The Content and Importance of the Amendments to the United States Bill of Rights

Our Country was founded on the principle of freedom as outlined in the Bill of Rights, the Bill of Rights was important when it was created and just as important to everyday citizens now. The Bill of Rights was created as a foundation for our nation to establish civil liberties and to protect the rights of each individual citizen; it was also designed to prevent the government from having total control over citizens and to provide citizens with legal defenses.

The most important Amendment I listed was the Fourth Amendment, The Fourth Amendment is very important because it limits the right of search and seizure by the authorities.

This amendment prohibits unreasonable searches without a probably cause or a warrant. This prevents the government or any legal authority from entering homes to search without cause and from taking items without valid reason or legal permission. Currently there are many whose Fourth Amendment is violated such as that case against Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill man whose condition was not taken into consideration prior to being beaten to death by the Fullerton Police Department.

I believe the Police Department did not have probable cause to use excessive force against him.

The First Amendment is very important also, and probably currently the most often quoted Constitutional Amendment. I believe this Amendment remains what America is different from the other countries, the First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and the right to public assembly are all guaranteed through this first item of the Bill of Rights.

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Peaceful assembly, the right to petition the government over grievances and the guarantee that no state religion will be forced on citizens are all included in the First Amendment. The Second, Third, Ninth, and Tenth Amendment are in the middle of my list of importance because they are important in today’s society but do not feel they need to be changed. The Second Amendments is often debated today and grants Americans the right to bear arms, there are many anti-gun activists that believe that this right is outdated. The Third Amendment focuses on quartering of troops in private homes; currently this is not an issue as it was during the American Revolution.

The ninth and tenth Amendment is the unlisted rights of common citizens as well as reserve specific rights to each individual state. These amendments allow states to be self-governing and to make their own laws for the citizens of the states. The two Amendments are important are why America remains a true democracy, a government of, for, and by the people.

The Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Amendment are very common in this day in age, the Fifth Amendment guarantees a fair trial by a jury and gives the right to a person to refuse to provide information that could be incriminating. The Sixth Amendment provides the right to a speedy, public, trial, an impartial jury of peers, to have full knowledge of accusations and charges made, and to have legal counsel provided to all. This amendment also prevents any individual from being tried more than once for the same offense. The Seventh Amendment provides for common law and that citizens are granted the same rights to a fair trial and jury as those facing criminal charges. Amendment Eight prohibits excessive amounts of bail, excessive fines, and cruel or unusual punishments. This amendment regulates the amounts of bail and fines allowable by law as well as protects the rights of prisoners.

I placed these four Amendments on the bottom of my list because I believe they need to be adjusted, I do believe that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but I believe there are many guilty parties that take advantage of these four Amendments. I believe that America should have stricter Capital Punishment and re-evaluate our judicial system, especially the jury system. In the recent case of Casey Anthony is a perfect example of where our judicial system is wrong. I believe if we had a stricter Capital Punishment there would be less crime, and there would not be so much tax dollars being wasted on the prison and court systems that we currently have. We have prisons full of guilty criminals probably living better than some families trying to make ends meet but yet instead of properly punishing them we continue to allow them to use American tax dollars.