CONTENTS Preface, by U.S. Senator Sam J. Ervin, Jr., chairman, Senate Judiciary V LAYMAN'S GUIDE TO INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS UNDER THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION INTRODUCTION The Constitution has served as the instrument of government for our Nation throughout our history, from the Thirteen Original States with their farms and small industries into this second half of the 20th century which sees these United States a rich industrial nation of 190 million people. As our country has developed politically, economically, and socially, so have our ideas about constitutional rights. Although there have been only 24 formal amendments to the Constitution, the written words of 1789 have acquired added meaning as Government has been required to deal with new problems and responsibilities. Even in the 3 short years since this guide was first published, there have been important developments affecting the rights and liberties of citizens. The U.S. Supreme Court has decided many far-reaching decisions involving civil liberties, censorship, freedom of the press, religion, right to counsel, and many other rights. The other branches of Government also protect our liberties. For instance, the Congress has considered legislation relating to the right to bail, protection of Federal voting rights, the right to counsel for indigent defendants, rights of the military, rights of the American Indian, and the right of privacy of Government employees and other citizens. The executive branch is charged with implementing and administering the laws enacted by Congress and the departments and agencies thereby contribute to the protection of constitutional rights. Before anyone can properly understand the scope of constitutional rights, he must realize that we Americans, by reason of our federal system, live under two governments, rather than one. These two governments-Federal and State-are closely bound together, so that in some matters they function as one; but more frequently their operations are separate and distinct. Within the scope of activity which the people have entrusted to it, each government is master of its own affairs. Because of the ever-tightening bonds between persons in different parts of the country, there is an increasing interdependence among all Americans. A hundred years ago, the affairs of California were very remote from those of New York; today a jet can fly from Los Angeles to New York in a few hours. Similarly, issues which at one time were considered to affect only persons in one State or one locality may today affect all Americans. In matters concerning more than one State, the Federal Government's authority, when based on powers granted by the Constitution, is supreme. On the other hand, in matters which do not have national implications or as to which the Federal Government has not acted, the power of the State generally remains supreme. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution were adopted shortly after the Constitution had been ratified by the necessary number of States. At that time there was fear that, in the absence of specific limitations on its powers, the Federal Government might infringe the liberties of the people. These original amendments were designed to eliminate this hazard. They are called our Bill of Rights guarantees of individual liberty. For instance, the Bill of Rights prohibited the Federal Government from ever taking any steps to suppress free speech and freedom of the press, or to establish an official religion. The Bill of Rights, however, applied directly only to the Federal Government and did not prohibit State and local governments froin taking action that might threaten civil liberty. Until the 14th amendment was adopted, a State court, insofar as the U.S. Constitution was concerned, could have found a man guilty without hearing evidence in his defense or without letting him have a lawyer; and a State legislature could have passed laws confiscating the property of its citizens and providing for punishment by torture. Of course, in many States the State constitutions contained provisions which would have prohibited such action; and actually the constitutions of some States contained their own bills of rights before the adoption of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Since the Bill of Rights was not designed to serve as a restraint against arbitrary action by States, until the ratification of the 14th amendment in 1868, individual rights were protected only to the extent that such conduct was prohibited by provisions in their State constitution. Although that amendment provides that no State shall 'deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," it was not until 1925, in the case if Gitlow v. New York (268 U.S. 652, 666), that the Supreme Court began to apply the Bill of Rights to State action. The following guarantees of the Bill of Rights have now been applied to the States under the terms of the 14th amendment: amendments I and IV, the self-incrimination clause of amendment V, the right to counsel and confrontation clauses of amendment VI, and the guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment of amendment VIII. The basis for applying these specific rights to the States has been the concept that they are such basic and fundamental liberties that an abridgment of them by any government is a denial of liberty and justice without "due process of law." Whether reference is made to limitations on Federal power or on State power, it deserves to be emphasized that the U.S. Constitution does not grant a license for individuals to jeopardize the safety and well-being of society. Thus, as Mr. Justice Holmes has pointed out, "Protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting 'Fire' in a theater and causing a panic. Nor does freedom of speech and press sanction the publication of libel and obscenity. Similarly, rights of free speech and free assembly do not permit one knowingly to engage in conspiracies to overthrow by force the Government of the United States. The civil liberties guaranteed each citizen carry with them the obligation to utilize these liberties in such a manner as will not ultimately impair the liberties of others. INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION AS ORIGINALLY Article I, section 9, clause 2 ADOPTED The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it. This guarantee enables a person who has been confined to petition a Federal court for a writ of habeas corpus, to test whether such re⚫straint on his personal freedom violates the Constitution or laws of the United States. This right under the Constitution applies to all cases in which a person is confined by Government authority. It can be suspended only when the President, pursuant to congressional authorization, declares that a national emergency requires it and probably only when the courts are physically unable to function because of war, invasion, or rebellion. Habeas corpus is an important safeguard to prevent unlawful imprisonment. Article I, section 9, clause 3 No Bill of Attainder * * * shall be passed [by the Federal Government]. Article I, section 10, clause 1 No State shall *** pass any Bill of Attainder * * *. A bill of attainder historically is a special act of a legislature which declares that a person or group of persons has committed a crime and which imposes punishment without a trial by court. Under our system of separation of powers, only courts may try a person for a crime or impose punishment for violation of the law. Section 9 restrains Congress from passing bills of attainder, and section 10 restrains the States. Article I, section 9, clause 3 No *** ex post facto law shall be passed [by the Federal Government]. Article I, section 10, clause 1 No State shall *** ex post facto law. *** *** pass any These two clauses prohibit the States and the Federal Government from enacting any criminal or penal law which makes unlawful any act which was not a crime when it was committed. They also prevent the imposition of a greater penalty for a crime than that in effect when the crime was committed. However, laws which retroactively determine how a person is to be tried for a crime may be changed so long as no important rights are lost. Laws are not ex post facto if they make the punishment less severe than it was when the crime was committed. Article III Article III of the Constitution outlines the structure and power of our Federal court system, the judges of which help maintain the rights of American citizens. Article III, section 2, also contains a guarantee that the trial of all Federal crimes, except cases of impeachment, shall be by jury. The Supreme Court has interpreted this guarantee as containing exceptions for "trials of petty offenses" and certain criminal contempts, cases rightfully tried before court-martial or other military tribunal, and some cases where the defendant has voluntarily relinquished his right to a jury. 57-315 0-662 |