Amendment IX

"The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Ninth Amendment lets us citizens know that we have additional civil liberties although the Constitution does not enumerate what they are.

One classmate mentioned that the decision to have children is not an enumerated right, but we all recognize that we possess this liberty.

(I am not addressing the issue of birth control. The Shakers, for example, created a social experiment and decided that they would not bear children. They refrained from sex altogether. They, and we also, are free to decide not to have sex although the Constitution is silent, not enumerating a civil liberty to decide and act accordingly.)

Amendment VIII

"Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Eighth Amendment further limits the power of the Judiciary:

• Bail must be reasonable,
• Fines must be reasonable, and
• Cruel and unusual punishments are proscribed.

The Amendment does not tell us what is reasonable or what is meant by cruel and unusual, though.

This amendment concerns due process of law like the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. According to Ginsburg, et al. (2009), "The purpose of due process is to equalize the playing field between the accused individual and the all-powerful state" ( p. 154).

It seems to me that this Amendment prevents the federal government from becoming all-powerful first of all. Also, I'm not comfortable with using an analogy of a playing field. The government is not one team pitted against another, here the accused individual. Due process of law is predictable and objective. The accused individual acquires a defense lawyer who can explain and predict the general processes that this individual will experience.

I would say that the playing team analogy is faulty for another reason. The Framers of the Constitution did not intend for the government to be an adversary of its citizens. That is tyranny, and that describes King George's relationship with the Colonies and their citizens.

Amendment VII

"In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Seventh Amendment establishes a citizen's rights in civil suits. Until now the Bill of Rights addressed criminal cases.

If a person is called into federal court with a civil case against them, judges must allow the case to be presented before a jury if the person wishes.  Americans had enjoyed this right during colonial days (O'Connor & Sabato, p. 81).

When Article III of the Constitution established the federal judiciary, jury trials were specified for criminal cases. "The Trial of all Crimes ... shall be by Jury." The Constitution is silent on civil cases, so the Seventh Amendment preserves and affirms trials by jury for civil cases.

Once a judge and jury have issued a judgment — "fact" — the ruling stands in all federal courts.

Common law allows for appeals of judgments, which is addressed in Article III of the constitution itself. An appeal is an attempt to change the verdict — "fact" — of the case.

Congress changed the threshold from $20 to $75,000. Perhaps this higher threshold keeps case loads in our federal courts manageable. Would we want to lower this current threshold? Would we want to hire more judges and staff and also build larger court facilities? These expenses would come from our pockets as higher taxes. No thanks. It's not broken, so don't fix it.

Henry Repeating Arms Company & the Boy Scouts of America

Can you imagine a case where Boy Scouts aren't allowed to learn to handle firearms safely?

Ron Shoupe Sr.
Eagle Scout Class of 1957
Silver Explorer Class of 1957
Eagle Scout Dad Class of 2007
Assistant Scoutmaster, NCAC BSA Troop 1250
Advisor, Emeritus, NCAC Explorer Post 1267

and

Ron Shoupe Jr.
Eagle Scout Class of 2007
Assistant Scoutmaster, NCAC BSA Troop 1250
Vice President, NCAC Venture Crew 1250

Henry Repeating Arms Company

Amendment II.

Part 2

I take it as a given that the Framers of our Constitution owned and used firearms. They hunted game and defended themselves using guns. It follows that the Second Amendment does not concern itself with actual gun ownership.

I believe that key words in the amendment are 'Militia' and 'State'. State refers to any one of the original thirteen states of the Union, to all newly admitted states, and now to all fifty states.

First, I'm listing clauses from Article I of the Constitution that contain the word 'State'. With one exception, 'State' refers to one of the states of the Union.

The exception in Section 9 reads: "foreign State". ("... no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them [the States], shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.")

Article. I.

Section. 2.

• "... by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications ..."
• "... Branch of the State Legislature."
• "... be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen."
• ["... Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union ..."]
• ["... each State shall have at Least one Representative;"]

Section. 3.

• "... two Senators from each State ..."
• ["... during the Recess of the Legislature of any State ..."]
• "... be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen."

Section. 4.

• "... shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof;"
• "... by Cession of particular States ..."
• "... by the Consent of the Legislature of the State ..."

Section. 8.

• "... reserving to the States respectively ..."
• "... by Cession of particular States ..."
• "... all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State ..."

Section. 9.

• "... any of the States now existing ..."
• "No Tax or Duty shall be laid on Articles exported from any State."
• "... to the Ports of one State over those of another ..."
• "... Vessels bound to, or from, one State ..."

Section. 10.

• "No State shall enter into any Treaty ..."
• "No State shall, without the Consent of the Congress, lay any Imposts ..."
• "... laid by any State on Imports ..."
• "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress, lay any Duty of Tonnage ... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power ..."

Amendment VI

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;
which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation;
to be confronted with the witnesses against him;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

Comments by Nate Segal

The Fifth Amendment has described how a citizen arrives in court. The Sixth Amendment now describes this citizen's rights in court.

It also lays out how the Federal government must conduct a trial.

Amendment V

"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger;
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."

Comments by Nate Segal

The Fifth Amendment contains three clauses that restrain Federal powers:

1. A citizen is entitled to public processes before entering court if they are accused of a crime.

   In tyrannies of all sorts, a citizen may be hauled away from their home in the midst of night and disappear. Only if the government wishes, it lets it be known that the citizen has been arrested for a serious crime and may face trial.

   Often, these governments remain silent about the whereabouts of the person and rebuff inquiries from the public.

   Some states have used this approach to suppress political dissent. Think of Iran today, Iraq under Saddam Hussein, the former Soviet Union, and the period of the military junta in Argentina.

   The English Crown was known to spirit away landowners because the Crown coveted land. No sooner was the landowner gone than the Crown took possession of his land.

   The colonists were probably aware of what an absolute monarch could and did do. If the landed gentry were not safe on their land, how much more so the ordinary citizen?

2. A citizen need not defend his or her innocence. The burden of proof falls on the government.

   If the Federal government fails to prove its case in the first trial, this amendment forbids the government from trying the citizen again.

   A common strategy in totalitarian regimes is to "discover" new evidence which is actually manufactured. For example, the government threatens another citizen to bear false witness or suffer dire consequences.

3. The Federal government may exercise eminent domain for a public purpose in a public way. Also, when the property owner is compensated, the government has no power to keep the amount of compensation a secret.

   Recent disturbing rulings concerning taking private property for so-called public use seem to have given local jurisdictions unprecedented powers. New Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor ruled in a Connecticut case that a local jurisdiction could condemn private business and residential land to resell this land to a private developer for redevelopment at a profit.