The Supreme Court is crucial to our judicial system, in fact, it has been responsible for deciding the most difficult cases in U.S. history. Ultimately, these cases have been controversial, and as a result, critics have questioned the plausibility of the court’s decisions. There are also those who praise the court’s decisions and believe it has been a move in the right direction for society. Despite the controversy over the ideals of freedom and equality there is one commonality between the differing views, in that the constitution is meant to be a guiding source for legislation. How the constitution is interpreted however, can be quite a different story. Take the Fourteenth Amendment, for example, over the years, it has been interpreted several different ways depending on the Justice and the time in history that the decision was made. The Fourteenth Amendment Clauses, due process clause and equal protection clause, as well as the bill of rights have played an important role in our history’s biggest cases and have changed how we perceive the definition of freedom. For example the Fourteenth Amendment played a pivotal role in …show more content…
Most people know about these cases, but don’t realize how or why these decisions were made. Ultimately, my goal is to demonstrate that it is impossible to articulate an opinion one way or another without knowing why the decision was made. Here is a thought to ponder, if it were not for cases like Griswold or Roe that helped to establish a “right to privacy,” where would we be today? How much control would the state governments have in controlling our personal
Abraham Lincoln became the United States ' 16th President in 1861, delivering the Emancipation Proclamation that declared forever free those slaves within the Confederacy in 1863. If there is a part of the United States History that best characterizes it, is the interminable fight for the Civil Rights. This he stated most movingly in dedicating the military cemetery at Gettysburg: "that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain--that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom--and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. "The Declaration of Independence states “All men are created equal”.
Griswold v. Connecticut was a court case that set the precedent for the right to privacy in 1965. It was ruled in a 7-2 vote that the Constitution does not mention the right to privacy, yet a few Amendments put together conclude that there is a right to privacy in marital relations. This case was important in selective interpretation, giving the right to privacy in many instances (Oyez,
The 4th amendment provides citizens protections from unreasonable searches and seizures from law enforcement. Search and seizure cases are governed by the 4th amendment and case law. The United States Supreme Court has crafted exceptions to the 4th amendment where law enforcement would ordinarily need to get a warrant to conduct a search. One of the exceptions to the warrant requirement falls under vehicle stops. Law enforcement can search a vehicle incident to an individual’s arrest if the individual unsecured by the police and is in reaching distance of the passenger compartment. Disjunctive to the first exception a warrantless search can be conducted if there is reasonable belief
Throughout time there have been many amendments to the United States Constitution. Some have had little to no effect on the population. One amendment that this writer will take a look at is the Fourteenth Amendment. The wording of the amendment has been debated here recently but bottom line it abolished slavery. This amendment also made an attempt to equalize everyone that is born here in America or naturalized. The ripple effect of this change to the constitution is still being felt today. It is hard to imagine living in a world where the African American community was not considered equal to the white man. A ground breaking distinction in the language written out in the document was that of it applying on the federal level as well as the state jurisdiction. This is especially important as we see the civil union marriages have conflict
which occurs against the discrimination of the private individuals, this is based on the first section which applies to the actions of the general violates even if not always do occurs for the state agents.
The Constitution of the United States of America protects people’s rights because it limits the power of government against its people. Those rights guaranteed in the Constitution are better known as the Bill of Rights. Within these rights, the Fourth Amendment protects “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable search and seizures […]” (Knetzger & Muraski, 2008). According to the Fourth Amendment, a search warrant must be issued before a search and seizure takes place. However, consent for lawful search is one of the most common exceptions to the search warrant requirement.
There are two major ways that the Constitution is interpreted. One of which is called the “Strict Constitution” of national law, an example of this would be the “Dred Scott decision. The other way is the federalist position, where the Constitution grants broad power to the federal government. Two great examples of this type of interpretation were Chief Justices John Marshall and Earl Warren.
Wade case is the concept of personal privacy. The Court found “that a right to personal privacy does exist under the Constitution.” The privacy right is deemed fundamental and one that is “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.” Thus, the Court located privacy within the personal liberty protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. One case that involved the privacy argument was the contraception case of Griswold v. Connecticut. In this case, the law banned the use of contraceptives by married couples. In overturning the statute, the Court declared that the marriage relationship, including the right to use contraception is protected by a zone of privacy and that the Connecticut statute was an unconstitutional invasion of that privacy. In this case, the decision had been the right of individuals and families to control the decisions that majorly affect their lives. This analysis can also be applied to Roe, as “this right of privacy…is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her
The extents of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution has been long discussed since its adoption in mid-late 1800s. Deciding cases like Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade has been possible due to mentioned amendment. These past cases not only show the progression of American society, but also highlights the degree of versatility that is contained within the amendment. Now, in 2015, the concerns are not of racial segregation or abortion, the extent of the amendment was brought to a new field: same-sex marriage. In Obergefell v Hodges, we can see the epitome of the Equal Protection Clause.
The Fourteenth Amendment was adopted in 1868 as one of the longest amendments to the Constitution with five parts in total. The most significant part is section one. In the very first sentence of section one, ? All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, as citizens of the United States and of the state where in they reside? citizenship was universalized. The Amendment was designed to prohibit state governments from curtailing the rights of former slaves after the Civil War, however it has been used to grant all of the personal liberties and rights conveyed in the Bill of Rights.
In the American constitution the fourth amendment reads as follows; 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. The fourth amendment protects personal privacy and every citizen’s right to be free from unreasonable government intrusion into their homes, businesses, and personal lives. However, when the fourth amendment was written by America’s founders, the world was a very different place with limited technology. The amendment does not specifically cover telephones or computers leaving the issue up to the courts. There have been recent articles about warrantless wiretapping in the name of national security against terrorism.
The United State of America, established by the Founding Father who lead the American Revolution, accomplished many hardship in order to construct what America is today. As history established America’s future, the suffering the United State encountered through history illustrate America’s ability to identify mistakes and make changes to prevent the predictable. The 2nd Amendment was written by the Founding Father who had their rights to bear arms revoked when they believe rising up to their government was appropriate. The Twentieth Century, American’s are divided on the 2nd Amendment rights, “The right to bear arms.” To understand why the Founding Father written this Amendment, investigating the histories and current measures may help the American people gain a better understanding of gun’s rights in today’s America.
In 1791 the Anti-Federalists insisted that a Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution to protect the individual rights of American citizens and to ensure a limited government. In 1868 the 14th Amendment was added which required the states to guarantee equal protection and due process of laws to all citizens. The Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment have been effective in protecting the rights of all citizens due to the 1st Amendment, the 14th Amendment, and the principle of due process.
Tenth Amendment Our bill of rights all began when James Madison, the primary author of the constitution, proposed 20 amendments to the bill of rights and not the ten we know of today. Madison sent these twenty proposed rights through the House and the Senate and was left with twelve bills of rights. Madison himself took some of it out. These amendments were then sent to the states to be ratified. Virginia was the tenth state out of the fourteenth states to approve 10 out of 12 amendments.
The Constitution or “the supreme law of the land”, as stated in article six in the constitution is very complex. It is complex not only in its actual text full of ambiguities and vagueness, but it becomes more complex when used in practice and interpreted. Constitutional interpretation is significant because it is what decides what the constitution actually means. Constitutional interpretation is a guide judges use to find the legal meaning of the constitution. The interpretation of the constitution and amendments can make a big impact on outcomes. In our government and Judiciary, we see commonly see originalism being used to interpret the constitution and amendments, but there