The Fifteenth Amendment

Section 1.

"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."

Section 2.

"The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."

Section 1.

The right of American citizens to vote should never be denied based on their race, ethnicity, or the fact that they are a former slave.

Section 2.

Congress has the right to appropriately enforce this ruling.

This piece of art represents the three "types" of black men that were finally able to vote thanks to the 15th amendment. The first man wearing tattered clothing probably represents a former slave, the second man in the nice clothing is most likely a free man from the North, and the last man would be a soldier. The message of this picture is that no matter what color you are, where you come from, or how much money you make, no government should be able to strip a citizen's right to vote.

Thomas Mundy Peterson was the first African American to take advantage of the right to vote, on March 31st, 1870 in New Jersey. The citizens of his town Perth Amboy, New Jersey gave him a medallion 14 years later with Abraham Lincoln engraved on one side, and "Thomas Peterson - First colored voter in the U.S. under the provisions of the 15th amendment" engraved on the other side. His mother was a slave and he worked as a custodian at a school, which was later named after him in 1989. He also became the first black American to serve on a jury.

The Fourteenth Amendment

Section 1.

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Section 2.

"Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state."

Section 3.

"No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability."

Section 4.

"The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void."

Section 5.

"The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article."

Section 1. 

All people born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and the state where they live. No state can pass any law that strips privileges and immunities away from citizens, or deprive any person from life, liberty, or property without fair treatment through the judicial system. Everyone has to be treated equally under the law.

Section 2.

The House of Representatives must be divided up according to the population of each state. If a state denies an eligible voter (including freed slaves) the right to vote, they can lose representatives in Congress.

Section 3. 

You cannot be a part of any state or United States government, or any military branch if you participated in the rebellion, but that rule can be lifted by Congress if both the houses approve with a 2/3 majority vote. Also no one who has previously taken an oath into office is allowed to engage in activities to harm the country.

Section 4.

Citizens are allowed to hold and maintain a personal debt for any reason, but even if the money is used to fund rebellion or harmful acts towards a state, their state cannot assume that debt.

Section 5.

Congress has the right to enforce each one of these provisions. 

Section 1 of this amendment declares that all people born in the United States are citizens, which means that the children of illegal immigrants are considered United States citizens if they were born here. The term "anchor baby" is used assuming that illegal immigrants have babies in order to stay in the country. Donald Trump has made remarks about anchor babies not being real citizens, which is clearly not true based on the law. In 2012, it was estimated that 4.5 million children under 18 living here with parents that are illegal immigrants. I hope that we don't all become desensitized to his offensive comments, but mostly I hope he doesn't deport any citizen children's parents. Despite his threats, I don't think he would actually have a wall built or try to repeal the birthright process. 

Racial profiling is defined as targeting individuals based on their race or ethnicity in the belief that a certain race is more likely to engage in criminal activity. This can be categorized as unreasonable search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment and a denial of the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause. Even if some people believe we live in a post-racism era, racial profiling happens everyday and is mostly an issue between citizens and police officers. We rely on the police to protect us from harm and promote justice in our country, but unfortunately racist incidents have made many citizens' distrust grow for law enforcement.

The Thirteenth Amendment

Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party   shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within   the United States, or any place subject to their   jurisdiction.

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this  article by appropriate legislation.

Slavery and involuntary servitude is abolished, except as a punishment for a crime, and Congress has the right to enforce this ruling.

The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1st, 1963. Up until September 1962, the main focus of the Civil War had been to preserve the union. After the Emancipation Proclamation was issued, freeing the rest of the slaves became a war aim. Though many slaves had been declared free due to the proclamation, the Senate decided to pass the 13th amendment to formally abolish slavery for good. Unfortunately Black Codes (laws passed by Southern states in 1865 and 1866)continued to subject some black people to involuntary labor. Although our country still has a ways to go, the Emancipation Proclamation certainly paved the way for African Americans to fight for their freedom.

Activist Martin Luther King Jr. was the leader of the African American Civil Rights Movement and his legacy will continue to be celebrated even after racial discrimination is no longer an issue in the United States. Although I don't know when that day will come. It breaks my heart that a century after the Emancipation Proclamation, a man that spent his whole life fighting for peace and equality was murdered because of the color of his skin. I know that no one is born a racist, and that's why it breaks my heart even more to see racism and discrimination being passed down to the next generation. All we can do is continue to do good to one another and educate each other about acceptance, and no one can vote on that.  

The Twelfth Amendment

"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 the 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."

The Twelfth Amendment controls the way the Electoral College chooses the president and vice president. The Constitution declared that each state must appoint electors equal to the number of House and Senate members in their state. Each elector must vote for a president and vice president, but it was suggested strongly that the elected president and vice president should not be from the same state. If neither candidate receives the majority vote of the electors, the House of Representatives must select the president from the top three candidates. This amendment also states the eligibility requirements for running for president and vice president - they must be a natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years. 

This year's presidential election results left most Americans baffled with how Donald Trump pulled off the win. Despite receiving more than 2 million more popular votes and an ongoing effort to recount votes, Hillary Clinton still lost the election thanks to the Electoral College. Donald Trump got 306 electoral votes compared to Hillary's 232. The significance of the electoral college will remain a debate as long as it has the ability to quash popular votes.

This map shows the final election results for this year, and I would be lying if I said looking at this map didn't worry me. I understand the importance of the electoral college but I am finding it hard to accept the unfairness of the electoral votes vs. popular votes, especially considering who our nation elected. I still have MANY reservations about our president elect, but like Hillary said, "we owe him an open mind and a chance to lead."

The Eleventh Amendment

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

Citizens of any state or foreign country cannot sue a state in federal court without the consent of the state concerned. 

http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~uofla/Summer00/Tauber.html

I learned that the need for protection against states being sued in the courts of another state was not discussed by the Founding Fathers at all, but rose in 1795 in response to the court case Chisholm v. Georgia. This article goes into detail about a loophole found regarding Amendment 11, Nevada v. Hall.

This video sums up the history of the 11th Amendment in a clear and concise way. To answer the question "Can you sue the government?" You must first answer the question "Did a government official do something unconstitutional? If yes, you can sue and the person may lose their sovereign immunity, although you may never sue a state for money.  

The Tenth Amendment

"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."

This amendment brings up the concept of federalism, the relationship between federal and state governments. Any power not listed in the Constitution is left to the states and the people.

This amendment aims to give power back to the states. Conservatives believe that state and local governments should have more power to deal with issues such as health care, immigration, education, and more. There is an ongoing debate about the roles of the federal government, but it seems very unlikely that the amount of national power will degress to the amount that was originally intended by the Founding Fathers. 

This is a graphic that I found helpful in differentiating powers between the national and state levels. State governments also control state police and prisons, state land and natural resources, regulation of religious and cultural matters, health care, agriculture, population policy and family planning, fire fighting and ambulance services, firearms licenses, and more.

The Ninth Amendment

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

All the rights of people not listed in the Constitution belong to the people, not the government. The rights of United States citizens go beyond what is listed in the Constitution. 

https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights

The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) constructed this cool web page that makes it possible to be informed of your rights in almost any situation. This includes encounters with the police, deaf rights, searches and warrants, rights for photographers, pregnant and breastfeeding workers, LGBT students, rights at airports, protests, domestic violence, disabilities, prison... the list goes on and on. I learned that under Title IX, a college or university that receives federal funds may be held legally responsible when it knows about and ignores sexual harassment or assault whether it was committed by a faculty member, staff, or student.

In honor of same-sex marriage being legalized entirely in the United States last year, I decided to use this right as an example. The right to get married  at all is one not listed in the Constitution, but the right to marry anyone (opposite or same sex) should belong to everyone, whether citizens of the United States or not.  

The Eighth Amendment

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

Courts are not allowed to assign an accused person an excessive amount of money for a fine or bail, and punishments must be fair and not inhumane.

Texas is first in the number of executions carried out in the United States since 1976. The Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is not a violation of the 8th Amendment. But even if the death penalty is considered humane to some, there is no denying that it is more expensive than life imprisonment, wrongly executes innocent people, and has not been shown to effectively deter crime.

Nowadays even some prison inmates have access to social media, and some can even stay in touch with their families at home. People are good at finding a way to keep up with what's going on on the internet. At this point, most people (myself included) would feel tortured without internet access. I think this cartoon is funny because being kept in a completely empty room is cruel and unusual enough, even if I had my phone with me. 

The Seventh Amendment

"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."

The right to a jury trial in federal court shall be given to any civil case (ex. car accidents, discrimination or employment disputes) where the value in controversy exceeds twenty dollars. This type of case is usually not heard of in the federal court system anymore.

Thomas Jefferson supported the seventh amendment because by letting the people participate in the judicial process, the government is held to the Constitution and not able to unfairly prosecute people. Government at the local and federal level is held accountable for treating people fairly, and the people are able to stand up for their own rights. 

https://priceonomics.com/how-a-lawsuit-over-hot-coffee-helped-erode-the-7th/

This article, titled "How a Lawsuit over Hot Coffee Helped Erode the 7th Amendment" In 1992, an elderly woman named Stella Liebeck spilled a hot McDonald's coffee on her lap. She got third-degree burns on 6% of her body, received several skin grafts, and needed 2 additional years of medical attention. Her family successfully sued for around $3 million, and the media made the Liebecks look greedy for money. Americans have normalized the idea of people suing for insane reasons to get millions of dollars, leading to abuse of trial by jury.