1. CHAPTER 2: CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
Ms. Baumgartner
Law in Society

2. 2-1: Foundations of the U.S. Constitution
Documents that Formed our Nation
Declaration of Independence
July 4, 1776 meeting in Philadelphia with members from 13 original American colonies
Thomas Jefferson (Virginia) wrote first draft
Declared that “all men are created equal” and “have rights such as life, liberty & pursuit of happiness”
Decided our Nation’s powers would come from the people living in it
American War of Independence was going on at this time and continued more than 8 years

3. Articles of Confederation
The 13 colonies united in 1781 under this charter
Government was to be conducted by one house, with 2-7 reps from each state, each state had 1 vote
Congress members could not serve more than 3 yrs
The legislature powers were: declare war, make peace, enter into treaties, coin money, establish mail system, settle arguments between states
Commander in chief appointed
Fugitives and slaves were not entitled to same privileges as free citizens
Major bills or laws require 2/3 vote to pass
Amendments (changes) to articles required unanimous vote of the states

4. U.S. Constitution
Many wanted a stronger central government, so called an emergency meeting for delegates in 1787
Drafted the first U.S. Constitution
March 4, 1789 was the date the government began operating under the new constitution
Many felt it the wording failed to protect human rights, which led to the Bill of Rights (Rhode Island was last to ratify Constitution because of this belief)

5. The Bill of Rights First 10 amendments to Constitution
Ensures that U.S. Citizens would have human rights
Amendment I: free to practice your own faith/religion without government interference; freedom of speech, press, petition, peaceful assembly
Amendment II: right to keep and bear Arms, right to have an army to protect our free country
Amendment III: no soldier shall be kept inside a house without the consent of the owner during war time
Amendment IV: protect against unreasonable searches and seizures
Amendment V: person shall not be tried for the same crime more than once, does not have to be a witness against himself in a trial

6. Amendment VI: accused have to the right to a speedy and public trial
Amendment VII: right of trial by Jury
Amendment VIII: no excessive bails, fines or cruel and unusual punishment may be inflicted
Amendment IX: protects rights of other people not previously mentioned in the Constitution
Amendment X: States have next power in line to Constitution

7. Civil Rights What’s Your Verdict? Pg 28
Personal human rights supported by the Constitution
Due Process of Law: you must be provided with adequate notice and proper hearing
Requires overall fairness when involved with law
Abolition of Slavery
Right to Vote
By gender: 1920 (can’t be denied due to gender)
By age: 1971(18 and over)
Peripheral Rights
Rights not mentioned anywhere else (privacy 1960s)

8. Academic Connection pg28
2-1 Assessment 1-11
2-1 quiz

9. 2-2: Division and Balance of Government Powers
System of Checks and Balances
Balancing of power between governmental branches by having the powers given to one branch check the powers given to another
Branches of Government
Legislative Branch
Makes the laws
the heart of this Branch is Congress (2 bodies)
Senate (2 members from each state)
Tries any impeach cases (criminal proceeding for a government official for misconduct in office)
House of Reps (seats according to population)
Taxing, bills, impeach pres/vice pres
Majority of BOTH bodies required to pass any bill

10. Executive Branch Judicial Branch Headed by President/Vice President
Officers in this branch are elected
Political party: private organization of citizens who select and promote candidates for elections
Judicial Branch
Headed by the Supreme Court
Legislative makes laws/bills, Executive signs/approves, Judicial decides if it agrees with Constitution

11. Changing the Constitution
Amendment: a change to make (2 possible ways)
Proposed by 2/3 majority vote in Senate and House
Requires the leaders of 2/3 of states to meet and 3/4 vote is needed to amend
The U.S. Form of Government
Pure Democracy: every adult citizen may vote (too hard for 300 million)
Republic Democracy: voters select their representatives to the 3 branches of government
Elected makes daily decisions, voters have all power

12. The Power to Govern Sovereignty of the States
10th amendment says all states can govern their own citizens within their own borders
Supreme political authority free from outside control
Although constitution is the supreme law of the land—prevails over state laws
Except: business law, contract law, criminal and tort law, property law, domestic relations law

13. Limiting States’ Powers
14th amendment: no state shall deprive a person born or naturalized in the U.S. of life, liberty or property without due process of law
States must respect this

14. Powers of Federal Government
Protect every state from invasion
Raise and support armies, navy, air force
Establish post offices, coin money, tax imports/exports
Enforce sales tax
Regulate interstate commerce
Business transactions/trades between states
Regulate intrastate commerce
Trade within a state’s own borders
Power over federal agencies
FDA, DHS, FTC, etc.

15. 2-2 Assessment 1-9
2-2 quiz

16. 2-3: The Internet and Constitutional Rights
Who Controls the Internet?
Foundations of Cyberlaw
Law intended to control the use of computers in electronic business and the Internet
Growing FAST
These cases can involve: jurisdiction, trademarks, copyrights, contracts, privacy, obscenity, defamation, security of data and crime
Judges in these cases leave decisions to Congress, state legislatures and administrative agencies

17. Birth of the Internet
U.S. Dept of Defense began intro to Internet in 1960s during Cold War
Tied computers together on different campuses on a network called ARPANET
Goal was to increase speed of defense projects by communicating with each other quickly— s, chat
Late 1980s, the National Science Foundation (NSF) built its own network to improve and take it over
Eventually, businesses began to get interested—they requested to use it for business purposes—rejected
1991 NSF users had to sign a contract they would not use network for business purposes

18. The World Wide Web
In 1990 the Internet opened up to new users through the creation of hypertext
Format for publishing information to send s, transfer data and use chat rooms
Developed mainly because of Tim Berners-Lee
Developed the World Wide Web (www) program in his spare time to allow almost universal access to anyone who has a computer
Wants every person to access a wide variety of information through the use of a scanning program called a BROWSER
Browsers utilize the old hypertext and allow immediate access to all subjects and additional background info
He created a hypertext markup language (HTML-decides on how web documents will be formatted) and hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP-provides rules for exchanging files in HTML)

19. Legal Issues in Cyberspace
Contracts, privacy, obscenity, defamation, security of personal data, trademarks and copyrights have all been areas of crime
The laws in the state where the crime occurs must accept lawsuits from individuals from other states. These are called “long arm statutes
Since cybercrime can happen between state to state in a matter of seconds, laws can get very fuzzy

20. Freedom of Speech Protected by first Amendment of the Constitution
May also include flag burning, government-hate publications
Does not accept shouting “fire” in a crowded theater or purposely writing lies about a celebrity
Roth vs the U.S. : what is obscene? Social importance?
Miller vs California: questionable material is to be judged by the standards of the effected community
Communications Decency Act (CDA): passed in 1996 to control the transfer of obscene material on Internet
Child Online Protection Act (COPA): companies need to restrict access to material viewable by children

21. Right of Privacy Official in 1960s
Based on whether or not your actions and beliefs deserve protection from others’ knowledge
What about work ?
Spamming—sending bulk s to hundreds/thousands of people—creates cookies (packets of information about a web site’s visitor)

22. 2-3 Assessment 1-5
2-3 quiz
Chapter 2 Assessment:
1-12
17, 24