...subjective prevalence, the evaluative criteria Liberty/Freedom is the most important. Liberty/Freedom is the extent to which public policy extends or restricts privacy and individual rights and choices. The SAFE Act expanded the categories of persons prohibited from possessing a firearm on grounds of mental illness and possession of ammunition. This action has gone beyond federal law and sets a precedence for not only second amendment issues but 1st amendments contradictions as well. While federal law disqualifies persons, who have been civilly committed to a mental institution or adjudicated as “mental defective,” the SAFE Act also disarms, for five years, persons who have been reported by a medical professional as “likely...
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...Amendment I of the Constitution of the United States of America sets the stage for what the government can’t (or at least shouldn’t be able to) deny a person. Right off the bat, the Constitution gives people the right to the freedom of speech, press, religion, and to complaint to or ask for help from the government without punishment. However, the first amendment of the Constitution sometimes get controversial. Some people want certain use of language to be illegal while other want to protect their right. What some people don’t realize, is that the first amendment gives you the most fundamental freedoms. The first amendment gives you the most fundamental freedoms because it allows you to speak your mind, belief what you want, and inform people about what you want without fear of punishment....
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...“The First Amendment freedom of religion is as important today as when the Bill of Rights was written” (First Amendment Quotes). The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America is one that most Americans know the meaning of. The actual wording of this important amendment is, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (Bill of Rights). This amendment states that a national religion will not be founded and it also gives Americans the ability to practice religion as they would like, without any...
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...The most important amendment of the Bill of Rights is the First Amendment. There are five freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment: the freedom of speech, religion, press, assembly and petition. Another way to express this amendment is that it gives us our most basic freedoms as American citizens. The reason this amendment is important is because it protects an American’s citizen’s basic rights. There have been many challenges to this amendment over the years. Two of the primary challenges to the amendment are Bethel School District v. Fraser and Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District. In the case, Bethel School District v. Fraser, Fraser, a public school student, was suspended for using sexual references in a speech endorsing one of his friends for a student government position. Bethel School District decided to suspend Fraser which led to Fraser suing Bethel School District for violating his freedom of speech....
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...up the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The first ten amendments give people the essential freedoms and civil liberties that would keep the United States categorized as a democracy. These ten amendments were ratified on December 15, 1791 and as such were added to the Constitution. One thing most people might not know is that the Bill of Rights had been proposed by George Mason during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. The idea had been rejected due to the states already having documents that stated rights to their citizens and felt that a federal bill would be quite unnecessary. Another highly influential reason they did not form a Bill of Rights then was because all the...
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...The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments and its purpose is to safeguard individual liberties and limit the power of the government, ensuring citizens' freedoms such as freedom of speech, religion, and the right to a fair trial. The government can take away life, liberty, or property under specific circumstances, but it must follow the due process of law as outlined in the Fifth Amendment. This means that individuals are entitled to fair procedures, including notice and an opportunity to be heard, before the government can deprive them of these rights. The two amendments I believe are the most important are the first and fourth amendments. The First Amendment is crucial because it protects fundamental freedoms, including freedom...
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...there wasn’t a bill of rights drafted in the original copy. Without a bill of rights, the people would never be aware of their unalienable rights and the power and roles of their government. Patrick Henry said, “The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them,” at the Convention of Virginia in June 1788. He was trying to convey a message that showed the importance of citizens having their rights listed, so the government would never be able...
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...people for two reasons. The first was to pacify Anti-Federalist’s fears of an overwhelmingly powerful central government provided by the Constitution. The second reason was to protect the freedoms secured by the Americans after their war for independence. Without a Bill of Rights, the people feared that the government would have the power to oppress and to control everything. In my opinion, the First Amendment is the most important. By taking each letter in the word first, I will explain why the First Amendment is important to me. F-freedom; The First Amendment states, Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. This is quite possibly the amendment that makes the United States the democratic and orderly country that it is. The choice of freedom to say and listen to whatever one wants is the ultimate independence. I-immeasurable; the importance of the First Amendment can't be measured. The freedoms and liberties it gives me are too great to mark with a value. This part of the Bill of Rights allows me to have a voice in the country I live in. R-requisite; The First Amendment is requisite, or absolutely needed. It sets boundaries that give the people rights in which the government cannot always interfere. Without this amendment, our country would lose order...
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...researching them, I must add that I have a better understanding of each of them and I believe that they are all important in their own ways. The Amendment that is most important to me would have to be the first Amendment. I believe that it is the foundation of all our rights as Americans. The first Amendment established the four great liberties; freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly. All of these rights together form the essential core of all our rights as citizens. By me working hard to become a teacher, I also believe this amendment is related to my field and is important to me. Even though all of the Amendments are of great importance, the Amendment that is least important to me would be the seventh Amendment. It codifies the right to a jury trial in certain civil cases, and asserts that cases may not be re-examined by another court. If I were suddenly arrested and tried for a crime, the Amendment that might be most important to me would be the sixth Amendment. It is designed to protect individuals accused of crimes. It includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy and public trial. After reading about the sixth Amendment, I definitely understand the need for it. Each Amendment has its own importance but in my opinion the first Amendment is important to each of us on a daily...
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...Can the amendments from the Bill of Rights be valued of importance? The bill of rights consists of ten amendments each guaranteeing an individual right of every United States citizen. In this essay I have picked two amendments, which I will explain, their importance and negative consequences. Continuing on the relevance of the second amendment in today’s American climate and the arguments that those are for/against about gun control. The first amendment of the Bill of Rights sets the tone for the rest of the document showing the limitations the government has towards any United States citizen. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,...
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...In 1975 the District of Columbia pass the Firearms Control Regulations Act which prohibited guns at home from being functional firearms and also made it nearly impossible to own a gun. This created conflict with the second amendment in the constitution, which states “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It can be seen this law D.C. passed violates the constitution due to citizens not being able to have a functional firearm at their home. This caused the case of District of Columbia v. Heller to arise. Dick Anthony Heller, a police officer in D.C., applied for a one-year license that he would use to own a handgun at his place of residence. He was then denied the license. Heller sued D.C. on the account of not upholding his second amendment right. The district court’s response was it was not valid and it was dismissed. It was appealed by Heller and The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia decided that making people have...
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...Teaching a lesson in a 12th grade Social Sciences class about the meaning and importance of the rights guaranteed under the bill of Rights. This is in line with the History-Social Science Content Standards of California Public Schools objective 12.2.1 “Discuss the meaning and importance of each of the rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights and how each is secured (e.g., freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, petition, privacy.) [ (California Dept of Education, 2000) ]” The first resource I am using is a hand out from the Southern Poverty Law Center website Tolerence.org that will be used as a pre and post lesson assessment tool. This simple hand out asks only two questions which students will have to provide a short written answer for. This first is “What rights are protected under the First Amendment? The second is “What would be a violation of someone’s First Amendment Rights?” While these may seem to be simple questions, there will likely be a drastic difference in response from the pre-assessment to the post assessment, which is the main reason I selected this resource. As a pre-assessment, it will allow the teacher to understand the base of knowledge the students already have about the First Amendment, and as a post-assessment, the teacher will be able to see how much learning has occurred during the lesson. This would be a primer I would use in my lesson about the First Amendment as well as a post lesson assessment tool. [ (Tolerence.org Staff, 2014) ] The...
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...and 19th amendments have all greatly affected and changed the lives of many Americans for different reasons. Each of these amendments has to due with giving people equal rights no matter what race or gender that they may be. These are all tremendous milestones in American history. First, the 13th amendment was passed in 1865 to end slavery. African Americans were no longer allowed to be considered as property. Instead, they became viewed as real people, and slavery was banned unless it was used as a form of punishment This amendment was passed because before and during the civil war, most northern citizens strongly stood against slavery. They thought it was unjust to make people work for long hours and to be treated unfairly. This amendment clearly and effectively signified that no American citizen could own slaves....
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...POS – 301 November 2, 2014 Professor Biddle My Rights and Freedoms As a citizen of the United States I do not appreciate the freedom and rights given. I have not thought about how fortunate I am to live in a country that allows freedom of speech, freedom of expression, or my favorite, freedom of religion. Throughout this assignment I will explain which freedom in the first amendment relates to me the most, discuss why the Bill of rights are important, and discuss the process for amending the Constitution. The freedom in the first amendment of the constitution relates to me the most would be Freedom of Religion. Freedom of Religion states that as an American I can practice ANY religion I want or I do not have to practice any religion at all. The reason freedom of religion relates to me most is because I am a strong believer in the idiom “to each his own”. I do not care if my friend is Jewish, Hindu, Christian, the list goes on. I think expressing one’s self is extremely important and religion is one of those ways. To me, what a person’s religion is does not determine if they are a good person or not. There are people that consider themselves “Jewish” or “Christian” but yet they are extremely mean and do not care about others. Freedom of religion allows for every single citizen of the United States to have a sense of freedom. We do not feel obligated to have a certain type of religion, which is better! The reason I say this is because if we are not forced to follow...
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...Our government has compromised on the liberties in the name of general welfare typically on amendments one and ten, that the founders believed in the sanctity importance of the individual liberties guaranteed in the Bill of Rights. One issue that was a violation of rights on the citizens was the Kim Davis situation. Davis was an elected county clerk in Kentucky where after the legalization of gay marriage, she refused to sign and give marriage certificates to the gay couples because it went against her religious beliefs. She was arrested for violating the freedom that every individual had for choosing to marry whoever they want after gay marriage become legalized. The government violated her rights to practice her own religion by arresting...
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