Amendment research project: What is so important about them?

Ms. Riechel

Due: January 11^th and 12^th Worth: 25 pts

Directions:

Choose an amendment or group of amendments to research.

• Why do you think that amendment is so important?
• What civil liberties are protected under that amendment?
• How have the courts applied that amendment in the past?
• What current issues relate to that amendment?

Requirements:

• The thesis must be evident, forceful, and proven.

• The length is to be 1000-2000 words (3-5 pages). The effort must be scholarly, astute, impressive in its intelligence. Show that you learned something and that you are knowledgeable about your topic.

• Footnotes and a bibliography are required. Academic integrity demands high standards.

• It must be typed, double spaced.

• The paper is due by 4 p.m. on January 11^th 2007 for 2^nd and 3^rd periods and January 12^th 2007 for 5^th and 6^th periods. No late papers will be accepted!!

It is a formal essay, so no use of the word “I.” Be creative. Be forceful. Dare to be reasoned and eloquent. Show off your extensive knowledge of the amendments and the U.S. constitution. Cite at least 2 cases, precedents, and concepts where necessary to support your reasoning. Anything not of your own creation—and not of common knowledge by the lay person—should of course be footnotes. Proper form counts.

Evaluation:

• Paper will be evaluated on the basis of clarity, depth, variety of research and originality.

Amendment Research Project: What is so important about them?

• The 14th

Thesis: First of all the 14th Amendment applies all those “liberties” to the states, without which those liberties would not apply to us in our daily lives. Imagine the right to freedom of speech, for example, if the state could infringe upon it! But not only this, the 14th Amendment mandates that ultimate of all American rights—the right of equality—when it says no state shall deny any of its people “equal protection of the laws!” This is the real promise of what it means to be an American, and this is why the 14th Amendment is so important!

• The Voting Amendments count as one! [15th, 17th, 19th, 24th, and 26th]

Thesis: Without the power to vote all other powers, rights, and privileges are moot. With a right to cast an equal vote—equal to every other person—is implied the equality of political rights. Herein lies the right to choose your leader. The right to choose your own laws and leaders is the right to choose your own destiny. All other rights derive their power from the right to vote.

• The 1st

Thesis: The principles enunciated here form the basis for all the other basic principles upon which we base our freedom of expression (speech, press, religion) as individuals and in groups (freedom of petition and peaceable assembly, and the derivative right of freedom of association).

• The 5th

Thesis: The rights herein are the most important because it prevents the State (or any governmental entity) from compelling us to speak against ourselves in any way that might be incriminating. The premise here is that the government bears the heavy burden of proving us guilty beyond a reasonable doubt to a unanimous jury after due process (a fair procedure) has been followed. Read this to include the concept of innocent until proven guilty. Fundamental here is the concept of fairness and it implies also a right to privacy.

• The 4th

Thesis: The freedom from unreasonable search and seizure suggests the penumbra (Griswold v. Connecticut, 1965) of rights loosely called the right to privacy and all that this entails. In this day and age, with the specter of the electronic technological media encroaching on every aspect of our daily lives, and with the overcrowding that inevitably is increasing, privacy takes on more significance than ever before. This amendment also prevents the government through its agents—the police, etc.—from encroaching on our personal freedoms without “probable cause” and good reason.

• The 6th

Thesis: The government must respect your right to a fair trial before you are put into jail. Without this guarantee you can be locked up, the key thrown away, a trial could be had that is much like a kangaroo court or a sham trial from which there is no protection. This amendment gives us the freedom to be protected from such actions.

These are sample thesis statements. You may use the theses provided above for ideas, but do not rely too heavily or uncritically upon them. You should seek to improve upon the ones you accept and disprove those with which you disagree. Be creative. Be forceful. Dare to be reasoned and eloquent. Show off your expanded knowledge of the interpretations of the amendments and the U.S. constitution.