and administration.

As of the First Congress, the Supreme Court justices rode circuit to sit as panels to hear appeals from the district courts. District courts would have original jurisdiction. Intermediate appellate courts circuit courts with exclusive jurisdiction heard regional appeals before consideration by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court holds discretionary jurisdiction , meaning that it does not have to hear every case that is brought to it.

To enforce judicial decisions, the Constitution grants federal courts both criminal contempt and civil contempt powers. The court's summary punishment for contempt immediately overrides all other punishments applicable to the subject party. Other implied powers include injunctive relief and the habeas corpus remedy.

The Court may imprison for contumacy , bad-faith litigation, and failure to obey a writ of mandamus. Judicial power includes that granted by Acts of Congress for rules of law and punishment. Judicial power also extends to areas not covered by statute. Generally, federal courts cannot interrupt state court proceedings. Clause 1 of Section 2 authorizes the federal courts to hear actual cases and controversies only.

Articles of Confederation

Their judicial power does not extend to cases which are hypothetical, or which are proscribed due to standing , mootness , or ripeness issues. Generally, a case or controversy requires the presence of adverse parties who have some interest genuinely at stake in the case. Clause 2 of Section 2 provides that the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in cases involving ambassadors, ministers and consuls, for all cases respecting foreign nation-states, [51] and also in those controversies which are subject to federal judicial power because at least one state is a party.

Cases arising under the laws of the United States and its treaties come under the jurisdiction of federal courts. Cases under international maritime law and conflicting land grants of different states come under federal courts. The trials will be in the state where the crime was committed. No part of the Constitution expressly authorizes judicial review , but the Framers did contemplate the idea. The Constitution is the supreme law of the land. Precedent has since established that the courts could exercise judicial review over the actions of Congress or the executive branch.

Two conflicting federal laws are under "pendent" jurisdiction if one presents a strict constitutional issue. Federal court jurisdiction is rare when a state legislature enacts something as under federal jurisdiction. By the doctrine of ' Res judicata ', federal courts give "full faith and credit" to State Courts. Section 3 bars Congress from changing or modifying Federal law on treason by simple majority statute. This section also defines treason, as an overt act of making war or materially helping those at war with the United States.

Accusations must be corroborated by at least two witnesses. Congress is a political body and political disagreements routinely encountered should never be considered as treason. This allows for nonviolent resistance to the government because opposition is not a life or death proposition. However, Congress does provide for other lesser subversive crimes such as conspiracy. Article Four outlines the relations among the states and between each state and the federal government.

In addition, it provides for such matters as admitting new states and border changes between the states. For instance, it requires states to give " full faith and credit " to the public acts, records, and court proceedings of the other states. Congress is permitted to regulate the manner in which proof of such acts may be admitted. The "privileges and immunities" clause prohibits state governments from discriminating against citizens of other states in favor of resident citizens.

For instance, in criminal sentencing , a state may not increase a penalty on the grounds that the convicted person is a non-resident. It also establishes extradition between the states, as well as laying down a legal basis for freedom of movement and travel amongst the states. Today, this provision is sometimes taken for granted, but in the days of the Articles of Confederation , crossing state lines was often arduous and costly.

The Territorial Clause gives Congress the power to make rules for disposing of federal property and governing non-state territories of the United States. Finally, the fourth section of Article Four requires the United States to guarantee to each state a republican form of government , and to protect them from invasion and violence. Article Five outlines the process for amending the Constitution. Eight state constitutions in effect in included an amendment mechanism. Amendment making power rested with the legislature in three of the states and in the other five it was given to specially elected conventions.

The Articles of Confederation provided that amendments were to be proposed by Congress and ratified by the unanimous vote of all thirteen state legislatures. This proved to be a major flaw in the Articles, as it created an insurmountable obstacle to constitutional reform. It guards equally against that extreme facility which would render the Constitution too mutable; and that extreme difficulty which might perpetuate its discovered faults.

It moreover equally enables the General and the State Governments to originate the amendment of errors, as they may be pointed out by the experience on one side, or on the other. There are two steps in the amendment process.

Constitution - HISTORY

Proposals to amend the Constitution must be properly adopted and ratified before they change the Constitution. First, there are two procedures for adopting the language of a proposed amendment, either by a Congress , by two-thirds majority in both the Senate and the House of Representatives, or b national convention which shall take place whenever two-thirds of the state legislatures collectively call for one. Second, there are two procedures for ratifying the proposed amendment, which requires three-fourths of the states' presently 38 of 50 approval: The ratification method is chosen by Congress for each amendment.

Presently, the Archivist of the United States is charged with responsibility for administering the ratification process under the provisions of 1 U. The Archivist submits the proposed amendment to the states for their consideration by sending a letter of notification to each Governor. Each Governor then formally submits the amendment to their state's legislature. When a state ratifies a proposed amendment, it sends the Archivist an original or certified copy of the state's action. Ratification documents are examined by the Office of the Federal Register for facial legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature.

Article Five ends by shielding certain clauses in the new frame of government from being amended. Article One, Section 9, Clauses 1 prevents Congress from passing any law that would restrict the importation of slaves into the United States prior to , plus the fourth clause from that same section, which reiterates the Constitutional rule that direct taxes must be apportioned according to state populations.

These clauses were explicitly shielded from Constitutional amendment prior to On January 1, , the first day it was permitted to do so, Congress approved legislation prohibiting the importation of slaves into the country. On February 3, , with ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment , Congress gained the authority to levy an income tax without apportioning it among the states or basing it on the United States Census.

The third textually entrenched provision is Article One, Section 3, Clauses 1, which provides for equal representation of the states in the Senate. Article Six establishes the Constitution, and all federal laws and treaties of the United States made according to it, to be the supreme law of the land, and that "the judges in every state shall be bound thereby, any thing in the laws or constitutions of any state notwithstanding. This means that the states' constitutions and laws should not conflict with the laws of the federal constitution and that in case of a conflict, state judges are legally bound to honor the federal laws and constitution over those of any state.

Article Six also states " no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States. Article Seven describes the process for establishing the proposed new frame of government.

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Anticipating that the influence of many state politicians would be Antifederalist, delegates to the Philadelphia Convention provided for ratification of the Constitution by popularly elected ratifying conventions in each state. The convention method also made it possible that judges, ministers and others ineligible to serve in state legislatures, could be elected to a convention.

Suspecting that Rhode Island, at least, might not ratify, delegates decided that the Constitution would go into effect as soon as nine states two-thirds rounded up ratified. It would not cover the four or fewer states that might not have signed. The signing of the United States Constitution occurred on September 17, , when 39 delegates to the Constitutional Convention endorsed the constitution created during the convention. In addition to signatures, this closing endorsement, the Constitution's eschatocol , included a brief declaration that the delegates' work has been successfully completed and that those whose signatures appear on it subscribe to the final document.

Included are, a statement pronouncing the document's adoption by the states present, a formulaic dating of its adoption, and the signatures of those endorsing it. Additionally, the convention's secretary, William Jackson , signed the document to authenticate the validity of the delegate signatures.

He also made a few secretarial notes. The language of the concluding endorsement, conceived by Gouverneur Morris and presented to the convention by Benjamin Franklin , was made intentionally ambiguous in hopes of winning over the votes of dissenting delegates. Advocates for the new frame of government, realizing the impending difficulty of obtaining the consent of the states needed to make it operational, were anxious to obtain the unanimous support of the delegations from each state.

It was feared that many of the delegates would refuse to give their individual assent to the Constitution. Therefore, in order that the action of the Convention would appear to be unanimous, the formula, Done in convention by the unanimous consent of the states present The document is dated: This dual reference can also be found in the Articles of Confederation and the Northwest Ordinance.

The closing endorsement serves an authentication function only. It neither assigns powers to the federal government nor does it provide specific limitations on government action. It does however, provide essential documentation of the Constitution's validity, a statement of "This is what was agreed to. The Constitution has twenty-seven amendments. Structurally, the Constitution's original text and all prior amendments remain untouched. The precedent for this practice was set in , when Congress considered and proposed the first several Constitutional amendments.

Among these, Amendments 1—10 are collectively known as the Bill of Rights , and Amendments 13—15 are known as the Reconstruction Amendments. The Twenty-sixth Amendment was ratified in the shortest time, days. The average ratification time for the first twenty-six amendments was 1 year, days, for all twenty-seven, 9 years, 48 days. A proposed amendment becomes an operative part of the Constitution as soon as it is ratified by three-fourths of the States currently 38 of the 50 States. There is no further step.

The text requires no additional action by Congress or anyone else after ratification by the required number of states. This certification is published in the Federal Register and United States Statutes at Large and serves as official notice to Congress and to the nation that the ratification process has been successfully completed. The First Amendment prohibits Congress from obstructing the exercise of certain individual freedoms: Its Free Exercise Clause guarantees a person's right to hold whatever religious beliefs he or she wants, and to freely exercise that belief, and its Establishment Clause prevents the federal government from creating an official national church or favoring one set of religious beliefs over another.

The amendment guarantees an individual's right to express and to be exposed to a wide range of opinions and views. It was intended to ensure a free exchange of ideas, even unpopular ones. It also guarantees an individual's right to physically gather or associate with others in groups for economic, political or religious purposes. Additionally, it guarantees an individual's right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. The Second Amendment protects the right of individuals [61] [62] to keep and bear arms.

Patrick Henry had rhetorically asked, shall we be stronger, "when we are totally disarmed, and when a British Guard shall be stationed in every house? The Third Amendment prohibits the federal government from forcing individuals to provide lodging to soldiers in their homes during peacetime without their consent. Requested by several states during the Constitutional ratification debates, the amendment reflected the lingering resentment over the Quartering Acts passed by the British Parliament during the Revolutionary War, which had allowed British soldiers to take over private homes for their own use.

The Fourth Amendment protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures of either self or property by government officials. A search can mean everything from a frisking by a police officer or to a demand for a blood test to a search of an individual's home or car. A seizure occurs when the government takes control of an individual or something in his or her possession.

Items that are seized often are used as evidence when the individual is charged with a crime. It also imposes certain limitations on police investigating a crime and prevents the use of illegally obtained evidence at trial. The Fifth Amendment establishes the requirement that a trial for a major crime may commence only after an indictment has been handed down by a grand jury ; protects individuals from double jeopardy , being tried and put in danger of being punished more than once for the same criminal act; prohibits punishment without due process of law, thus protecting individuals from being imprisoned without fair procedures; and provides that an accused person may not be compelled to reveal to the police, prosecutor, judge, or jury any information that might incriminate or be used against him or her in a court of law.

Additionally, the Fifth Amendment also prohibits government from taking private property for public use without " just compensation ", the basis of eminent domain in the United States. The Sixth Amendment provides several protections and rights to an individual accused of a crime. The accused has the right to a fair and speedy trial by a local and impartial jury.

Likewise, a person has the right to a public trial. This right protects defendants from secret proceedings that might encourage abuse of the justice system, and serves to keep the public informed. This amendment also guarantees a right to legal counsel if accused of a crime, guarantees that the accused may require witnesses to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the accused, and guarantees the accused a right to know the charges against them. In , the Supreme Court ruled that, with the Fifth Amendment, this amendment requires what has become known as the Miranda warning.

The Seventh Amendment extends the right to a jury trial to federal civil cases, and inhibits courts from overturning a jury's findings of fact. Although the Seventh Amendment itself says that it is limited to "suits at common law", meaning cases that triggered the right to a jury under English law, the amendment has been found to apply in lawsuits that are similar to the old common law cases. For example, the right to a jury trial applies to cases brought under federal statutes that prohibit race or gender discrimination in housing or employment.

Importantly, this amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial only in federal court, not in state court. The Eighth Amendment protects people from having bail or fines set at an amount so high that it would be impossible for all but the richest defendants to pay and also protects people from being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Although this phrase originally was intended to outlaw certain gruesome methods of punishment, it has been broadened over the years to protect against punishments that are grossly disproportionate to or too harsh for the particular crime.

This provision has also been used to challenge prison conditions such as extremely unsanitary cells, overcrowding, insufficient medical care and deliberate failure by officials to protect inmates from one another. The Ninth Amendment declares that individuals have other fundamental rights, in addition to those stated in the Constitution. During the Constitutional ratification debates Anti-Federalists argued that a Bill of Rights should be added.

The Federalists opposed it on grounds that a list would necessarily be incomplete but would be taken as explicit and exhaustive , thus enlarging the power of the federal government by implication.

Constitution

The Anti-Federalists persisted, and several state ratification conventions refused to ratify the Constitution without a more specific list of protections, so the First Congress added what became the Ninth Amendment as a compromise. Because the rights protected by the Ninth Amendment are not specified, they are referred to as "unenumerated". The Supreme Court has found that unenumerated rights include such important rights as the right to travel, the right to vote, the right to privacy, and the right to make important decisions about one's health care or body.

The Tenth Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights to further define the balance of power between the federal government and the states.

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The amendment states that the federal government has only those powers specifically granted by the Constitution. These powers include the power to declare war, to collect taxes, to regulate interstate business activities and others that are listed in the articles or in subsequent constitutional amendments. Any power not listed is, says the Tenth Amendment, left to the states or the people.

While there is no specific list of what these "reserved powers" may be, the Supreme Court has ruled that laws affecting family relations, commerce within a state's own borders, and local law enforcement activities, are among those specifically reserved to the states or the people. The Eleventh Amendment specifically prohibits federal courts from hearing cases in which a state is sued by an individual from another state or another country, thus extending to the states sovereign immunity protection from certain types of legal liability.

Article Three, Section 2, Clause 1 has been affected by this amendment, which also overturned the Supreme Court's decision in Chisholm v. The Sixteenth Amendment removed existing Constitutional constraints that limited the power of Congress to lay and collect taxes on income. Specifically, the apportionment constraints delineated in Article 1, Section 9, Clause 4 have been removed by this amendment, which also overturned an Supreme Court decision, in Pollock v.

This amendment has become the basis for all subsequent federal income tax legislation and has greatly expanded the scope of federal taxing and spending in the years since. The Eighteenth Amendment prohibited the making, transporting, and selling of alcoholic beverages nationwide. It also authorized Congress to enact legislation enforcing this prohibition. Adopted at the urging of a national temperance movement , proponents believed that the use of alcohol was reckless and destructive and that prohibition would reduce crime and corruption, solve social problems, decrease the need for welfare and prisons, and improve the health of all Americans.

During prohibition, it is estimated that alcohol consumption and alcohol related deaths declined dramatically. But prohibition had other, more negative consequences. The amendment drove the lucrative alcohol business underground, giving rise to a large and pervasive black market.

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