Sixth Amendment Right to Be Informed of Criminal Charges

It certainly seems obvious and fair that when the government charges someone with a crime that the person be told what law he has violated and what he did to violate that law.  That a government does not always conduct itself in a fair manner and that it needs to be reminded of the obvious […]

The Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution

“The Tenth Amendment is the foundation of the Constitution.”  – Thomas Jefferson Among the questions raised by opponents of the Constitution during the ratification debates was the lack of an express limit on federal power, and that it would be a danger to individual freedoms and to the powers of the states. In response to […]

Constitution’s Ninth Amendment: Protecting Unenumerated Rights

On September 17, 1787 the drafting of the American Constitution was complete.  The proposed document was not without its detractors and several delegates who participated refused to sign the document.[1]  A major objection was the lack of specific protections for individual freedoms.   The document provided that it would become effective with the ratification of nine […]

Constitution’s 22nd Amendment: Term Limits for the President

In 1797 President George Washington set a precedent that would not be broken for 143 years. He retired from office after two terms.  In 1940 Franklin Roosevelt ran for and was elected to a third term.  Roosevelt was the first to serve more than eight years, and his success resulted in the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment limiting […]

Separation of Powers in the US Constitution: 1800 Years of Thought

All American schoolchildren are taught about the three branches of the federal government: legislative, executive and judicial. The Constitution’s establishment of these branches came from over 1800 years of political thinking. Most of the Founding Fathers were well educated and had studied classical political philosophy. The American government’s structure did not spring miraculously from the […]