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THE AMENDMENTS
IN SIMPLE LANGUAGE
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NOW JUST WHAT
DOES THAT MEAN?
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THE ACTUAL WORDS IN THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENT
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AMENDMENT 1
Freedom of religion
Freedom of speech
Freedom of the press
The right to assemble
The right to petition government. |
The government cannot pick a favorite religion or oppose any religion.
You cannot be arrested for saying what you think about someone, even if that person is the President of the United States.
Newspapers, books, movies, radio, television, etc. are all free to present news, ideas, and opinions. Not even the government can tell them what they can or cannot print or say.
Groups of people may organize together in large groups to march and protest something they are against or to try to get something they want. (That does not mean that they can hurt anyone while they are doing this, or interfere with anyone else's rights.)
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Amendment I
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.
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AMENDMENT 2
The right to form a militia
The right to keep and bear arms. |
Back in the 1700's, the Americans depended on militias of gun-owning citizens, not armies, to defend them. They also needed guns to get food. |
Amendment II
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.
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AMENDMENT 3
The right not to have soldiers in one's home. |
Citizens cannot be forced to provide free rooms for soldiers like they did in the 1700's when troops may have been away from their forts. The colonists also hated it when they were forced to give up rooms in their own homes for British soldiers who came here to stop the American Colonies from rebelling. |
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
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AMENDMENT 4
Protection against unreasonable search and seizure. |
The police can't arrest you unless they have a good reason to suspect that you have broken the law. They can't enter your home without your permission or without a search warrant. |
Amendment IV
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 but upon probable cause.
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AMENDMENT 5
No one can be tried for a serious crime unless indicted (accused) by a grand jury.
No one can be forced to testify against herself or himself.
No one can be tried twice for the same crime.
No one can be punished without due process of law.
People must be paid for property taken for public use. |
A grand jury is a group of 12 to 23 people who listen to the evidence about a crime. If most of the people on this jury think that there is enough of a suspicion that this person may be guilty, then that person is indicted, or accused.
You cannot be forced to make a statement under oath that shows that you are guilty. (When someone says, "I'm taking the fifth," that means the Fifth Amendment.
If you were tried for a crime and found innocent, you can never be tried again for that same crime, even if you admit that you did it!!
"Due process of law" means that fair, regular legal steps must be followed from the time someone is arrested through their trial.
The government cannot just take land or any property from you because it is going to be used for a government building, highway, etc. You have to be paid fairly for that property. |
AMENDMENT V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor 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.
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AMENDMENT 6
People have a right to a speedy trial.
People have the right to legal counsel.
People have the right to confront their accusers. |
Without the right to a speedy trial, a person could be locked up for a very long time without ever even hearing the charges against him.
Legal counsel means a lawyer. Everyone has the right to have a lawyer, even if they can't afford one. The government has to provide one to help defend poor people accused of a serious crime.
Everyone has the right to know who is accusing them of a crime. |
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
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AMENDMENT 7
People have the right to a jury trial in most civil suits. |
If a person is involved in a civil case, like an accident claim, they can choose to have a jury make the decision rather than depend on the judge's decision alone. |
Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any Court of the United States.
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AMENDMENT 8
Excessive bail (money to release a person from jail), stiff fines, and cruel and unusual punishment are forbidden. |
How much money should be set for bail depends on how serious the crime is. A judge cannot just charge a person an outrageous amount of money for bail because he doesn't like him or because he doesn't like a member of his family. Also, the punishment must fit the crime. Stealing a loaf of bread for your family to eat should not be punishable by death. |
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
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AMENDMENT 9
There are so many basic human rights that all of them could not be listed in the Constitution. |
Just because a certain right was not thought of here or mentioned in the first 10 Amendments does not mean that people do not have them. |
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people
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AMENDMENT 10
Powers not given to the federal government by the Constitution belong to the states or the people. |
If the Constitution does not specifically say that the government of our country has the power to do something, then that power is given to the people or the state they live in. The states were worried that the federal government might try to take over their powers and rights. |
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
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The Bill of Rights