Chap. 4 Day 1, Aim: How do Civil Liberties protect our freedoms? Do NOW- Pair/Share: 1) Why is the B. of R. necessary? “The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections.” -Sup.Ct. Justice Robert H. Jackson

Unalienable Rights in Constit. 2. In Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution- some unalienable rights spelled out. 3. The writ of habeas corpus- prevents people from being held in custody without being charged with a crime. WHY? 4. Ex post facto laws- ensure that a person cannot be convicted of a crime if the action was performed before the action became illegal. WHY? 5. Bill of attainder laws – ensure that each citizen receives due process in the legal system and prevent Congress from passing laws that find someone guilty of a crime without a trial. WHY?

Other Unalienable Rights 6. Article III, Sections 2 and 3 of Constitution- other unalienable rights. 7. State that the trials of crimes shall be by jury and the venue of trials shall be in the state where said crimes are to have been committed. 8. Also, punishment for treason - a person found guilty of treason can only be assigned punishment for the guilty person's lifetime, and that his or her punishment must not extend to his or her family. 9. It also requires that two eyewitnesses prove the act of treason, an obligation that limits the number of treason trials. 10. Rosenberg Trial

Battle for Bill of Rights 11. The Federalists and Anti-Federalists disagreed over the inclusion of the Bill of Rights. 12. Representing the Federalists, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay wrote "The Federalist Papers," which opposed the inclusion of a Bill of Rights. WHY? (hint- see two previous slides) 13. They did not disapprove of the rights that would be protected under a federal Bill of Rights, but rather they felt the Constitution adequately limited governmental power and therefore the Bill of Rights was unnecessary. They also feared that any explicit list of rights would actually limit rights because it would appear that citizens had only those rights and no others.

Battle for Bill of Rights 14. However, Benjamin Franklin began exchanging a series of letters with Madison and eventually shifted Madison’s thinking. 15. Also contributing to Madison’s change of heart was the realization that the Anti-Federalists would block the ratification of the Constitution without a federal Bill of Rights. With Franklin’s input, Madison began to favor not only a federal Bill of Rights, but also one with language even more specific than most of the states’ Bills of Rights. 16. With Madison’s support, ten amended statements comprising the Bill of Rights were added to the Constitution, approved by Congress in 1789, and ratified by the states in 1791.

Bill of Rights

17. Nationalization of Bill of Rights- right applied to all 50 states

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