American National Government Amendments 6-12

Amendments 6-12 The 6th Amendment guarantees certain rights to the accused. The Founding Fathers found it necessary to instill a fair and trustworthy justice system in the United States. It was taught that a justice system could trample on the rights of innocent citizens just as fast and as hard as a tyrannical king could. Certain legal rights had to be expressly guaranteed to anyone who was accused of a crime and put on trial in a Court of Law in America. The 6th Amendment lays out those rights and guarantees that an accused person will have a trial that is fair and speedy. During the Colonial Period, the Crown would arrest political enemies, take them to England and hold them for a long period of time without telling them what they were accused of. In order to avoid this in the future, the 6th Amendment guarantees the right to know what you have been accused of before standing trial. It also prohibits the state from prolonging a case and stretching it out in order to hold an accused person in custody for an excessive period of time. The 6th Amendment ensures me that if I committed a crime, I have specific rights surrounding a trial and a witness. If I am presented with an expert witness, I have the right to find my own expert witness that can refute the testimony of my witness. This would be a chance for me to confront the witnesses so I can see who is making accusations. The 7th Amendment guarantees a jury in certain civil cases. The wrinkle to this Amendment is that you are only guaranteed a jury in a Federal Court. Since most cases don’t make it past the state level, not many are seen by a jury. Prior to the American Revolution, England enacted a series of strict new laws that the Americans had to obey. These laws infringed on the basic rights of the Colonists including the right to assemble and the right to a fair and a speedy trial decided by a jury of the Colonial peers. The Crown was fed up with Colonial Juries because they consistently rejected English Law and decided cases against the will of the Crown and Parliament. Essentially Colonial Civil Juries became a way for the Colonists to self govern by reversing decisions in the Colonies and refusing to enact English Law. To ensure that an abusive government could never again impose its will, the right to a fair civil trial in a federal court was decided by a jury. The 7th Amendment was then included in the Bill of Rights. The 7th Amendment remains important to me if I pursue civil claims. Juries can guard me from Judicial overreach and biased proceedings. The 8th Amendment outlaws cruel and unusual punishment. It was added to the Bill of Rights to prevent congress from using cruel and unusual punishment to punish or extort political enemies. The clause openly prohibits barbaric punishments. It also protects convicted prisoners from disproportionate punishments for crimes they were convicted of committing. The 8th Amendment ensures that a punishment for a crime I committed fits the crime itself. If I receive a speeding ticket, I shouldn’t be put in jail for life. Paying the fine and possibly driving school is a fair punishment for my behavior. The 9th Amendment declares that the American people have more rights than just the enumerated rights expressly written in the Constitution of the United States. The 9th Amendment is quite important because it protects all the rights that the Founding Fathers may have forgotten or neglected to include in the Constitution. There were so many rights to protect that it was virtually impossible to think of all the rights that needed protection at any given time. As a result, the 9th Amendment serves as the guardian for all these natural rights that went unmentioned, so that the abusive government could not strip the citizens of these rights by technicality. The 9th Amendment is a security blanket for me that provides my rights not specified elsewhere and can not be violated by the government. For example, I get to choose my career and who I marry without allowing anyone to tell me what decisions I have to go against. The 10th Amendment reinforces the idea of Federalism or the sharing of powers between the states and Federal Government. It simply but distinctly reinforces the principle that the Federal Government only has the authority to enforce the laws of the Constitution and any other law making abilities should be reserved for the states. The 10th Amendment holds the Federal Government in check and truly limits the scope of power of the Federal Government that the Founding Fathers had originally designed. Without the 10th Amendment, the government would possess power therefore making my rights of the Constitution pointless. The 10th Amendment gives me the right to exert and even win governing power. The 11th Amendment is a Supreme Court decision that can fundamentally alter the Constitutional Order. In any lawsuit, no federal case can be heard when a citizen of one state sues another state. One can not sue a state, but can sue its officers and government. The Supreme Court is the final decision of what the Constitution means. Even in the face of what would seem to be an overwhelming historical support for a particular view, one can make another ruling and change how the Constitution is enforced. The 11th Amendment protects my state’s autonomy by immunizing states from suits in Federal Court. It provides this independence by risking the ability to enforce the basic federal rights I take part in. The 12th Amendment is the first major reform to insist that each elector in the electoral college cast one of their votes for the President and the other for the Vice President. Electors could not cast both of their votes for Presidential candidates. In this way, there would no longer be a President and Vice President from different Political Parties. This idea of a voting ticket was born. The 12th Amendment confirms the existing arrangements, should there be a tie or no majority for one candidate. It ensures a winning candidate and provides a solution if the House of Representatives fails to elect a President under these terms. Now that I am 18 years old and I can vote, I can pick the President and Vice President that I feel best suits our country’s needs. By voting for each of them, I can do my best to ensure that the President will be paired with his running mate after the Election takes place.