The First Amendment

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the rights to freedom of religion and freedom of speech without government interference.

Two clauses of the first amendment guarantee freedom of religion. The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from passing laws that establish an official religion or show preference for one religion over another. The Court, however, declared some government activities related to religion to be constitutional, such as providing bus transportation for parochial school students and allowing “Sunday rest laws” to be enforced. The free exercise clause prohibits the government, in most cases, from intervening in people’s religious practice.

Freedom of expression includes the rights to freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, and of petition (which is the right that allows citizens to claim compensation from the government for wrongs). It also includes the implied rights to freedom of association and belief. The Supreme Court of the United States considered that the scope of these rights applies to the federal government, although only Congress is expressly mentioned. Furthermore, the Court interpreted the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to protect the rights enumerated in the First Amendment from intervention by state governments.

The most basic component of freedom of expression is the right to freedom of speech. This right allows individuals to express themselves without government intervention or restriction. The Court requires the government to provide a strong justification for intervening. For content-neutral laws, a less stringent test applies. The Court also recognized that the government can prohibit any expression that disturbs the peace or provokes violence. The right to freedom of speech includes other ways of communicating a message.

The right to freedom of the press allows people to express themselves through a publication or other means of dissemination. It does not give members of the media any special rights or privileges that citizens in general do not have.

The right of assembly allows people to come together for peaceful and legal purposes. The Court openly acknowledged that the rights to freedom of association and belief are implicit in the First, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments. Freedom of assembly does not include a right of association. The government can prohibit people from knowingly associating with others to engage in and promote illegal activities.

The right of association prohibits the government from requiring a group to register or disclose the identity of its members. Nor can you deny people official benefits for belonging or having belonged to a certain group. The Court established that there are exceptions to this rule: these are cases in which the government’s interests to disclose or record are considered sufficient to not respect the rights of the first amendment.

The right to petition guarantees the right to claim compensation from the government for violations of rights through litigation or another measure ordered by the government. Along with the right of assembly, it allows people to come together in order to obtain changes in government.

17th Amendment to the United States Constitution: Direct Election of United States Senators

Americans did not vote directly for senators for the first 125 years of the federal government. The Constitution, which was adopted in 1788, stated that senators would be chosen by the state legislatures. The first proposal to amend the constitution and elect senators by popular vote was introduced in the House of Representatives in 1826, but the idea did not gain sufficient support until the 19th century, when various problems related to Senate elections became apparent. . Several state legislatures were gridlocked over senatorial elections, causing Senate seats to remain vacant for months and even years. In other cases, political machines gained control over state legislatures, and senators elected with their support were seen as puppets. Furthermore, the Senate was perceived as the “Millionaires Club” serving private interests. The rise of the Popular Party, referred to as the Populist Party, prompted the creation of a more accountable Senate to the public.

During the 1890s, the House of Representatives passed several resolutions proposing a constitutional amendment for the direct election of senators. However, each time the Senate refused to vote. When it seemed unlikely that both Houses of Congress would pass legislation proposing the direct election amendment, many states changed their strategies. Article V of the United States Constitution provides that Congress must convene a constitutional convention to propose amendments when two-thirds of the state legislatures request one. Although the method had never been used before, several states began submitting convention applications to Congress. As the number of petitions neared the two-thirds bar, Congress finally decided to act.

In 1911, the House of Representatives passed House Joint Resolution 39, proposing a constitutional amendment for the direct election of senators. However, it included a Race Rider provision created to block federal intervention in cases of racial discrimination among voters. A surrogate amendment authored by Senator Joseph L. Bristow (R-KS) eliminated that race provision. The amendment, Joint Resolution, was adopted by the Senate, in a close vote in May 1911. More than a year later, the House accepted this change, and the amendment was sent to the states for ratification. By April 8, 1913, three-fourths of the states had ratified the proposed amendment, and it was officially included as the 17th amendment.

• The first ten amendments (Bill of Rights) were effectively ratified on December 15, 1791.
• The Eleventh Amendment was ratified on February 7, 1795.
• The Twelfth Amendment was ratified on June 15, 1804.
• Superseded by section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment.
• The Thirteenth Amendment was ratified on December 6, 1865.
• The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified on July 9, 1868.
• The Fifteenth Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1870.
• The Sixteenth Amendment was ratified on February 3, 1913.
• The Seventeenth Amendment was ratified on April 8, 1913.
• The Eighteenth Amendment was ratified on January 16, 1919. It was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment, December 5, 1933.
• The Nineteenth Amendment was ratified on August 18, 1920.
• The Twentieth Amendment was ratified on January 23, 1933.
• The Twenty-first Amendment was ratified on December 5, 1933.
• The Twenty-second Amendment was ratified on February 27, 1951.
• The Twenty-third Amendment was ratified on March 29, 1961.
• The Twenty-Fourth Amendment was ratified on January 23, 1964.
• The Twenty-fifth Amendment was ratified on February 10, 1967.
• The Twenty-sixth Amendment was ratified on July 1, 1971.

Congress introduced the text of the Twenty-seventh Amendment as part of the proposed Bill of Rights to the States on September 15, 1789. The Amendment was not ratified along with the first ten Amendments, which became effective on December 15. , 1791. The Twenty-seventh Amendment was ratified on May 7, 1992, with Michigan voting.