United States Constitution\n\n\n\n\n The Constitution of the United States represents the supreme law of the United States of America and is the oldest comprehensive written national constitution on Earth still in force. Completed on September 17, 1787, and later ratified by special conventions in each of the original thirteen American states, it has served as a model for a number of other nations' constitutions. It created a more unified government in place of what was then a group of independent states operating under the Articles of Confederation. The original copy of the Constitution can be seen on display today at the National Archives in Washington, DC. The full text of the constitution can be found at wikisource: Full text of the United States Constitution \n
The ConstitutionThe U.S. Constitution calls itself the "supreme law of the land." Courts have interpreted this clause to mean that when laws (including state constitutions) that have been passed by state legislatures, or by the (national) Congress, are found to conflict with the federal Constitution, these laws have no force. Decisions handed down by the Supreme Court over the course of two centuries have confirmed and strengthened this doctrine of constitutional supremacy. Final authority is vested in the American people, who can change the fundamental law, if they wish, by amending the Constitution or, in theory at least, by drafting a new one. The people do not exercise their authority directly, however. They delegate the day-to-day business of government to public officials, both elected and appointed. The power of public officials is limited under the Constitution. Their public actions must conform to the Constitution and to the laws made in accordance with the Constitution. Elected officials can only continue in office if they stand for re-election at periodic intervals (when their records are subject to intensive public scrutiny), and are re-elected. Appointed officials serve at the pleasure of the person or authority who appointed them, and may be removed at any time. The exception to this practice is the lifetime appointment by the President of justices of the Supreme Court and other federal judges, so that they may be free of political obligations or influence.PreambleThe preamble consists of a single sentence that introduces the document and its purpose:
The principles of governmentAlthough the Constitution has changed in many respects since it was first adopted, its basic principles remain the same now as in 1789: The three main branches of government—executive, legislative, and judicial—are separate and distinct from one another. The powers given to each are delicately balanced by the powers of the other two. Each branch serves as a check on potential excesses of the others. The Constitution, together with laws passed according to its provisions and treaties entered into by the president and approved by the Senate, stands above all other laws, executive acts, and regulations. The courts interpret the laws, and, if it finds them to be unconstitutional, they are overturned. All persons are equal before the law and are equally entitled to its protection. All states are equal, and none can receive special treatment from the federal government. Within the limits of the Constitution, each state must recognize and respect the laws of the others. State governments, like the federal government, must be republican in form, with final authority resting with the people. (See classic definition of republic.) The people have the right to change their form of national government by legal means defined in the Constitution itself.Articles of the Constitution\nThe remainder of the constitution consists of seven articles:
ImpeachmentMost commonly, the American people express their will through the ballot box. The Constitution, however, does make provision for the removal of a public official from office, in cases of extreme misconduct or malfeasance, by the process of impeachment. Article II, Section 4 reads: "The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Impeachment is a charge of misconduct brought against a government official by a legislative body; it does not--as is commonly thought--include subsequent conviction on such charges. As set forth in the Constitution, the House of Representatives must bring charges of misconduct by voting articles of impeachment. The accused official is then tried in the Senate, with the Chief Justice of the United States presiding when the President is impeached. Impeachment is considered a drastic measure, one that has been used on only rare occasions in the United States. Since 1797, the House of Representatives has voted articles of impeachment against 15 federal officials: two presidents, one cabinet member, one justice of the Supreme Court, and eleven federal judges. Of those impeached, the Senate has convicted only seven--less than half--and all of them judges. In 1868, President Andrew Johnson was impeached over issues relating to the proper treatment of the defeated Confederate states following the American Civil War. The Senate, however, fell one vote short of the two-thirds majority necessary for conviction, and Johnson completed his full term in office. The failure of Johnson's impeachment demonstrated the need for impeachment to only be used for actual crimes, not for when the Presiden't will was different than that of Congress. In 1974, as a result of the Watergate affair, President Richard Nixon resigned from office after the Judiciary Committee of the House recommended impeachment, but before the full House of Representatives could vote on articles of impeachment. In 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. After a trial, the Senate acquitted Clinton on both charges, voting not guilty on perjury by a margin of 55-45 and dividing evenly at 50-50 on obstruction of justice. To remove the president from office would have required a guilty verdict by a super-majority of 67 votes on either charge in the 100-member Senate.Provisions for AmendmentThe authors of the Constitution were keenly aware that changes would be needed from time to time if the Constitution was to endure and keep pace with the growth of the nation. They were also conscious that the process of change should not be easy, permitting ill-conceived and hastily passed amendments. By the same token, they wanted to ensure that an overly-rigid requirement of unanimity could not block action desired by the vast majority of the people. Their solution was to devise a dual process by which the Constitution could be revised. The Congress, by a two-thirds vote (of a quorum) in each house, may initiate an amendment. Alternatively, the legislatures of two-thirds of the states may ask Congress to call a national convention to discuss and draft amendments. In either case, amendments must have the approval of the legislatures of three-fourths of the states before they enter into force. Some people feel that demographic changes in the U.S.--specifically the great disparity in population between states--have made the Constitution too difficult to amend, with states representing as little as 4% of the population theoretically able to block an amendment desired by over 90% of Americans (though it's unlikely that such an extreme result would come about). However, any proposals to change this would necessarily involve amending the Constitution itself, creating something of a Catch-22. Aside from the direct process of changing the Constitution, the effect of its provisions may be changed by judicial interpretation. Early in the history of the republic, in the 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison, the Supreme Court established the doctrine of judicial review, which is the power of the Court to interpret acts of Congress and decide their constitutionality. The doctrine also embraces the power of the Court to explain the meaning of various sections of the Constitution as they apply to changing legal, political, economic, and social conditions. Over the years, a series of Court decisions, on issues ranging from governmental regulation of radio and television to the rights of the accused in criminal cases, has had the effect of bringing up to date the thrust of constitutional law, with no change in the actual text of the Constitution itself. Congressional legislation, passed to implement provisions of the basic law or to adapt it to changing conditions, also broadens and, in subtle ways, changes the meaning of the Constitution. Up to a point, the rules and regulations of the many agencies of the federal government may have a similar effect. The acid test in both cases is whether, in the opinion of the courts, such legislation and rules conform with the intent of the Constitution.AmendmentsThe Constitution has been amended on only eighteen occasions since 1789, with the first ten of twenty-seven amendments being ratified by the states simultaneously. And it is likely to be further revised in the future. The most sweeping changes occurred within two years of its adoption. In that period, the first ten amendments, known collectively as the "Bill of Rights," were added. Many scholars have noted the relatively small number of amendments to the Constitution. Some of them attribute this to the simplicity of the Constitution and its flexibility, as it is continually reinterpreted by the courts. Others, however, believe that demographic shifts have given too much power to smaller states, thereby stifling what they contend is needed reform. Currently, one-quarter of the states can block an amendment. The United States has 50 states, so this means that the 13 smallest states (representing as little as 4% of the national population) could block an amendment desired by the remaining 37 states (representing as much as 96% of the national population). While such an extreme outcome is unlikely, it is nevertheless constitutionally possible.The Bill of Rights\nMain article: United States Bill of Rights\n
Congress approved these amendments as a block of twelve in September 1789, and the legislatures of enough states had ratified ten of those twelve by December 1791 to become part of the nation's highest legal document. An eleventh proposal, relative to the compensation of members of Congress, remained unratified until 1992 when the legislatures of enough states finally approved it and, as a result, it became the Twenty-seventh Amendment despite more than two centuries of pendency. A twelfth proposal--still technically pending before the state legislatures for ratification--pertains to the apportionment of the United States House of Representatives after each decennial census. The most recent state whose lawmakers are known to have ratified this twelfth proposal is Kentucky in 1792 during that commonwealth's first month of statehood.
As for the ten known as the Bill of Rights, they remain as they were written two centuries ago. The first guarantees freedom of worship, speech, and press; the right of peaceful assembly; and the right to petition the government to correct wrongs. The second guarantees the right of citizens to bear arms. The third provides that troops may not be quartered, or garrisoned, in private homes without the owner's consent. The fourth guards against unreasonable searches, arrests, and seizures of property.
The next four amendments deal with the system of justice. The fifth amendment forbids trial for a major crime except after indictment by a grand jury. It prohibits repeated trials for the same offense, forbids punishment without due process of law, and provides that an accused person may not be compelled to testify against himself. The sixth guarantees a speedy public trial for criminal offenses. It requires trial by an unbiased jury, guarantees the right to legal counsel for the accused, and provides that witnesses shall be compelled to attend the trial and testify in the presence of the accused. The seventh assures trial by jury in civil cases involving anything valued at more than 20 U.S. dollars. The eighth forbids excessive bail or fines, and cruel or unusual punishment.
The last two of the ten amendments contain very broad statements of constitutional authority. The ninth declares that the listing of individual rights is not meant to be comprehensive; that the people have other rights not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. The tenth provides that powers not delegated by the Constitution to the federal government nor prohibited by it to the states are reserved to the states or the people.
The Bill of Rights and subsequent amendments have placed fundamental human rights at the center of the U.S. legal system.
Subsequent AmendmentsAmendments to the Constitution subsequent to the Bill of Rights have covered a wide range of subjects. The majority of the seventeen later amendments stem from continued efforts to expand individual civil or political liberties, while only a few are concerned with amplifying the basic governmental structure drafted in Philadelphia in 1787. There also have been many failed attempts to amend the constitution. There are some that are still ongoing today. See proposed amendments to the United States constitution
Failed AmendmentsMany (sometimes scores) of amendments are proposed in Congress every year. Most of these proposals never get out of committee, much less get passed by the Congress as required. The Eighteenth Amendment is the only amendment to be directly and specifically "un-done" by another (the Twenty-first). Having to repeal an amendment was quite embarrassing, and the episode highlighted the importance of only proposing and ratifying the most important and timeless of amendments. Of the thirty-three amendments that have been proposed by Congress, six have failed to be ratified by the legislatures of three-quarters of the states--and four of those six are still technically pending before state lawmakers. Starting with the 18th amendment, each proposed amendment (except for the 19th Amendment and for the still-pending child labor amendment of 1924) has included text specifying that it shall not become part of the Constitution unless a sufficient number of states ratify it within a specific deadline. The following are the failed amendments:
Related topics\n* General: Constitution, Equal Rights Amendment, Congressional power of enforcement, Founding Fathers of the United States, Martin vs. Hunter's Lessee\n* Related Authors: Terry Jordan, Charles Kesler, Thomas Paine, James Madison, John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, Richard Hofstadter\n*full text of constitution at wikisource: Full text of the ConstitutionReferences\n* Blaustein, Albert P. "The United States Constitution: A Model in Nation-Building." National Forum 54 (1984): 14-17, 38. \n* Burroughs, Wynell G., and Jean West Mueller. Using Documents to Teach the Constitution. ED 273 547. \n* Hearst Report. The American Public's Knowledge of the U.S. Constitution: A National Survey of Public Awareness and Personal Opinion. New York: The Hearst Corporation, 1987. ED 289 812. \n* Kammen, Michael. A Machine that Would Go of Itself: The Constitution in American Culture. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986.External links\n* Full text of U.S. Constitution\n* Full text of the amendments\n* The U.S. Constitution Online\n* The Constitution of the United States of America - Analysis and Interpretation : Annotations of Cases Decided by the Supreme Court of the United States [gpo.gov]\n* Education on the U.S. Constitution Category:Constitutional law\nCategory:United StatesCategory:United States law\nCategory:Official documents* |
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"Fill what's empty, empty what's full, and scratch where it itches." - the Duchess of Windsor, when asked what is the secret of a long and happy life |
