Abstract
According to The Library of Congress, "the 14th Amendment greatly expanded the protection of civil rights to all Americans and is cited in more litigation than any other amendment." A major part of the Amendment that coincides with the court case Gideon vs. Wainwright is the equal protection of laws within the jurisdiction of the states. In light of "Gideon's Trumpet," this paper explores the book's treatment of Gideon vs. Wainwright and how it influenced and defined judicial interpretation of the 14th Amendment.

From the Paper
"Clarence Gideon was no stranger to the law and the judicial system. He had been involved in numerous criminal activities and served several years in jail and prison for crimes such as burglary, robbery, larceny, theft, and drunkenness. After he was sentenced in Florida without having an attorney present in his court case, he felt mistreated and angry about the decision and decided to do something about it. He wrote several petitions to an FBI agent, the attorney general, and finally to the U.S. Supreme Court asking for an appeal of his case stating that he was not treated fairly because he was not appointed an attorney. The attorney general of Florida did not feel that Gideon had any "special circumstances" to justify an appointed attorney based on the previous case of Betts vs. Brady, but Chief Justice Earl Warren eventually accepted Gideon's petition for an appeal after Gideon wrote a letter back which stated, "...the question is very simple. I requested the court to appoint me an attorney and the court refused" (Gideon's Trumpet, pp 82). Gideon's petition went on to say that, "all countries try to give their citizens a fair trial and see to it that they have counsel" (MEIDC.org)."

Tags:constitution, law, amendment, supreme, court

Abstract
This paper provides an explanation of how the 14th Amendment came into being following the arguments between the Democratic and Republican parties. It also explains how today the idea that the states should be required to obey the Bill of Rights is under attack, stating that the rights of the individual are protected only so long as judges hold these rights in high esteem. The last part of the paper is the amendment itself.

Outline:
Introduction
The 14TH Amendment
Amendment XIV

From the Paper
''There wasn't much success for the opponents of slavery in the courts. The Republic in its initial years made some state decision which held that slavery desecrated libertarian guaranties of state constitutions. However, the judiciary paid less concentration to the claims of freedom and more attention to the wants of slaveholders.
Robert Cover, in his original and thoughtful study of the antislavery cause and the judicial process, argued that even antislavery judges followed a positivist approach to constitutional law. According to Cover, they rendered decisions against fugitive slaves because of their conception of the proper role of a judge. The judge followed positive law (whether it was morally right or wrong). He was bound by the intention of the framers, in the case of a constitution, or of the legislature, in the case of a statute. He operated on neutral principles -- the values he pursued were those of others, not his own. Cover found that the judicial response to antislavery was formal and mechanical. He concluded that "given a particular juristic competence, there will be very specific consequences to and limits on the performance of judges caught in the moral-formal dilemma.

Tags:14th, Amendment

Abstract
This paper examines the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution under the Bill of Rights. The author points out that this amendment prohibits unlawful searches and seizures on the part of the government and is aimed at protecting the security and privacy of individual citizens from government intrusions. The paper reviews the amendment and suggests some contemporary challenges to its authority.

From the Paper
"Anyone who has ever watched any of the number of courtroom dramas broadcast on television these days will have heard of the Fourth Amendment. For lawyers, it seems to be a phrase tossed around with ease with the likes of probable cause and unlawful search and seizure. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution constitutes one of the most important elements of the modern American justice system, but is one part that is not so well understood by the general populace. Additionally, the increasing number of electronic crimes via computers and the Internet has made the Fourth Amendment even more difficult to understand and appropriately apply for citizens and lawmakers alike."

Tags:fourth, amendment, government

Abstract
The paper discusses how the Second Amendment was raised in a recent Supreme Court case challenging a gun ban in Washington, D.C. The paper explains that such bans have been instituted in different ways in different jurisdictions as a response to increases in the crime rate, especially in the rate of violent crime committed by people using guns. The paper discusses how these laws have been challenged as infringing on the rights of the citizenry, rights thought to be affirmed by the Second Amendment and so protected from any legislative attack. The paper explains that whether the Second Amendment is that far-reaching is often the question raised.

From the Paper
"Second Amendment rights in Washington, D.C. are constitutional as decided by the Supreme Court this year. The Second Amendment was recently tested in a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court in a case questioning the gun ban instituted in the District of Columbia. The decision invalidated the gun ban and asserted that the Second Amendment applies to individuals and not just the militia. Still, the underlying issues are not entirely resolved, and the issue is likely to be raised again in the future."

Tags:second, amendment, d.c.

Abstract
This paper provides a discussion of the history, creation and ratification of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This Amendment repealed prohibition, and allowed the sale and consumption of alcohol to resume in the United States. The social climate in the era leading up to prohibition is discussed, as well as the results of prohibition. Some holes in the 21st Amendment are discussed in view of our current century. The author, however, concludes that the U.S. Constitution remains a living document that is capable of responding to changes in American society.

From the Paper
"During 1933, laws were passed in 43 states that provided for conventions in that or the following year (with the exceptions of Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and North Dakota) (Livingston 211). During the same year conventions were held in thirty-eight states of which thirty-seven ratified the amendment and one (South Carolina) rejected it. The thirty-sixth ratification was received in the late afternoon of December 5, 1933 and the certificate was issued by the Secretary of State less than an hour later (Livingston 211).
On December 6, 1933, the thirty-seventh ratification was received from Maine; as a result, it required less than eleven months after its submission to the states for the amendment to be ratified by the requisite three-fourths and the ill-fated experiment of national prohibition ended (Livingston 211). One of the reasons the process went so smoothly may have been based on a misconception among lawmakers at the time. For example, in his essay, "No More 'Cherry-Picking,'" Aaron Nielson (2004) reports that the 21st Amendment achieved the required votes in each house of Congress without causing much substantive debate, most likely because the majority of Congressmen at the time considered section one of the amendment, the simple repeal of constitutional Prohibition, as being its main thrust: "It seems that sections two and three of the Amendment were seen as being primarily procedural sections, necessary to support and implement section one" (Nielson 281). The implications of that fateful misperception have come back to haunt legislators today, particularly as they apply to section two."

Tags:Prohibition, alcohol, 18th, amendment, bootlegging

Abstract
This paper presents a history of the Fourth Amendment. The paper defines the Fourth Amendment, explains what it entails from a legal perspective what it entails and discusses the history of search and seizure Legality.

From the Paper
"The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: 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. The Fourth Amendment protects the right of the people to be secure against..."

Tags:Fourth Amendment, amendment, constitution, search, seizure, legality, law, history, Supreme Court

Abstract
This paper examines the effect of the Wright Amendment on Southwest Airlines. It explains that the Wright Amendment is a part of federal air transportation law in the United States that places arbitrary restrictions on common carrier air passenger traffic to and from Love Field in Dallas. The author explores why Southwest Airlines was against the Amendment.

From the Paper
"The Wright Amendment was a special interest addition to a major bill dealing with the airline industry that was enacted in the late ..."

Tags:Wright, Amendment, Political, Restrictions, on, Business, Airline, Industry, Southwest, Airlines

Abstract
The paper relates that the lawyers for the defense in the Rimbo case make the argument that the speech acts of the Rimbo brothers are protected by the First Amendment and that the brothers are therefore innocent of the charges leveled against them. The paper explains, however, how from the point of view of the government, there are compelling reasons why speech has to be curtailed at this time, at least certain forms of speech, and there are legal provisions for making that decisions and for addressing the issue so as to make this prosecution possible.

From the Paper
"The lawyers for the defense in the Rimbo case make the argument that the speech acts of the Rimbo brothers are protected by the First Amendment and that the brothers are therefore innocent of the charges leveled against them. From the point of view of the government, though, there are compelling reasons why speech has to be curtailed at this time, at least certain forms of speech, and there are legal provisions for making that decisions and for addressing the issue so as to make this prosecution possible. The fact that freedom of speech can be a difficult issue is one of the reasons freedom of speech was included in the Bill of Rights, to assure..."

Tags:first, amendment, law

Abstract
Stanford Students adopted a policy that made personally vilifying expressions an offense subject to penalties. The policy described outlawed expressions as " words or non-verbal symbols commonly understood to convey direct and visceral hatred or contempt for human beings on the basis of their sex, race, color, handicap, religion, or national or ethnic origin. This paper examines whether this policy should be ruled a violation of the First Amendment's right to free speech or whether it is a legitimate application of John Stuart Mill's harm principle.

Tags:first, amendment, speech

Abstract
This paper discusses how the United States Supreme Court has heard only five cases in relation to the Second Amendment to the Constitution. These cases include US v. Cruikshank, Presser v. Illinois, Miller v. Texas, US v. Miller, and Lewis v. US. In 1876 US v. Cruikshank was brought before the Supreme Court. The paper reviews the case of 1876, when U.S. v. Cruikshank was brought before the Supreme Court. The Court held that it was not an individual's right to "bear arms", that the ability of citizens to carry weapons was intended to address the need of the states to form a militia for the purpose of protecting the population.

Tags:constitution, second, amendment