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| Amending the
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Reading Assignment: AMENDING THE CONSTITUTION The writers of the Constitution realized that, if their work was to last, they would have to provide a way to adapt the document to changes in society. Article V explains how the Constitution can be amended, or changed. Amending the document is not easy and is a two step process: (1) Proposing Amendments, (2) Ratifying Amendments. Each of these steps has two different options. Either option in either step is okay as long as each step takes place. Proposing Amendments can by done by: Ratifying Amendments can by done by: Our Constitution has been amended twenty-seven times. Give a summary of each amendment. The first has been done as an example: 1. Freedom of religion, speech, and the press; the right of assembly and petition THE BILL OF RIGHTS 1. Some citizens feared that rights not guaranteed by the Constitution would be denied them. Amendment _____ is a response to that concern. 2. States feared the national government might disarm state militias. Amendment _____ addresses this fear. 3. Many Americans were afraid the government might jail them if they criticized it, so Amendment _____ was added to the Constitution. 4. Citizens did not want the government to decide how they should practice their religion. Amendment _____ guarantees freedom of religion. 5. The police might search a citizen's home without good reason, citizens feared. Amendment _____ addresses this concern. B. Many citizens' fears had to do with justice and the courts. Americans wanted fair treatment for people accused of crimes, so Congress proposed the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Amendments. Which of these amendments guarantees the following rights? Write the number before each sentence. _____ 1. A person accused of a serious crime is to be indicted by a grand jury. _____ 2. Persons accused of crimes have the right to know the charges against them and shall be able to call witnesses in their favor. _____ 3. An accused person cannot be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. _____ 4. A person cannot be forced to testify against him or herself. _____ 5. Property cannot be taken from people unless they are fairly paid. _____ 6. Persons accused of crimes have the right to a speedy and public trial by jury. _____ 7. A person cannot be tried twice in a national court for the same crime. _____ 8. A person accused of a crime has the right to have a lawyer. _____ 9. In disputes over property, either party can insist on a trial by jury. _____ 10. Cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden. BILL OF RIGHTS VOCABULARY Amendment 1 Abridging Petition Redress of Grievances Amendment 2 Infringed Amendment 3 Amendment 4 Seizure Warrant Affirmation Amendment 5 Infamous Indictment Jeopardy Compelled Due Process of Law Eminent Domain Amendment 6 Impartial Extradition Compulsory Counsel Amendment 7 Amendment 8 Amendment 9 Construed Disparage Amendment 10 AMENDMENTS 11 - 26 The following questions relate to amendments other than those in the Bill of Rights. Read each question and then write the letter of your answer and the number of the applicable amendment in the space. _____ 1. A Constitutional amendment was necessary to make legal what tax? _____ 2. When a candidate gets a majority of a state's popular vote, that candidate gets how much of the state's electoral vote? _____ 3. What did the Thirteenth Amendment outlaw? _____ 4. The Fifteenth Amendment gave the right to vote to whom? _____ 5. Today, senators are elected by whom? _____ 6. What was the only amendment to be canceled by another amendment? _____ 7. Under the rules established by the Twentieth Amendment, in what month does the President take office? _____ 8. If the office of the vice presidency becomes vacant, who shall nominate a Vice President? _____ 9. How many times can a President be elected to office? _____ 10. What is the only tax to be declared unconstitutional by amendment? _____ 11. Citizens of other states or foreign countries cannot sue which of the following in national courts? _____ 12. The Fourteenth Amendment says that a state shall not take away from any citizen the right to what? _____ 13. To whom does the Nineteenth Amendment give the right to vote? _____ 14. The Twenty-third Amendment grants citizens of what place the right to vote? _____ 15. What group gained voting rights most recently? “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” ** 1. Why do you think most states at the time of the American Revolution had established churches and religious tests for public office? Freedom of Religion Use the Lemon test to decide if you think the laws and actions described here should be declared unconstitutional. Explain your decision in one or two brief sentences. Your state passes a law allowing your public school principal to post a copy of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Your state passes a law that gives parents who send their children to parochial schools a tax deduction for tuition, transportation, and educational materials. Your state allows your public school’s algebra teacher to spend part of the class day at a church school, giving instruction to students having difficulty with math. A group of students at your public school request permission to use an empty classroom after regular school hours for a voluntary prayer meeting. The principal refuses to make the classroom available to them. Your state passes a law allowing local school districts to pay parents for the cost of student transportation to both public schools and private religious schools. New York City arranged a voluntary program permitting its public schools to release students during school hours to go to off-campus centers to receive religious instruction. The Colorado State Board of Regents required teachers to begin each school day leading their class in a “non-denominational” prayer written by state officials. Students who did not with to participate were permitted to remain silent or be excused from the classroom. The city of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, put up a Christmas display that included a Santa Claus house, reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh, a Christmas tree, a large banner reading “Season’s Greetings,” and a creche with the figures of the Infant Jesus, Mary, Joseph, angels, shepherds, kings and animals. The state of Wisconsin passed a law requiring parents to send their children to school until age sixteen in order to provide all children with educational opportunities. Parents convicted of violating this law could be fined or imprisoned. Jonas Yoder was a member of an Old Order Amish community in Wisconsin which expected children to leave school after eighth grade and continue their education by working with their parents. The Amish feel that students will be drawn away from traditional religious beliefs and occupations by exposure in high school to science, machines, and modern life-styles. Jonas Yoder was arrested when he kept his fifteen-year-old son home. “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government.” 1. Briefly define / explain each freedom of expression: Press Assembly Petition 2. Freedom of expression is perhaps one of the most contested aspects of the Constitution. The courts have determined that there are circumstances when government can limit these rights. Summarize the Supreme Court’s position and precedent in each of the following cases: Schenk v. United States "the freedom of speech" 1. Find the amendment that protects students’ rights to free speech. Quote the appropriate passage: 2. Why would the Supreme Court get involved in such a minor case? What gave them jurisdiction? 3. Would this decision allow students in another state to conduct similar protests? 4. Do you think any political symbol would be okay to wear in a public school? Explain. 5. Three other Supreme Court cases dealing with the rights of students are listed below. Use library resources to find out what the issues were and the Courts ruling in ONE of them. The Rights of Suspects and Individuals Accused of a Crime Amendment IV Amendment V Amendment VI Amendment VIII B. Explain the significance and/or define the following terms and concepts: Warrant "witness against himself" In March of 1963, an 18-year-old woman called the police in Phoenix, Arizona. She claimed that she had been kidnapped and assaulted by a man she had never seen before. Ten days later, a 23-year-old Mexican named Ernesto Miranda was arrested. The woman picked him out of a lineup as the man who attacked her. Miranda was then questioned by the police. After two hours, Miranda signed a confession. A statement typed at the top of the confession said that the confession had been made voluntarily. At no time was Miranda assisted by a lawyer. Miranda was found guilty and sentenced to a prison term of 20-30 years. The conviction was upheld in the Arizona Supreme Court, which claimed that Miranda’s rights had not been violated. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, ruled in favor of Miranda. The vote was five to four. The majority said that Miranda’s right ot remain silent under the 5th Amendment had been violated. The justices declared that an attorney would have warned Miranda about the consequences of signing a confession. The confession was, therefore, invalid. In the future, every suspect would have to be told that he or she has a right to remain silent. All future suspects also would have to be told that they have the right to have an attorney present during police questioning. 1. On the basis of what evidence was Miranda convicted? "have the assistance of counsel" the 6th amendment Gideon v. Wainwright (1965): A man named Gideon was convicted in a Florida court of breaking into a pool room in that state. Like Betts, he asked the court to appoint a lawyer, and was refused. In prison, Gideon spent hours studying law books. He then penciled a petition to the Supreme Court. The Court agreed to hear his case and appointed a distinguished lawyer, Abe Fortas, to defend him. This time the court agreed with Gideon’s lawyer who said, “To convict the poor without counsel while we guarantee the right to counsel to those who can afford it is a denial of equal protection of the laws.” The majority of the justices concluded that the Court had been wrong when it decided in the Betts case, and ruled that defendants in state courts must be represented by lawyers. After reading these brief descriptions of two important Supreme Court cases, decide whether the statements below are TRUE or FALSE. If a statement is false, write a correct statement below it. T / F 1. Once the Supreme Court has made a ruling in a specific case, the precedent can never be changed. T / F 2. The justices completely ignored all previous cases when they made the decision in the Gideon case. T / F 3. In both cases, the Supreme Court justices based their rulings on their interpretation of the Constitution. T / F 4. Only lawyers with years of education can petition the Supreme Court. T / F 5. This case demonstrates the Supreme Court’s increased concern for the rights of individual citizens. EXPANDING THE FRANCHISE suffrage franchise poll tax literacy test grandfather clause B. For each amendment, give the reason it was passed and the effects it had. You will need to use the Constitution and also look up events at that time in appropriate sections of your history text. Fifteenth C. Answer the following questions with complete sentences. 1. How do you think the founding fathers justified restrictions on voting rights when they wanted a government to be truly representative? Percentage of Voters AGE 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 THE BILL OF RIGHTS |