Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

The 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967 after the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The tragic killing of the popular president, prompted Congress to put an action plan in place in case a president or vice president was incapacitated.

The 25th Amendment was invoked for the first time by President Nixon, when his Vice President, Spiro Agnew, resigned amidst the Watergate quagmire.

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

A Synopsis Of The Amendments Of The U.S. Constitution: Part 5

21st Amendment- Repealed the 18th Amendment- which prohibited the sale of alcohol.
22nd Amendment- Limits the President to two terms.
23rd Amendment- Allows the District of Columbia to choose electors.
24th Amendment- Prohibits Congress and the states from basing citizens rights to vote in federal elections on the payment of any type of tax.
25th Amendment- States the procedure to follow if presidential disabilities would happen to occur. It also establishes the procedure for filling a vice presidential vacancy.
26th Amendment- States that the national voting age is 18 years old.
27th Amendment- States that any change of salary for members of Congress takes effect after the beginning of the next term for Representatives.

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

A Synopsis Of The Amendments Of The U.S. Constitution: Part 3

11th Amendment- Allows for the immunity of states from lawsuits from out-of-state citizens, and foreigners not living within the state's borders.
12th Amendment- States the presidential election guidelines.
13th Amendment- Prohibits slavery.
14th Amendment- Provides "equal protection under the law" for all people. Also used to end slavery, and racial segregation in the U.S.
15th Amendment- States that: "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."

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

A Synopsis Of The Amendments Of The U.S. Constitution: Part 2

6th Amendment: The right to a speedy trial.
7th Amendment: The right to trial by jury for civil cases.
8th Amendment: No cruel and unusual punishment, or excessive bail.
9th Amendment: Recognizes that just because a right isn't listed in the Constitution, it doesn't mean that that particular right doesn't exist.
10th Amendment: Rights not listed in the Constitution are rights that are reserved to the states, or to the people.

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

United States citizens are protected from double jeopardy by the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Double jeopardy disallows a defendant to be tried more than once on the same set of facts.

Double Jeopardy is also prohibited in Canada, India, Japan, and most European countries.

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

A Synopsis Of The Amendments Of The U.S. Constitution: Part 1

1st Amendment: Freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly
2nd Amendment: The right to keep and bear arms
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: Guards against unreasonable search and seizures
5th Amendment: Guarantees due process. Also guards against self incrimination and double jeopardy.

Will The Constitution Survive 2008?

We are in an era where we are constantly seeing our protective civil laws being obliterated. As imperfect and treacherous as the founding of this country was, there has always been hope lying in the words of our founding documents. The hope has been that one day we would live up to the ideals written in some of our original laws. How can we make a valiant attempt of achieving this goal, when the basic liberties that would protect us and encourage us to perform such a herculean task are being snatched away from us by the "people in power."

The human rights that were written into the Constitution are being steadily plucked off with the passage of bills like the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Amendments Act of 2008.

Infringing on someone's human rights is equivalent to attempting to damage an individual's God-given rights.

There is power in the Constitution (With the exception of the “Three Fifths Compromise” travesty- but that's another blog post for another day). It is our legal protection as American citizens. Yet the supposed "leaders of American citizens," are the very ones who are killing off our protective shield in a sinister act of friendly fire.

It seems like the role that the Constitution was supposed to play on our world's stage has been preempted by a greedy grab for power that is detrimental to ALL (including the people who are provoking this demise of civil rights).

Here is a precise and informative overview of the intended function of the constitution: “Constitutional law doesn’t address relations among individuals the way property, contract, and tort law do. Instead, it defines the structure and function of the government and the relationships between the government and individual citizens. It also defines the relative powers of the national government and the state governments and prohibits the government from taking certain actions, such as those that infringe on freedom of religion. In defining the limiting government powers, constitutional law is superior to every other body of law. The Constitution proclaims itself to be “the supreme Law of the Land.” Any state or federal law on any topic- contracts, criminal punishment, election contributions, or public schools- that conflicts with the Constitution is invalid.” -From: Law 101 By: Jay M. Feinman

A Moment Of Silence For The 4th Amendment Of The U.S. Constitution

The FISA Amendments Act of 2008, blatantly disregards the rights protected by the Fourth Amendment.

The Fourth Amendment of The U.S. Constitution states: "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."

[SIDEBAR: Another one bites the dust. The Patriot Act also assaulted the IV Amendment, as well as Amendments I and VI...Here's to the, law without order years...SMH.]