10 Amendments
10th
Anything that the Constitution doesn't say that Congress can do should be left up to the states, or to the people.
4th
Freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.
1st
Congress can't make any law about your religion, or stop you from practicing your religion, or keep you from saying whatever you want, or publishing whatever you want (like in a newspaper or a book). And Congress can't stop you from meeting peacefully for a demonstration to ask the government to change something.
2nd
Congress can't stop people from having and carrying weapons, because we need to be able to defend ourselves.
8th
Freedom from excessive bail, cruel and unusual punishments.
1st
Freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
6th
If you're arrested, you have a right to have your trial pretty soon, and the government can't keep you in jail without trying you. The trial has to be public, so everyone knows what is happening. The case has to be decided by a jury of ordinary people from your area. You have the right to know what you are accused of, to see and hear the people who are witnesses against you, to have the government help you get witnesses on your side, and you have the right to a lawyer to help you.
9th
Just because these rights are listed in the Constitution doesn't mean that you don't have other rights too.
3rd
No quartering of soldiers.
4th
Nobody can search your body, or your house, or your papers and things, unless they can prove to a judge that they have a good reason to think you have committed a crime.
9th
Other rights of the people.
10th
Powers reserved to the states.
7th
Right of trial by jury in civil cases.
5th
Right to due process of law, freedom from self-incrimination, double jeopardy.
2nd
Right to keep and bear arms in order to maintain a well regulated militia.
6th
Rights of accused persons, e.g., right to a speedy and public trial.
8th
The government can't make you pay more than is reasonable in bail or in fines, and the government can't order you to have cruel or unusual punishments (like torture) even if you are convicted of a crime.
9th
This amendment ensures that the individual rights that are not enumerated in the Constitution are secure—that is, that these rights should not be automatically infringed upon because they are omitted from the Constitution.
9th
This amendment ensures that the individual rights that are not enumerated in the Constitution are secure—that is, that these rights should not be automatically infringed upon because they are omitted from the Constitution. The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
5th
This amendment guarantees a trial by jury and "due process of law," and guards against double jeopardy (being charged twice for the same offense) and self-incrimination.
5th
This amendment guarantees a trial by jury and "due process of law," and guards against double jeopardy (being charged twice for the same offense) and self-incrimination. 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 offense 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.
1st
This amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press, and protects the right of assembly. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
1st
This amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press, to petition the government for a redress of grivances, and protects the right of assembly.
3rd
This amendment guards against the forced quartering of troops.
3rd
This amendment guards against the forced quartering of troops. (In the years before the American Revolution, British officials forced the colonists to quarter—to house and feed—British troops.) No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
7th
This amendment lays out the rules of common law.
7th
This amendment lays out the rules of common law. 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 reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
10th
This amendment limits the power of federal government by reserving for the states all powers that are not explicitly granted to the federal government by the Constitution, nor denied to the states.
10th
This amendment limits the power of federal government by reserving for the states all powers that are not explicitly granted to the federal government by the Constitution, nor denied to the states. This amendment counterbalances Article VI, which invests the federal government with ultimate legislative authority. 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.
6th
This amendment outlines the rights of the accused, including the right to have a "speedy and public" trial, the right to be informed of the charges made against him, the right to call witnesses in his defense, and the right to have an attorney in his defense.
6th
This amendment outlines the rights of the accused, including the right to have a "speedy and public" trial, the right to be informed of the charges made against him, the right to call witnesses in his defense, and the right to have an attorney in his defense. 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.
8th
This amendment protects against "cruel and unusual punishments.
8th
This amendment protects against "cruel and unusual punishments." Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
4th
This amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
4th
This amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. (Warrant with proof is needed.)
2nd
This amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms.
2nd
This amendment protects the right to keep and bear arms. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
7th
You also have the right to a jury when it is a civil case (a law case between two people rather than between you and the government)
5th
You can't be tried for any serious crime without a Grand Jury meeting first to decide whether there's enough evidence for a trial. And if the jury decides you are innocent, the government can't try again with another jury. You don't have to say anything at your trial. You can't be killed, or put in jail, or fined, unless you were convicted of a crime by a jury. And the government can't take your house or your farm or anything that is yours, unless the government pays for it.
3rd
You don't have to let soldiers live in your house, except if there is a war, and even then only if Congress has passed a law about it.
