Explain the origin of the Bill of Rights and discuss how these rights were applied to the states The Bill of Rights is the first ten amendments as ratified by the states The Bill of Rights is brief just like the rest of the constitution and the framers set broad guidelines leaving it up to the courts to interpret the constitutional mandates and apply them to a specific situation Therefore judicial interpretations shape the true nature of the civil liberties and the rights we posses so when judicial interpretations change over time so do our rights To understand what freedoms we actually have we must examine how the courts have resolved some of those conflicts Originally the Bill of Rights limited only the powers of the national government and most of the states already had their own Bill of Rights This caused a concern that the state governments had the potential to curb civil liberties The Bill of Rights begin with the words Congress shall make no law It says nothing about the states Each states judicial system interpreted the rights differently therefore citizens in different states had different sets of civil rights It was not until after the Fourteenth amendment was ratified in 1868 that civil liberties guaranteed by the national Constitution began to apply to the states No state shall deprive any person of life liberty or property without due process of law Only gradually and never completely did the supreme court accept the incorporation theory the view that most of the protections of the Bill of Rights apply to the state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment s due process clause 2 Explain how the Bill of Rights protects freedom of religion while maintaining a separation between the state and religion The establishment clause prohibits the establishment of a church that is officially supported by the national government The establishment clause is applied to questions of state and local government aid to religious organizations and schools the legality of allowing or requiring school prayers and the teaching of evolution versus intelligent design The first amendment states that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment in religion which thus sets up a wall separating church and state Since there is no established religion of the United States which means that as people we have the right to practice and believe whatever we choose to believe The establishment clause s mandate that government can neither promote or discriminate against religious beliefs which raises particularly complex questions at times The Bill of rights also has the free exercise clause which is the provision of the first amendment guaranteeing the free exercise religion 3 Define freedom of expression explain where it is found in the Bill of Rights and show why it is important in a democracy Freedom of Expression Americans have the right to free speech and a free press without government involvement Found in the First Amendment Freedom of speech press and religion Allows the people to speak against the government It is a check on the government Prior Restraint Restraining an action before it takes place censorship Unless the information threatens National Security their can be no censorship Protection of Symbolic Speech Nonverbal expressions are protected by the courts clothing gestures movements Protection of Commercial Speech Advertising only totally false advertising will be restricted Permitted Restrictions on Expression More lately due to issues like 911 attacks things thought to be dangerous to the nation Speech that presents a clear and present danger which causes chaos in public order Unprotected Speech Obscenity Slander protecting children no pornography Slander is hurting a person s good reputation Denies people from making false statement 4 Discuss the concept of privacy rights and give examples of how individual privacy is protected under the Constitution Individual privacy is protected in the constitution under the first third fourth fifth and eighth amendments The first amendment prevents the government from making any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or press or right of people peaceable to assemble and to petition the government for redress of grievances Basically the first amendment protects privacy of individuals by allowing them to practice whichever religion they chose if they do chose to practice religion without any reprimand or restrictions Although the third amendment is the least controversial it protects individual privacy by preventing the quartering of soldiers in individuals homes during wartime The fourth amendment which prevents unreasonable search and seizures A warrant is required with specific description of place to be searched and or things or people to be searched or seized Therefore this amendment allows individuals to be secure in the privacy of their own homes The fourth amendment is enforced by the exclusionary rule which basically states that evidence found in violation of the fourth amendment is excluded from trial The fifth amendment involves due process which protects the rights of the accused so that individuals have the right to protect themselves against the government The fifth amendment prevents self incrimination ensures a right to a speedy and public trial with a jury and witnesses states that one can only be tried for the same crime once and states that no person shall be held to a capitol crime unless they are indicted by a grand jury The eighth amendment protects individual rights by restraining the government from imposing excessive bail fines or cruel and unusual punishments 5 Identify the rights of the accused and discuss the role of the Supreme Court in expanding those rights Allowing criminals to have rights is really in place so to avoid convicting innocent people and because all suspects have a right to due process and fair treatment The 4th 5th 6th and 8th amendments deal with rights of criminals Fourth Protection from unreasonable search and seizure Fifth Due process double jeopardy self incrimination private property Sixth Trial by jury and other rights of the accused Eighth Prohibition of excessive bail as well as cruel and unusual punishment If you can t afford an attorney the government will provide you with one Prior to questioning must be read your Miranda rights Right to remain silent That anything said can be used against you