Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Constitution of the United States, I.1.9, Post 6

Hamilton said in Federalist 84, "[W]hy declare that things shall not be done which there is no power to do?" Indeed. As it turns out he was wrong because matters were even worse than he expected. We understood and followed the Constitution so poorly that it is good that we at least have had certain enumerated rights.

1. Freedom of speech, assembly. No state-establishment of religion.

2. Right to keep and bear arms.

3. No forced quartering of soldiers unless by law.

4. Right to due process in criminal law: no unreasonable search or seizure; warrants must be with probable cause and narrowly focused.

5. An open set of due-process rights, such as the right to grand jury indictment, the right not to testify against oneself, and the right not to be deprived of property with out due process and just compensation.

6. Along with the 5th Amendment, further rights to speedy trial, legal counsel, and so forth.

7. There is a right to jury trial in civil cases over matters exceeding $20.

8. Excessive bail and fines and cruel and unusual punishment are prohibited.

9. The mention of certain rights in the Constitution is not to be taken as indicating a complete list of the people's rights.

10. Powers not specified in the Constitution as belonging to the federal government belong to the states and the people.

11. Reiteration of the fact that the U.S. courts do not have authority in civil cases against a state.

12. Sets up a system by which electors vote separately for vice presidential candidates.

We have merely breezed through the actual Constitution and the first 12 Amendments because there is no point in this blog's spilling ink on them. Our target is the other selections in The Founders' Constitution. Next, we turn to John Locke.

Monday, April 6, 2009

The Constitution of the United States, I.1.9, Post 5

Article V provides for amending the Constitution by proposal of Congress or of two-thirds of the state legislatures and by ratification of three-fourths of the states.

Article VI accepts that contracts made before the adoption of the Constitution are valid. It states that the Constitution and laws made by Congress are supreme laws of the land overriding state law. Members of state and federal legislatures, judicial officers, and members of the executive branch all must take an oath to support the Constitution.

Article VII stipulates that the ratification of nine states is sufficient to establish the Constitution.

The Constitution of the United States, I.1.9, Post 4

Article IV sets up terms of cooperation and respect amongst states. Citizens of one state must enjoy the rights of the citizens of any state. Any fugitive from justice from one state shall be returned to it by the state to which he flees, documents, laws, and judicial decisions of one state shall be respected by other states.

The article also allows that Congress may admit new states and regulate U.S. territories and property. It guarantees a republican form of government to the states, and it requires that the federal government protect the states from invasion and, upon request, internal violence.

The Constitution of the United States, I.1.9, Post 3

In Article III we see that federal judicial power lies in the Supreme Court and inferior federal courts establishes. It extends to cases arising under the Constitution, U.S. laws, U.S. treaties or maritime matters, cases in which the U.S. is a party, and cases between an American and a foreigner; in all these cases it has appellate jurisdiction. (However, the 7th Amendment secured the right to trial by jury in civil cases where amounts at stake exceed $20.) The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction in cases involving foreign service officers or in which a state is a party. All criminal cases are to be tried by jury.

Article III also defines treason: levying war against the U.S. or adhering to or giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Congress declares the punishment of treason.

Friday, March 13, 2009

The Constitution of the United States, I.1.9, Post 2

The Constitution divides powers across the people, the Congress, the president, and the judicial branch. Man has a tendency to do evil and to oppress Man. The dispersal of power helps to stop him from becoming a tyrant.

Here at The Founders' Constitution, we'll be lingering over many of the founding documents. But I am only taking a cursory bird's-eye view of the Constitution itself. Let's take a look at the executive branch: the president.

The president commands the army, navy and, when called up to serve the United States, the militia.

The president may require of any member of his cabinet an opinion regarding the affairs with which that cabinet is charged to oversee.

The president may grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States.

The president may make treaties with the approval of two-thirds of the senate

The president appoints, with the advice and consent of the Senate, ambassadors, judges, and all other officers of the United States whose appointments are not otherwise provided for in the Constitution and which are established by law.

The president may recommend laws to the Congress, and address it regarding the state of the Union.

The president receives ambassadors and other public ministers.

The president makes sure that the laws are executed.

The president commissions all the officers of the United States.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Constitution of the United States, I.1.9, Post 1

Let's take a bird's eye view of The Constitution. First, Article I.

Below I've listed the powers vested in the Congress by the Constitution. Congress can tax and borrow money in order to provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States:
  • To regulate commerce (amongst states and internationally)
  • To make naturalization law
  • To make bankruptcy law
  • To print and coin money and to regulate its value and the value of foreign money.
  • To set standards of weights and measures;
  • To punish the counterfeiting of U.S. securities and money.
  • To establish post offices and post roads;
  • To secure patents for inventors.
  • To constitute tribunals inferior to the supreme Court.
  • To define and punish piracy and violations of international law (The Law of Nations).
  • To declare War (and grant letters of marque and reprisal) and make rules concerning captures on land and water.
  • To maintain an army and a navy and set laws governing them.
  • To provide for calling forth the militia to enforce law, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions.
  • To make legislation for the District of Columbia.
  • To make laws necessary to execute the powers listed above and all other powers listed in this Constitution.
The Congress has no other powers. This is explicitly stated in the Tenth Amendment. Has the Congress stepped outside of its Constitutionally circumscribed authority? Of course it has.