BILL OF RIGHTS
ARTICLE ONE
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.
ARTICLE TWO
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.
ARTICLE THREE
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.
ARTICLE FOUR
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.
ARTICLE FIVE
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 offence 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 process of law; nor shall
private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
ARTICLE SIX
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 defence.
ARTICLE SEVEN
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 re-examined in any court
of the United States, than according to the rules of the common
law.
ARTICLE EIGHT
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
ARTICLE NINE
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights,
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the
people.
ARTICLE TEN
The powers not delegated to the United States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people.
ARTICLE ELEVEN
January 8, 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.
ARTICLE TWELVE
September 25, 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-President, 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.
ARTICLE THIRTEEN
December 18, 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.
ARTICLE FOURTEEN
July 28, 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.
ARTICLE FIFTEEN
March 30, 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.
ARTICLE SIXTEEN
February 25, 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 or enumeration.
ARTICLE SEVENTEEN
May 31, 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 legislature.
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.
ARTICLE EIGHTEEN
January 29, 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
Congress.
ARTICLE NINETEEN
August 26, 1920
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall
not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any States on account
of sex. The Congress shall have power by appropriate legislation to enforce
the provisions of this article.
ARTICLE TWENTY
February 6, 1933
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice-President
shall end at noon on the twentieth day of January, and the terms of Senators
and Representatives at noon on the third 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 third 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
Presidentelect 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 President-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 Presidentelect 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.
ARTICLE TWENTY-ONE
December 5, 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. The 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.
ARTICLE TWENTY-TWO
February 26, 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.
ARTICLE TWENTY-THREE
June 16, 1960
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 District 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.
ARTICLE TWENTY-FOUR
February 4, 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 VicePresident, 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.
ARTICLE TWENTY-FIVE
February 10, 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 declaration 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 day 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. Thereupon 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 VicePresident
shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the
President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
ARTICLE TWENTY-SIX
July 1, 1971
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States,
who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
THE END