Amendments 1-10 and 14 to the Constitution
1st
Amendment: 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.
2nd
Amendment: 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.
3rd
Amendment: 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.
4th
Amendment: 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.
5th
Amendment: 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.
6th
Amendment: 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.
7th
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.
8th
Amendment: Excessive bail shall not be required, nor
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted.
9th
Amendment: The enumeration in the Constitution of certain
rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.
10th
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.
14th
Amendment [1868]:
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 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.