How does the US Constitution protect individual rights?
The United States Constitution provides immense protection to individual rights. The Bill of Rights, added to the Constitution in 1791, protects individuals from overreaching government power. The Bill of Rights includes the First Amendment, which protects key individual rights, such as freedom of speech, of the press, of religion, of assembly, and of petition. The First Amendment also protects the freedom of artistic expression and political protest. The Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. The Fifth Amendment says that individuals cannot be forced to testify against themselves in a criminal case and gives individuals the right to due process of law. The Sixth Amendment guarantees a speedy trial and the right to an attorney, while the Eighth Amendment prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The Constitution also prohibits states from infringing on individuals’ rights. The Fourteenth Amendment, for example, includes the Due Process Clause, which prevents states from taking away an individual’s life, liberty, or property without due process of law. The Ninth Amendment further recognizes that there are other individual rights, even if they are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution. The US Constitution thus provides a strong framework of protection for individual rights. Even so, the Supreme Court plays a key role in determining the scope of these rights. In Louisiana and other states, the state courts may look to the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution in making their own decisions regarding individual rights.
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