Of the original 10 amendments ratified on 12/15/1791, which ones individually have directly impacted your life or the life of someone about whom you care. Collectively they define our way of life and we have to remember that every day we are graced by their existance.
Amendment I Amendment 1 - Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791. 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.
Amendment 2 Amendment 2 - Right to Bear Arms. Ratified 12/15/1791. 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.
Amendment 3 Amendment 3 - Quartering of Soldiers. Ratified 12/15/1791 . 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.
Amendment 4 Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791. 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.
Amendment 5 Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791. 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 offense 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.
Amendment 6 Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses. Ratified 12/15/1791. 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, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment 7 Amendment 7 - Trial by Jury in Civil Cases. Ratified 12/15/1791. 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 re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment 8 Amendment 8 - Cruel and Unusual Punishment. Ratified 12/15/1791. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment 9 Amendment 9 - Construction of Constitution. Ratified 12/15/1791. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment 10 Amendment 10 - Powers of the States and People. Ratified 12/15/1791. Note 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.
Re: Which Amendment has affected your personally I would say the tenth. Our government has over-stepped its boundaries and taken it upon themselves to redefine them so often that almost every other aspect of our lives as Americans has been eroded. Political correctness and hate-crime laws impose restrictions on freedom of speech and the right to assembly and the tv show "Cops" made illegal search and seizure entertainment. The budgetary constraints created by this massive .gov has pretty much done away with peer-trials in favor of pleas and one in a hundred people in our nation reside in prison.
Re: Which Amendment has affected your personally I agree Sea. Every citizen of the US is directly affected by the 10th. If we aren't careful, the 10th will become obsoleted. I haven't read of too many ACLU cases regarding that one! Less glamorous I guess.
Re: Which Amendment has affected your personally Every single amendment has been usurped and in many cases, entirely ignored or perverted. I agree that the 10th has been especially mismanaged and pretty much forgotten by our DOTgov Corporate Enterprise.
Re: Which Amendment has affected your personally Direct effect? The first when I was small, and still The second as I matured, and while living in certain areas, was restrained, and still by the exercise of it. The tenth didn't have too much effect. Until relatively recently (Eisenhower and since) it wasn't a problem, but it is becoming more and more troublesome to hold what we are supposed to have.
1. I speak what is on my mind and do not much care who hears it or what they think about it. I will continue to do so until someone shuts my mouth with a bullet. 2. I keep and bear arms so if per chance someone does try to shut my mouth, I will probably shoot back. 3. I fight until death to protect my home from unlawful entry by military, police, secret police, department of Homeland Anything, et al 4. I will not even answer "Do you know how fast you were going?" from a police officer; You do not have my permission to search my person, vehicle, home, luggage, and if you choose to ignore that, refer to amendments 1,2,and 3. 5. I suppose the Patriot Act did away with this one but I think we should take it back. 6. This one was a casualty of the fall of the tenth and the me/right now generation. I'll ask for a jury trial for a parking ticket. 7. Neighbors should determine the out-course of civil disputes. 8. I have my issues with defining cruel and nothing is ordinary when it comes to punishment 9. We, the people, have failed sorely in defining what these rights are, were, and should be. 10. I have spent most of my life fighting big .gov with my voice, my pen, my vote.
