Constitution Amendments

Question 1

1st Amendment

Answer 1

Five Freedoms:
Speech, Press, Religion, Assembly, Petition

Establishment Clause:
Government cannot establish an official religion.

Free Exercise Clause:
Individuals can practice their religion freely.

Cases:
Engel v. Vitale
Wisconsin v. Yoder
Tinker v. Des Moines
New York Times v. U.S.

Question 2

2nd Amendment

Answer 2

Right to bear arms:
Protects individual right to own firearms.

Case:
McDonald v. Chicago (applied to states via selective incorporation)

Question 3

3rd Amendment

Answer 3

Quartering of Soldiers:
No forced housing of soldiers in peacetime. Rarely tested.

Question 4

4th Amendment

Answer 4

Protection from Unreasonable Searches:
Requires probable cause and warrants.

Case:
Mapp v. Ohio (exclusionary rule).

Question 5

5th Amendment

Answer 5

Rights of the Accused:
No double jeopardy or self-incrimination.

Due Process Clause:
Federal government must respect legal rights.

Eminent Domain:
Government must compensate for property taken.

Question 6

6th Amendment

Answer 6

Fair Trial Rights:
Right to a speedy, public trial, an attorney, and to confront witnesses.

Case:
Gideon v. Wainwright.

Question 7

7th Amendment

Answer 7

Jury Trial in Civil Cases:
Applies to civil suits over $20.

Question 8

8th Amendment

Answer 8

Cruel and Unusual Punishment:
Protects against excessive fines/bail and inhumane punishment.

Debates:
Often used in death penalty cases.

Question 9

9th Amendment

Answer 9

Unenumerated Rights:
Citizens have rights not listed in the Constitution.

Question 10

10th Amendment

Answer 10

States’ Rights:
Powers not given to the federal government are reserved to states.

Question 11

11th Amendment

Answer 11

State sovereign immunity: establishes a limit on the power of the federal judiciary to hear certain lawsuits against states.

Question 12

12th Amendment

Answer 12

Revised the process for electing the President and Vice President

Question 13

13th Amendment

Answer 13

Abolished Slavery

Question 14

14th Amendment

Answer 14

Citizenship to all born or naturalized in the US

Citizenship Clause:
Anyone born in the U.S. is a citizen.

Due Process Clause:
States must respect individual rights (basis for selective incorporation).

Equal Protection Clause:
All citizens are guaranteed equal protection under the law.

Cases:
Brown v. Board
Roe v. Wade
Baker v. Carr
Shaw v. Reno

Question 15

15th Amendment

Answer 15

Prohibits voting discrimination based on race (gave African Americans the right to vote)

Question 16

16th Amendment

Question 17

17th Amendment

Answer 17

Direct election of U.S. senators by the people

Question 18

18th Amendment

Answer 18

Prohibition

Question 19

19th Amendment

Answer 19

Women’s right to vote

Question 20

20th Amendment

Answer 20

Reduced the presidential transition and the “lame duck” period

Question 21

21st Amendment

Answer 21

Repeal of Prohibition (18 Amend.)

Question 22

22nd Amendment

Answer 22

Limits presidents to two terms

Question 23

23rd Amendment

Answer 23

Grants the District of Columbia (DC) electors in the Electoral College, allowing its residents to vote in presidential elections

Question 24

24th Amendment

Answer 24

Banned poll taxes, a barrier to voting

Question 25

25th Amendment

Answer 25

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

Question 26

26th Amendment

Answer 26

Lowered voting age to 18 (in response to Vietnam War draft)