US Constitution, Amendment VII-X

I chose to do the final block of the Bill of Rights all together. They're a bit shorter than most of the amendments, although no less important. I'm also trying to wrap this series up today, not next week!

Article [VII.] In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Yet ANOTHER mention of the jury trial. There is nothing else that is mentioned so many times in the Constitution. I don't know how much more I can emphasize that the founders honestly believed that the most powerful control on government was the jury. Really!

Article [VIII.] Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

This is the amendment that's used to argue against capital punishment. That was clearly NOT it's intent. It was intended so that judges would not try to punish people severely for minor crimes. Can anyone explain how it's cruel to humanely execute a pedophilic mass murderer?

Article [IX.] The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Oh, this one is HUGE. This is one of the most important of all of the Bill of Rights (I seem to say that a lot, don't I?). This helps enforce the idea that this document IS NOT granting rights. This clearly describes that the people have ALL the rights. What is outlined here are only a very small number of them that are specifically listed as being off-limits to the government. ALL other rights ALREADY belong to the people.

Article [X.] The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

This is one that gets abused pretty regularly, too. This amendment outlines that the ONLY things that the federal government can do is what is very specifically listed in this document. This is the reason that it is absolutely unconstitutional for the government to be giving billions of dollars for Katrina aid -- it specifically says that if The People didn't give their permission in this document, that the government CANNOT do it -- no matter how "nice" it might be.

Posted by: Ogre at 05:02 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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