...Seeds of Our Constitution This paper is being submitted on October 12, 2013, for Shauna Froelich’s J331/CJL3297 Constitutional Law course. Seeds of Our Constitution The Magna Carta was signed almost 800 years ago. It laid the ground work for what is the U.S. constitution today, as well as many other government’s laws and regulations. Before the Magna Carta was created and signed into law the kings and queens of England ruled with absolute control. They could impose taxes that were unfair and unrealistic to meet and then prosecute and even execute anyone, for any reason, without any kind of trail. The Magna Carta changed the rights of the English people and in turn changed the world, both in the past when it was written, the current times and I believe it will continue to change the world in the future. Kings during medieval times were used to a certain type of control. Not only did they control their subjects but the church as well. Most subjects, including knights and noblemen were abused and had no legal way to combat this. Everything changed with the signing of the Magna Carta. “The Great Charter was extracted in June 1215 from King John by a group of barons, assisted by their followers ‘sword in hand.’ ”. (In Guns in American Society, 2003) King John was forced to sign the Magna Carta into rule. It gave his citizen’s rights they never had before as well as making the king follow certain rules. Our textbook states that the Magna Carta “ensured feudal rights...
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...The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution is pretty simple. This essay will compare this amendment to other rights that other countries have. The first Amendment of the United States of America is this: 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 means to me that I basically have the right to believe any religion that I want to, and Congress can’t do anything about it. It also means that I have the right to speak freely, and use any kind of words and language that I want to, without punishment. Next, it means that I have the right to assemble into a large group of people peacefully, an example would...
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...the role that the early legal codes, the common law, and precedent played in the development of courts. Finally, I will identify the roles of the court in the criminal justice system today. Court is a place where justice is administered; a judicial tribunal duly constituted for hearing and determination of cases; a session of judicial assembly. According to the U.S. Justice Department court is defined as “an agency or unit of the judicial branch of government authorized or established by statute or constitution, and consisting of one or more judicial officers, which has the authority to decide upon cases, controversies in law, and disputed matters of fact brought before it.” There are two divisions of the American court system- civil and criminal courts. Civil court is a court of law in which civil cases between private parties are tried and determined. Criminal courts has jurisdiction to try and punish offenders against criminal law. The purpose of the court is to provide a forum to resolve disputes and to enforce laws in a fair and rational manner. There are four ultimate functions of the court system. First, upholding the law; second, protecting individuals; third, resolving disputes and reinforcing social norms. However, the main function of courts in American society is to resolve disputes between people and/or corporations; determine guilt or innocence of accused criminals; and decide on the constitutionality of laws and regulations,...
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...and thus binding upon the courts unless they contravene constitutional principles), judicial interpretations of the law are critical to how a law is enforced because of their precedential effect. The courts do not have the power to pass laws. But given the British common law origins of the U.S., there are still many areas of law in which there is no controlling statute, so judge-made common law generally governs; for instance, in contract law. Constitution of the United States ("the Constitution"): The supreme law of the United States. The Constitution enumerates various powers of the federal government and describes the relationship between the federal government and the states. No governmental body, state or federal, has the power to pass, interpret, or enforce a law in contravention of the Constitution, which can be amended only through a rigorous and long amendment process. Unlike many parliamentary systems, the U.S. Constitution is supreme to the legislature (i.e. legislative/parliamentary supremacy is not a concept in U.S. government). That means Congress or the states cannot pass a bill that is exempted from being constitutional. Note that each state also has its own constitution, but even that is subject to the...
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...Assess the US Constitution The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the USA. The Constitution, originally comprising seven articles, delineates the national frame of government. Its first three articles entrench the doctrine of the separation of powers, whereby the federal government is divided into three branches: the legislative, consisting of the bicameral Congress; the executive, consisting of the President; and the judiciary, consisting of the Supreme Court and other federal courts. Since the Constitution came into force in 1789, it has been amended twenty-seven times. In general, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the Bill of Rights, offer specific protections of individual liberty and justice and place restrictions on the powers of government. The majority of the seventeen later amendments expand individual civil rights. At seven articles and twenty-seven amendments, it is the shortest written constitution in force. The Constitution of the United States was the first constitution of its kind, and has influenced the constitutions of other nations. However, it has many flaws, firstly the amendment process is too difficult, thereby making it near impossible to change it. Secondly the power of judicial review gives the unelected unaccountable Supreme Court too much power. Thirdly the constitution leads to gridlock and finally some parts make no sense in modern society and don’t work as the Framers intended. Nevertheless there are positives; primarily...
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...football games. The cheerleaders created banners, like many high school cheerleaders do, but the message painted on their signs were statements such as, “And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” The messages on the banners are religious speech and a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Yes, the United States Constitution does allow for the freedom of religion, but it also separates Church and State. The cheerleaders painted these signs for a school organized football game; the educational institution is a public one and must abide by the United States Constitution and the separation of church and state. If the school were private, religious connotations would be permissible, but being that the school is public, the signs created by the cheerleaders would be considered government sanctioned. The Establishment Clause in the First Amendment states, “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Throughout our nations history there has been much debate of what the framers of the Constitution meant by establishment. For instance some judges, such as Former Supreme Court Justice, William Rehnquist argued that the framers of the Constitution by using the word establishment meant there should be no national church and no preference of one religious sect over another. Others oppose that view and feel the government should have no involvement in religion whatsoever. They believe the word establishment as...
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...The other option to avoid purchasing the hitch, which is only “good” in the state of Confusion, is to drive around the state. The statute causes trucking companies increased costs and violates the commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. The commerce clause gives the federal government the exclusive right to regulate interstate commerce (Cheeseman, 2010). Since two states are involved, if the legal question was that of state law, such as occurs in a car accident, then Tanya would file her suit in state court in either the state of Confusion or Denial. If the suit involved state law and damages or compensatory damages exceeded $75,000 than a federal court could hear the case applying state law. This is known as diversity of citizenship. The criteria for diversity jurisdiction is that the citizens, including corporations, are from different states; a citizen of a state and a citizen of a foreign country; and, a citizen of a state and a foreign country where the foreign country is the plaintiff. In this case, the legal question is federal, so Tanya would file in U.S. Federal Court. The case involves a state statute that violates the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause. Cases where the question of law is federal are those “arising under the U.S. Constitution, Treaties, and federal statues and regulations”...
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...Court System Paper Teresa Wilson CJA 204 Dec. 5, 2011 Mrs. Dorey Court System Paper The court systems have been around for hundreds of years. Our court system has come a very long way since then. I mean back then our first court was actually back in the 1789 which was small and hierarchy compared to the was courts are now days. In the 1789 the first bill was put into action. From this we got what is called “the original American court system for resolving criminal and civil dispute.”( Schmalleger, 2009. Our state courts have developed several models. They have followed the Federal Judiciary Act of 1789, which later became the reorganization Act of 1801, which has made more models for the state courts. They follow the federal model development three-tiered structure. They are 1.) Trial courts of limited jurisdiction, 2.) Trial courts of general jurisdiction and 3.) Appellate courts. It was soon found that the three-tiered models were not that great. It did provide local and specialized courts proliferated. Traffic courts, magistrates courts, and probate courts, just to name a few, that functioned at a lower levels. The (ABA) better known as the American Bar Association and even the American Judicator Society. Helped the simplification of state court structures, they also help the state form the models. Among the state courts there are different levels of courts, they are the state trial courts that criminal cases begin. In the trail courts bail...
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...James Madison was the fourth President of the United States and one of America’s most famous and important political philosophers. He was mostly recognized for writing much of the United States Constitution & writing the entire United States Bill of Rights, where he was given his nickname and is now known as the Father of the Constitution. He was born on March 16, 1751 in Port Conway, Virginia to a large family of wealthy farmers. As a kid, he was very weak and ill, but he always showed great effort in his studies, even to the point of risking his health. He studied day and night and never got any sleep. At the age of 25, Madison entered into politics as a delegate in Virginia’s state legislature. It wasn’t until 1776, when America declared their independence against Britain, starting the American Revolution. During the war, thirteen states organized a central government called the Articles of Confederation. The Articles of Confederation was a document that formed a weak national congress and reserved the bulk of power for the states. When the war ended in 1783, Jame Madison and many...
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...Teacher’s Guide Anatomy of the Constitution Time Needed: One class period Materials Needed: Student worksheets Copy Instructions: Preamble Activity Half Sheet (class set, divided) Student packet (three pages double-sided; class set) Preamble (Transparency) Whose Job Is It? (Transparency) Foldable Activity (class set) Learning Objectives. Students will be able to: explain the structure, function, and powers of the U.S. government as established in the Constitution identify the roles of the three branches of government describe the constitutional amendment process interpret the intentions of the Preamble of the Constitution. STEP BY STEP 1) ANTICIPATE by asking students where the government gets it’s instructions. How does Congress, the President, or federal judges know what to do? Give students a moment to think, then randomly call on students to share their thoughts. 2) DISTRIBUTE one reading packet to each student. 3) READ through the first two paragraphs on page one with the class. 4) DISPLAY the transparency, Breaking it Down: The Preamble and explain the statement, phrase by phrase. The students should add the annotations to their reading. Also note that people living in the 1700s had different rules about capitalization than we do today. 5) READ the rest of page one, continuing through page three with the class. Explain that you will go into greater detail on the amendment process on the next page. 6) READ the information about the amendment process...
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...between Crown and Parliament in the 17th century, when parliament objected to lawless detentions from which no judicial remedies was forth coming. Infamous deprivations of liberty led to extensive criticism and protest, as English citizens were often held for significant periods without trial and without recourse. Ultimately, parliament prevailed with the enactment of the Habeas Corpus act of 1979, which specifically authorized habeas corpus required habeas relief under certain circumstances with substantial penalties for non compliance (Encyclopedia.com) The English protection of the writ of habeas corpus was quite influential during the framing period of the United States, with both states and federal government adopting statutory and constitution guarantees of the writ. The federal constitutional guarantee prohibiting the suspension of habeas corpus is one of only two federal constitutional provisions that explicitly refers to and protects a particular remedy The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion...
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...could send this information to your American Christian friends. We promise not to send out too many things that only speak to the American church. According to the IRS Publication entitled Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations, there are at least four different ways to organize a legal ministry or church. All four forms of organization are legal and all four can receive completely tax-deductible gifts from donors and offer completely legal receipts for those gifts. The donors to all four kinds of organization are able to take the donations off their taxes without fear if it was a genuine donation and no services or items of value were received in exchange. Here is a quote from page 2 from the IRS Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations: Churches and religious organizations may be legally organized in a variety of ways under state law, such as unincorporated associations, nonprofit corporations, corporations sole, and charitable trusts. These are the four kinds of organizations that the IRS describes as being appropriate for a Christian group that is receiving donations: 1. The unincorporated association 2. The non-profit corporation 3. The corporation sole 4. The charitable trust It is our purpose in this article to give a little information about the strengths and weaknesses of each of these forms of legitimate organization. In this article, we are not attempting to give every detail of how these organizations function but simply to describe them briefly...
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... State and Federal Court System There are two kinds of courts within the United States; those courts are state and federal courts. The establishments of state and federal courts are local and state courts are established by the state. Federal courts are established by the U. S. Constitution. This established court decides arguments that involve the constitutional laws. State courts have a broaden jurisdiction, those cases are most likely to involve robberies, traffic violations and family disputes and those cases are normally held in state court. The Constitution of the United States (U.S.) has established a system in which the federal government will have limited power and all remaining power will be the decision states. This is proof of powers being shared that defines an interaction among the federal and state courts (Fine). The U.S. judicial system composed multiple autonomous courts, an integrated system that is worked into various geographic units and levels of hierarchy. With that on mind every state will have a court system with systems of local courts that will abide within the state. According to (Fine) both federal and state court structures will have the U.S. Supreme Court as the final arbiter of federal law, as the highest court of every state is called the Supreme Court; and the Supreme Court will have the power to interpret the matters of the law of that state. The criminal laws of the U.S. are a sound productivity of constitutional authority and...
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...James Thomas, Senator for the State of Oklahoma To the Congress of the United States of America: When our Constitution was first drafted the Founding Fathers argued long and hard about the inclusion of a Bill of Rights .The key reason the Founders finally united and agreed to pass a Bill of Rights, even though the Federalists had initially argued that a piece of paper could not act to protect individual freedoms, was because they felt there had to be a way to “oblige the government to control itself,” (Postell). There are many searches of colonists’ private homes and their inability to protect themselves from such intrusions by the British Crown led the Founders to pass the Fourth Amendment (Flex Your Rights Foundation). At its core, the Fourth Amendment protects the right of the people to be free from an absolute government intrusion and from a government that has run wild with its own power. The Fourth Amendment says (Findlaw): The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. People have a right to feel safe in their houses and property cannot be lost to government action simply because the government has the power. To protect people from government intrusion and its...
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...Analysis of the Fifth Amendment Katrina Krolak, Katia Denis and Dan Mullen The University of Phoenix U.S. Constitution HIS 301 Georgia Mc Millen March 17, 2008 Introduction The Fifth Amendment provides for certain personal protections including the right to avoid self-incrimination and the potential for criminal convictions based on double jeopardy. The analysis of the Fifth Amendment in this research will review the background of the amendment, and various interpretations throughout history. The impact of the Fifth Amendment on American society, and the potential for changes in the future will also be researched. The classroom text of the course U.S. constitution and the Internet will be used as sources of reference. The Fifth Amendment “No person 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.”(Lectric Law Library [LLL], N.D., page 1). The Fifth Amendment is one of 10 amendments included in the Bill of Rights that specifically deal with personal liberties from unjust searches to free speech. (Head, 2008, page 1). The bill of rights was ratified on December 15, 1791 (Karnis Landy & Milkis, 2004, page 16). The ten amendments in the bill of rights were intended to limit the control of the new government on personal freedoms. The Fifth Amendment specifically protects the citizen from self-incrimination...
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