Blog Assignment #3: The Bill of Oh-So-Rights

So, according to the AM GOV textbook I see before me, civil liberties consist of “The personal freedoms of individuals that are protected from government intrusion.” (Losco/Baker, 2011, p.67) Obviously they mean that the freedoms are protected, not the people per say… But wait! Isn’t that what this Bill of Rights thing is all about? The Bill of Rights, being a list of our civil liberties, has some great stuff in it. The right to unabridged freedom of speech, the right not to have soldiers stationed in one’s living room, the right to wear tank tops… what? Ohhhh, BEAR arms, not bare arms, sorry about that.  Anyway, after learning that we have the right to speak freely, we also learn that we are protected from being arrested and sentenced without a trial, from having to testify against ourselves, and we get to have a lawyer if we do go to trial! How very awesome.

We go now to my very favorite civil liberty, number ix. As in nine (9).

“AMENDMENT IX

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

(Since I didn’t have this memorized, I will cite where I copy/pasted from: www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/billofrights)

Hey, what a concept! The first congress was obligated to create a bill of rights in exchange for the ratification of the constitution by the states. I guess in those days politicians kept their promises, because they and the states approved and ratified ten of the seventeen rights that were written by James Madison.  I picture Madison’s thoughts: “Well, we don’t really need these since the states all have their own bill of rights anyway.  Hmmm, let’s write down all the stuff that the English Crown did to take away OUR rights, and that way at least we can make sure that the American government can never do that… okay, now what… well, since we didn’t really realize that they were rights until they were taken away from us, why don’t we have one that says don’t worry about the future because we’ve got your back and we will never let a government make you feel inhuman again!”

Unfortunately, he was writing to white landowners, but the concept is a good one. We know our rights! They are written into our DNA as Americans! Or something like that. Let’s look at this AM GOV text again… Ah, here’s a poll asking people what their constitutional rights are. The inclusion of a small percentage of people answering that they are assured by the constitution the right to “own pets” and “drive car[s]” proves to me that number nine is the most forward-thinking of the ten amendments in the bill of rights (Losco/Baker, 2011, p.69). Americans aren’t bound by the bill of rights, they are freed by it! After all, like everyone says “It’s a free country!”

Works Cited

Losco, Joseph, and Ralph Baker. "The Constitution and Rights." Am Gov 2011. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2011. 67-69. Print.

Madison, James. "Bill of Rights." Cornell.edu. Cornell University Law School. Web. 08 Mar. 2012. <http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/billofrights>.