Amendment Twelve and It's Meaning

Amendment Twelve

"The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. — The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

As I am positive no one would want to read that, I am going to sum up the twelfth amendment. All in all, there were many problems back in the day regarding the presidential election of the president and vice president. There would be miscommunication (or not enough) and the Electoral College would end up voting the wrong numbers which in turn would have a president and vice president of opposing parties. Another problem arose as the two opposing parties would tie and it would then go to the House for them to decide which could be rigged. So after these complications the twelfth amendment was created so that instead of the electors choosing two options for president, they will choose one president and one vice president.

This is a video that furthers my explanation on the 12th amendment and more of what the electoral college does and how it has changed since the beginning. I like it because it really cleared out this amendment for me and should be able to do the same for you! It is very clear with information and did not leave me confused.

I chose this video (even though it does not mention the 12th amendment) because it further explains the electoral college which is useful in fully understanding the 12th amendment along with how the votes from each state truly affect the outcome of presidential elections. I enjoyed this video and definitely left with a better understanding of the twelfth amendment and electoral college and how they work/go hand in hand.

Amendment Eleven and It's Meaning

Amendment 11

The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.

Although I am having some troubles understanding this amendment, I am getting the gist of it. The amendment revolves highly around a Supreme Court ruling in 1793 (Chisholm vs Georgia) whereas a man tried to sue Georgia because they owed him. Georgia tried to claim they didn't have to oblige and give him his money because they had sovereign immunity from this. The federal courts did not like this because it took power away from them so they ruled in favor of Chisholm because in Article three section two, it states that the supreme courts are allowed to hear certain types of cases. This was feared by the states and they soon took action to amend and overturn this which created amendment 11- therefore amendment 11 now states that citizens cannot sue states without it's consent.

I chose this video because it gives a larger explanation on the eleventh amendment with great examples. It helped me understand it quite a bit more and is just a good educational video. It sums up the fact that you can NOT sue a state for money, but you can sue them for doing something unconstitutional.

I chose this picture from https://www.haikudeck.com/amendment-11--uncategorized-presentation-Lt4FAacOaC

It is a pretty simple picture and doesn't explain much, but it does put emphasis that this amendment has a great deal to do with judicial power and the fact that they were limited by this amendment.

Amendment Ten and It's Meaning

Amendment Ten:

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.

The tenth amendment just states that any powers that don’t belong to the federal government are given to the states and the people.

I think this amendment is of less value than many other considering the previous amendment. It just allows the states to have rights rather than just the people. All in all, I don’t think it is that important. I do appreciate the fact that it tries to limit the powers of the federal government.

I only chose this video because it gives an example (a poor one). It points out that it is pretty much all about states rights.

https://storify.com/public/templates/slideshow/index.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fstorify.com%2Fregar1761%2Fhuman-rights&header=none&template=slideshow#1

I like this part of the tenth amendment; it allows for states to decide what kind of laws to make regarding marriage without interference of the federal government. I believe all states should be about equality and allow gay marriage.

Amendment Nine and It's Meaning

Amendment Nine:

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

Amendment nine protects the rights of people that are not directly listed in the constitution, that although they may not be listed, they cannot be violated. In a sense, it limits the powers of the government to retain our own rights not listed in the constitution. The Penumbra of the Constitution goes hand in hand with this amendment because it defines that just because something isn’t defined or legitimate does not mean that it is not important. The word penumbra means “shadow”.

I like amendment nine because it protects me and all of the other citizens. It protects our rights that are no clearly defined and assures that even if something is not written does not mean that it will be taken away or not important.

No matter how silly this video is, I really like it. It’s actually kind of funny and it gives many examples of life without the ninth amendment (although they are exaggerated). It shows that if there was no ninth amendment that there could really be chaos and the government and states could over rule We The People.

http://www.toondoo.com/public/h/o/l/holyflannel/toons/cool-cartoon-2113663.png

I chose this picture because it puts into perspective (for me at least) the importance of the ninth amendment. I love animals, and if the government ever told me I couldn’t have pets, I would go crazy. It doesn't explain the amendment all that well, but it just shows an example of it.

Amendment Eight and It's Meaning

Amendment Eight

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

The first part of amendment eight states that the judge cannot assign the accused person excessive amounts of bail; bail is used to make sure that the accused makes it to trial, if they don’t they lose that money. The reason for this is to assure that the judge does not base the amount of bail based on the crime committed (if the crime was worse they would want to make the bail larger or excessive). The second part of the amendment states that nothing cruel or unusual in terms of punishing the accused shall be inflicted. This is still pretty up in the air with the death penalty and what exactly is considered cruel or unusual.

My own thoughts regarding the last part of the amendment is that I am pretty against the death penalty. Yes, there can be certain pros to it, but all in all no human should be killed, that in a sense cancels out us convicting THEM for killing if we are just going to do the same thing. There are horrible crimes committed and at times I would agree with the death penalty, but all in all I am against it. I think it is a waste of money as it is very expensive to be carried out.

This video shows that getting rid of the death penalty will be an overall positive. It saves money, gives more justice, and allows the judges to focus on other more important cases.

I like this video a lot… It shows the real side of these inmates and how they are humans just like us. Some people are innocent and are on death row. I do feel sympathy for these people, especially the ones innocent. It shows how much more costly it is to keep the death penalty (2 million dollars for tax payers for each inmate) rather than to just sentence them to life in prison. There are a lot of injustices that can go on with the death penalty and it is no joke, this is life and death and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Amendment Seven and It's Meaning

Amendment Seven

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.

Amendment seven is all about lawsuits and the act of suing another person. When this amendment was made, the amount had to be at least 20 dollars in order for the dispute to be handled by federal court. Back then, that was a lot of money. Today, the amount required is $75,000. The other portion of amendment seven is that if a person goes to court it must be a court standard by the government.

I have mixed emotions on this one. For me, $75,000 is a lot of money, so what if I wanted to make a case of only $50,000? On the other hand, I think the fact that it is such a high amount makes it have more importance and it will assure the courts are not wasting their time on such an irrelevant case that does not involve a lot of money.

http://www.toondoo.com/toondoo/View.toon?param=580549

I found this political cartoon and instantly loved it. It shows my meaning above that a case being smaller than the required amount is irrelevant. We can just pretend it says $75,000 instead of $20! J The picture is just a simple explanation of the amendment seven.

Again… very sorry for the acting in the video; it was the only video I could find that gave a proper example of the seventh amendment dealing with money. Just skip to the end and you will see! It just shows a more modernized version that younger people will understand.

Amendment Six and It's Meaning

Amendment Six

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense.

In other words, amendment six gives us the right to have a lawyer and the right to a speedy trial. The speedy trial was made to assure that someone convicted or accused of a crime do not have to wait years for their trial to take place. The time varies from state to state. If the state goes over the time limit of the date promised, the case will be dismissed. A person may also waive the speedy trial in order to have more time until their trial. The reason for all of this is to assure that no one that is innocent sits in jail for five years while awaiting their trial. The accused also has the right to an unprejudiced jury to view and decide on their case.

In my opinion, amendment six is very important, especially for those who are innocent. It promises that they will not be put in jail while awaiting their trial date and instead they will get to the trial quickly. It also gives them the right to waive the speedy trial so one can have more time to prepare which is always nice considering that life can be hectic at times. I think this amendment is very important and without it there would be a lot of injustices with sending innocent people to jail to wait. It gives the accused the right to have witnesses come to their trial to testify for them and be informed of all the charges being brought against them. These are all significant aspects of the amendment. You also get the right to an attorney which is a very important aspect of the amendment.

This video explains the sixth amendment very well. It gives the example of someone waiting five years in jail for jay-walking- this would be absurd. This shows the importance of the amendment. It also explains the other aspects of the amendment and the importance, it gives awesome examples and it helps in my better understanding of the amendment. The ending of the video is pretty cool because she says that we all have the rights of this amendment and that all convicts are humans too J

http://mcatty.com/waco-twin-peaks-massacre-the-more-things-change/

This cartoon is funny and I like it because it points out the biggest aspect of the sixth amendment; the right to a speedy trial.

Amendement Five and It's Meaning

Amendment Five

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

This amendment is all about the protection of people in court who are trying to defend themselves. Every person that has to go to court for a federal crime is promised a grand jury to determine if there is enough evidence to move forward with the trial. The double jeopardy rule is there to protect people from being tried again for the same crime after the trial has ended or they have served their time. The rest is pretty much common sense; no person has to be their own witness and their rights must be respected and protected. The fifth amendment allows accused persons to deny questions from the jury/judge and also protects their private property (the government may not take it away without compensating them for it)

In my own opinion, I think this amendment is crucial and very important. It protects all accused people and their rights. It assures that each person will be treated equally in court and justice will be served (hopefully). Without this amendment I think the world would be a mess.. It puts the bad people away and keeps the good people out (most of the time...).

https://doncolecartoons.wordpress.com/

This is a funny one; it's illustrating that the fifth is mainly about remaining silent so I think it sends a message and helps the viewer understand the most important and most used section of the fifth amendment.

http://www.toonpool.com/cartoons/fifth%20amendment%20truth%20make%20free_87914

I chose this second picture because I felt that it shares my one concern with the fifth amendment. If everyone in a trial continues to plead the fifth, how will any information be collected about the case. I think it is a necessary amendment and right, but to some extent it gets a little overboard when the accused can only say they plead the fifth; therefore no one can know the truth.