textfiles/politics/amendme.nts

AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION IF THE UNITED STATES


AMENDMENT I                                           (1791)

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.
      

AMENDMENT II                                          (1791)

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.


AMENDMENT III                                         (1791)

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.


AMENDMENT IV                                          (1791)

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.
      

AMENDMENT V                                           (1791)

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 to be taken for public use, without just compensation.


AMENDMENT VI                                          (1791)

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.


AMENDMENT VII                                         (1791)

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.


AMENDMENT VIII                                        (1791)

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


AMENDMENT IX                                          (1791)

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

AMENDMENT X                                           (1791)

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respective-
ly, or to the people.


AMENDMENT XI                                          (1798)

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.


AMENDMENT XI              (1804)

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-Presi-
dent, 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.


AMENDMENT XIII                                       (1865)

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.


AMENDMENT XIV                                         (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 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.


AMENDMENT XV                                           (1870)

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.


AMENDMENT XVI                                          (1913)

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from
whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several
states, and without regard to any census of enumeration.


AMENDMENT XVII                                         (1913)

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from
each state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each
Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the
qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of
the state legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate,
the executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to
fill such vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may
empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the
people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or
term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the
Constitution.


AMENDMENT XVIII                                         (1919)

SECTION 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the
manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within,
the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the
United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for
beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.

SECTION 2. The Congress and the several states shall have concurrent
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

SECTION 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the
several states, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years
from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the Congress.


AMENDMENT XIX                                          (1920)

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 sex.

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


AMENDMENT XX                                           (1933)

SECTION 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at
noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Repre-
sentatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such
terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the
terms of their successors shall then begin.

SECTION 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and
such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they
shall by law appoint a different day.

SECTION 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the
President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President
elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen
before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the Presi-
dent elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect
shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the
Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President
elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who
shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act
shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a
President or Vice President shall have qualified.

SECTION 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of
any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a
President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them,
and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the
Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall
have devolved upon them.

SECTION 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of
October following the ratification of this article.

SECTION 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of
three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of
its submission.


AMENDMENT XXI                                          (1933)

SECTION 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of
the United States is hereby repealed.

SECTION 2. The transportation or importation into any state, territory,
or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of
intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby
prohibited.

SECTION 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the
several states, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years
from the date of the submission hereof to the states by the Congress.


AMENDMENT XXII                                         (1951)

SECTION 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President
more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or
acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some
other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of
the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any
person holding the office of President when this article was proposed
by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding
the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within
which this article becomes operative from holding the office of
President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

SECTION 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of
three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of
its submission to the states by the Congress.


AMENDMENT XXIII                                        (1961)

SECTION 1. The District constituting the seat of government of the
United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:

A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the Dist-
rict would be entitled if it were a state, but in no event more than
the least populous state; they shall be in addition to those appointed
by the states, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the
election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a
state; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as
provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

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

AMENDMENT XXIV                                          (1964)

SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors
for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in
Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any
state by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.

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


AMENDMENT XXV                                          (1967)

SECTION 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of
his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

SECTION 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice
President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take
office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

SECTION 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro
tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and
duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declara-
tion to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the
Vice President as Acting President.

SECTION 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the
principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body
as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their
written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the
powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately
assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore
of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his
written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the
powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a
majority of either the principal officers of the executive department
or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within
four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives their written declaration that the Presi-
dent is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. There-
upon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight
hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within
twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if
Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is
required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that
the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as
Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and
duties of his office.                                        


AMENDMENT XXVI                                        (1971)

SECTION 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years
of age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United
States or any state on account of age.

SECTION 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.

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Prepared by Gerald Murphy (The Cleveland Free-Net - aa300)