Outline of the Constitution

Outline of the Constitution I. II. The Preamble A. The Constitution was established “in [o]rder to form a more perfect Union”, laying down the law of the United States of America and defining justice, domestic tranquility, general welfare, and the privilege of liberty. Article I – Legislative Branch A. Section 1 – Congress 1. The U.S. Congress has the power to make laws. B. Section 2 – House of Representatives Representatives are chosen by the citizens of the states and are 1. instated for a term of two years. 2. In order to be eligible to be elected as a representative, one must be twenty-five years of age or older, a citizen of the United States for seven years, and, should this person be elected, the representative may not live in the state he is representing. 3. There are sixty-two total representatives in the colonies, but there is a distribution of representation dealt out with respect to each state’s population. “Rhode Island shall be entitled to chuse [sic] three, representatives Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.” 4. If there is a vacancy in any state’s representation, it will be filled via a Writ of Election from the Executive Authority. 5. The House of Representatives selects its own speaker and officers; the power of impeachment belongs to the House. C. Section 3 – Senate The Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the 1. United States. 2. Senators serve for a term of six years. 3. Senators must be thirty years of age or older, be a U.S. citizen for nine years, and may not reside in the state for which they are chosen. 4. Senators serve during their period in the class system. The Senate is divided into three classes with six-year terms terminating two years apart from one another. The terms of the second class end two years after the terms of the first class and two years before the terms of the third class. The Vice President of the United States serves as President of the Senate D. E. F. G. (though this person has no vote in the Senate unless senators are equally divided on a matter in voting). 5. The Chief Justice will preside when the President of the United States is up for impeachment. A two-thirds majority in voting is required to impeach an official. During impeachment trials, senators are on Oath or Affirmation. 6. Convicted officials will only be removed from office and are subject to disqualification from the enjoyment of any U.S. office. However, the convict is also liable to indictment, trial, judgment, and punishment by law. Section 4 – Elections and Meetings Senators and representatives are elected at the times prescribed in 1. each state by the Congress. Congress shall meet once every year at the least on the first 2. Monday in December, saving the exception of the appointment of a different day by law. Section 5 – Rules of Procedure 1. Both Houses judge the legitimacy of their own members. 2. The majority of persons in each House equates to a quorum. 3. Each House determines its own code of conduct, including penalties, limitations, and expulsion of members with a two-thirds majority. 4. Records are kept via Journals used by both Houses. Congress, or a single house of it, may recess for more than three 5. days only with a bicameral agreement. Section 6 – Privileges and Restrictions 1. Senators and representatives can receive a compensation for their salaries and are immune to arrest during attendance at their House meeting. “For any speech or debate in either House, they will not be questioned in any other place.” 2. However, in cases of treason, felony, breach of power, etc., the imperviousness to arrest will be revoked. In addition, no member of Congress can also hold a civil office of the United States, and vice versa. Section 7 – How Bills Become Laws The House of Representatives is the origin of all money bill 1. proposals. If the President vetoes a bill, the bill can be voted upon by 2. Congress; should two-thirds of Congress vote in favor of the bill, the veto shall be overridden. 3. If the President does not sign a bill within a ten-day period, it automatically becomes law, unless the Congress prevented him from returning the bill by adjournment. 4. The President’s consent is required for every order, resolution, or vote that requires an agreement by the House of Representatives and the Senate. H. Section 8 – Powers of Congress 1. Congress has the right to “lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common [Defense] and general Welfare of the United States.” 2. Congress may borrow money on the U.S. credit. Congress may regulate commerce with international powers, 3. among the states, and with the Native Americans. 4. Congress may establish a Rule of Naturalization and laws concerning bankruptcies in America. 5. Congress coins money, manages its value and that of foreign coin, and modifies accordingly weight and measurement systems. Congress can punish those who counterfeit securities and coin of 6. the U.S. 7. Congress controls postal services and roadways. Congress issues copyrights and patents for the items of the 8. respective inventors. 9. Congress comprises tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court. 10. Congress can define and punish piracies and felonies committed overseas as well as wrongdoings against the Law of Nations. 11. Congress can declare war, grant letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make rules about the takeover of landmasses and bodies of water. Congress may raise and support armies but may not embezzle 12. money for this reason any longer than two years. Along with all of the rights listed above, Congress holds the right 13. to illustrate how to govern and how to regulate the land and naval forces; to use military force to enforce laws and suppress invasions and rebellions; to prepare the militia for battle by any means necessary, whether that be organization, disciplining, or governing; and to make any laws necessary to execute all of its noted duties. I. Section 9 – Powers Denied to the Federal Government 1. The slave trade will be allowed until the year 1808, when Congress will meet to discuss its possible termination. 2. Habeas Corpus is never suspended except in cases of rebellion or invasion where this is required. III. 3. Congress may not pass any bill of attainder or ex post facto laws. 4. No capitation or direct tax will be enforced by Congress. Congress may not lay a tax or duty on articles exported from a 5. state. 6. State ports will be equal in their regulation of commerce or revenue compared to other ports of other states. No money shall be taken from the treasury except as a result of 7. appropriations made by law; an account of receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published occasionally. No title of nobility will be granted by the U.S., and no title of 8. nobility may be accepted by U.S. officials without the permission of Congress. J. Section 10 – Powers Denied to the States 1. No state shall accept the terms to any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin money; emit Bills of Credit; make anything except gold and silver coin as legal tender for the payment of debts; pass a bill of Attainder; pass an ex post facto law; pass a law that impedes the fulfillment of a contract; or grant a title of nobility. 2. The states need the consent of Congress to law imposts or duties on imports or exports and to lay duties of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in times of peace, enter into agreements with other states or a foreign nation, or engage in war. Article II – Executive Branch A. Section 1 – President and Vice President 1. The President and Vice President shall hold executive authority, serving for terms of four years. 2. The President is elected by an electoral college. 3. The President was previously elected by having the majority of the votes in the college and the Vice President the second-most of the votes. Today, Presidents and Vice Presidents are chosen on one ballot as a single cabinet. Electors are chosen at a predetermined time selected by Congress; 4. the voting day shall be uniform in the whole United States. The President must be a U.S. citizen, at the age of thirty-five or 5. older, and a fourteen-year resident of the U.S. 6. If the President leaves office for any reason, the Vice President will usurp his position as President. 7. The President will receive a salary that will remain constant for his four-year term—no increases or decreases throughout. IV. 8. President’s Oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” B. Section 2 – Powers of the President 1. The President is the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States. The President may grant reprieves and pardons for transgressions against the United States. The President can make treaties and have them approved with a 2. two-thirds majority in the Senate. The President can also appoint Ambassadors and other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the U.S. whose appointments are not already arranged for. 3. Any vacancies left during the recess of the Senate may be filled by the President via a commission that expires at the end of the next session. C. Section 3 – Duties of the President The President is to deliver State of the Union addresses and 1. suggest measures to take in order that they may improve the Union. The President also convenes the Houses of Congress and adjourns them accordingly, and receives Ambassadors and public ministers. The President commissions all Officers of the United States and enforces the laws in America. D. Section 4 – Impeachment 1. Treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors are grounds for impeachment. Article 3 – Judicial Branch A. Section 1 – Federal Courts There is one Supreme Court and Congress-made inferior courts. 1. Judges shall hold offices “during good [Behavior]” and will be paid a salary for their services that remains uniform throughout time in office. B. Section 2 – Extent of Judicial Powers The Supreme Court has the power to take cases involving cases 1. determining if laws are constitutional or not, cases affecting ambassadors, cases of admiralty, and state cases involving the citizens, land grants, and foreigners. 2. In cases affecting ambassadors and those in which a state has a party, the Supreme Court has first jurisdiction. In cases other than those listed in point 2, the Supreme Court will 3. appellate jurisdiction. V. VI. VII. VIII. 4. Trials are conducted by jury in the state the crime alleged is committed. C. Section 3 – Treason 1. Treason is levying war against the Union or adhering to the United States’ enemies. 2. Treason is punished in the manner declared by Congress; no committer of treason will work corruption of blood or yielding of property except during the life of the accused. Article 4 – The States A. Section 1 – Recognition of Each Other’s Acts One state will treat the laws of other states with “full faith and 1. credit.” B. Section 2 – Citizen’s Rights In Other States 1. The citizens of each state have the same privileges and rights as those from other states. Accused criminals who are found in a state other than that where 2. the crime was committed will be delivered up to the state he was accused in. 3. Escaping slaves will not be discharged from services out of their state, but they will be handed back to the state in which they work. C. Section 3 – New States And Territories New states enter the Union upon admission by Congress, not by 1. another state legislature. 2. Congress must respect the laws and rights of these new states in forming and scrapping its code of law. D. Section 4 – Guarantees to the States All states are given a republican form of government and will be 1. protected in cases of invasion and domestic violence. Article 5 – Amending the Constitution A. Amendments are proposed by Congress and passed by three-fourths of the states in the Union. No amendment may be passed concerning the slave trade or direct taxation (see clauses 1 and 4 of Article 1, Section 9). Article 6 – National Supremacy A. Existing debts under the Articles of Confederation will be upheld under the Constitution as well. B. The Constitution consists of the supreme laws of the land in the United States. C. Officials are bound to Oath or Affirmation in order to uphold the Constitution; no religious exam will be necessary to qualify for an office under the United States. Article 7 – Ratification A. The Constitution is ratified by a positive vote from nine of the thirteen states. IX. Amendments A. Bill of Rights No law may be passed concerning religious restriction or 1. restriction of political beliefs (freedoms of speech, press, assembly, petition of government). 2. The people are allowed to keep and bear arms because a wellregulated militia is necessary to ensure a safe and free state. 3. Soldiers will not be quartered in private homes without the owner’s consent. 4. The government may not search a person’s house irrationally; no warrants may be issued that describe the place to be searched or the item to be seized. 5. No person must answer for a capital unless indicted by a jury, no person can be tried for the same offense twice, and no person can be deprived of the rights of life, liberty, and property. 6. The accused in a crime reserves the right to a speedy and expedient trial before an impartial jury, knowing what crime the person is being accused of and the witnesses both for and against him. 7. The people can be tried by a jury in suits of common law. Excessive bail is not required, nor is excessive fining or unusual 8. and cruel punishments. 9. The rights labeled in the Constitution shall not be contorted in such a manner that the people are disparaged or denied of the common law. The states carry all rights not carried by the federal government or 10. restricted from the states under the Constitution.