BILL OF RIGHTS

To all Americans, another basic foundation of their representative democracy is the Bill of Rights, adopted in 1791. This consists of 10 very short paragraphs which guarantee freedom and individual rights and forbid interference with the lives of individuals by the government. Each paragraph is an Amendment to the original Constitution.

In the Bill of Rights, Americans are guaranteed freedom of religion, of speech and of the press. They have the right to assemble in public places, to protest government actions and to demand change. They have the right to own weapons if they wish. Because of the Bill of Rights, neither police nor soldiers can stop and search a person without good reason. They also cannot search a person's home without legal permission from a court to do so.

The Bill of Rights guarantees Americans the right to a speedy trial if accused of a crime. The trial must be by a jury and the accused person must be allowed representation by a lawyer and must be able to call in witnesses to speak for him or her. Cruel and unusual punishment is forbidden.

There were 17 other amendments to the Constitution as of 1991. That is not many changes considering that the Constitution was written in 1787. Only a few need to be mentioned here. One forbids slavery and three others guarantee citizenship and full rights of citizenship to all people regardless of race. Another gives women the right to vote and another lowered the national voting age to 18 years.

Although the world has changed greatly in the past 200 years, it has proved possible for the Constitution to be viewed as a living document, one that could be interpreted by scholars and judges who have been called upon to apply its provisions to circumstances unforeseen at the time it was written.

Date: 2015-01-02; view: 937