Constitutional Topic: Rights and Responsibilities
The Constitutional Topics pages at the USConstitution.net site are presented
to delve deeper into topics than can be provided on the Glossary Page or in the FAQ
pages. This Topic Page concerns Constitutional Rights and
Responsibilities.
Generally speaking, governments are set up to make society a better, more
orderly place to live. They do so by providing rules for conduct, by providing
punishments for disobeying the rules, and by providing services to the
citizenry. These tasks are typical of all governments. For example, in ancient
Rome, murder, robbery, rebellion, and treason were all illegal – a common
punishment, especially for slaves and non-citizens, was death by crucifixion.
The Roman government also provided public entertainment as well as water and
sewage services. Today, there are many things that are crimes, with various
fines and jail terms, and sometimes even death, defined as penalties. And the
services that are provided are myriad, from road maintenance to food stamps.
To do all of these things, governments must be vested with a certain degree
of power. It is this power that can be most dangerous to the liberties of the
people. To find out who committed a certain crime, police must be able to
question suspects and witnesses, and be able to search for evidence. In a
society where the government is omnipotent, the powers of the police to detain,
question, and search, are unlimited. In fact, the power to determine guilt
would be unlimited.
When the Framers of the Constitution met to to establish a new form of government, they were
very careful about the powers they gave the government. Many of the Framers
were political scholars, and the speeches given at the Convention are sprinkled
with references to governments from ancient times right up to the then-current
ones in Europe.
The Framers were concerned with a few things over all. They wanted to create
a national government that was effective and powerful, but which did not
infringe upon the rights of the individual, nor upon the powers of the
states.
Individual rights in the original Constitution
Though there were some who pushed hard for a bill of rights in the new
Constitution, there wasn’t one specifically added in the Constitution. However,
in what some have termed a “mini-Bill of Rights,” some rights were guaranteed by
the original Constitution.
In Article 1, Section 9 of the
Constitution, there are three key individual rights that are protected:
“The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended,
unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require
it.”
“No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed.”
The latter two, in Article 1, Section 10,
are also prohibited of the states.
Habeas corpus, which requires an authority to prove to a court why it has
cause to hold someone, is a key individual right. A bill of attainder is a
bill written to punish one person or group of people. An ex post facto
law is one which retroactively makes an act a crime. Though most of the Framers
were skeptical of “paper barriers” to excess in governmental powers, these
three prohibitions were seen to be important enough to be included from the
beginning.
Article 3, Section 3 is also very specific
about how a charge of treason can be brought, and that only a person convicted
of treason can be punished for treason (no “corruption of blood”).
Other rights
There are a few other rights that are not directly protected, but which
can be protected. Specifically, in Article 1, Section 8, Congress is granted the
power to protect the “Writings and Discoveries” of individuals by legislation.
These are better known as copyright and patent.
Some other rights are also not directly protected but are inherent. The
members of the House of Representatives, for example, are to be elected “by the People of the several States.” There
must, therefore, be an inherent right of the people to elect Representatives.
The 17th Amendment expanded this inherent right
to the election of Senators.
The Bill of Rights
The Bill of Rights, which is recognized as the first ten amendments to the
Constitution, lists many rights of individuals. It is important to note here
why the a bill of rights was not originally included in the Constitution. Most
of the Framers felt that any power to infringe upon individual rights would not
be legal under the Constitution, since the power to infringe was not granted to
the United States by the Constitution. But the arguments of the people who
supported a bill of rights eventually prevailed, and guarantees were added to
the Constitution within a few years. It is also important to note that the
Bill of Rights does not grant people the listed rights. The Bill of Rights
simply guarantees that the government will not infringe upon those rights. It
is assumed that the rights pre-exist. It is an important distinction.
The Bill of Rights as a topic is discussed in
much more detail elsewhere, but it is appropriate to list the individual
rights that are included in the Bill of Rights. These are:
1st Amendment: Freedom of (or from) religion.
Freedom of speech. Freedom to assemble. Freedom to petition the government.
2nd Amendment: Right to bear arms.
3rd Amendment: Freedom from quartering
soldiers.
4th Amendment: Freedom from unreasonable
searches and seizures. Warrants must only be issued upon probable cause, and
shall be specific.
5th Amendment: Criminal indictments must be by
grand jury. Freedom from double jeopardy. Freedom from testifying against
oneself. Right to face accusers. Right to due process. Right of just
compensation for takings.
6th Amendment: Right to speedy trial. Right to
impartial jury. Right to be informed of the charges upon which the accused is
held. Right to face accusers. Right to produce witnesses for the accused. Right
to legal counsel.
7th Amendment: Right to jury trial in civil
cases. Facts found by a jury cannot be reexamined by another court.
8th Amendment: Freedom from excessive bail or
fines. Freedom from cruel or unusual punishment.
9th Amendment: The listing of a right in any
other part of the Constitution does not imply that other unlisted rights do not
exist. Supreme Court decisions have found a handful of important rights that
fall under the 9th Amendment, such as the right to privacy.
Other Amendments
The Bill of Rights covered most of the most important rights that had been
left out of the original Constitution. However, only time could reveal other
important rights that had not been covered – or time allowed enough minds to
be changed to allow other rights to gain enough popularity to be protected by
an amendment.
13th Amendment: Right to not be a slave.
14th Amendment: Right to citizenship of any
person born in the United States. Right to equal protection of the national
and state laws. Right to be free of any law that abridges the privileges or
immunities of a citizen. Right to be free of any law that deprives a person
of life, liberty, or property without due process.
15th Amendment: Right to vote regardless of
race or color.
17th Amendment: Right to vote for
Senators.
19th Amendment: Right to vote regardless of
gender.
23rd Amendment: Right to vote for
presidential electors if a resident of Washington, D.C.
24th Amendment: Right to vote even if a poll
tax or any other tax is unpaid.
26th Amendment: Right to vote guaranteed for
any person at least 18 years old.
Responsibilities under the Constitution
With all these rights listed and guaranteed by the Constitution, many believe
that the Constitution must impose a great number of responsibilities upon the
individual as well. This is not the case. No where will you find an explicit
list of responsibilities that the Constitution imposes.
However, the Constitution assumes some civil duties, and these are inherent
in the Constitution.
For example, the Constitution presumes lawfulness. It is a responsibility,
then, to obey the law. For those who do not, there are protections, but the
presumption of lawfulness is apparent.
The Constitution sets rules for a conviction for treason against the United
States. This presumes loyalty to the United States. It is a responsibility,
then, to be loyal to the United States
The Constitution presumes juries, particularly an impartial one. It is a
responsibility, then, to serve as an impartial juror when called.
The Constitution presumes an army and a navy, and provides the Congress with
the power to raise armies. Service during war is also mentioned. It is a
responsibility, then, to serve in the armed forces when called.
The Constitution is peppered with amendments that expanded the right to vote
– many people, over several centuries, have worked hard to bring the vote to as
many people as possible. With few exceptions, all persons, 18 or older, can
vote in any public election. It is a responsibility, then, to vote.
The Constitution Society
Web Site has a large, exhaustive list of constitutional rights, powers, and
responsibilities at several levels, including personal and those of the
government.