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The Pros And Cons Of Selective Incorporation

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Imagine a nation where every single person had to follow a religion the government deemed acceptable, but not just that imagine a nation where the masses did not have a voice, where there would be no peaceful assembly, no printed press, almost no real freedoms; all of these privileges that we enjoy in our great country today were gifted to us by our founding fathers within the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is a set of amendments or better known as laws which give each person their unalienable rights within any of the fifty states in our country. These rights are protected by a constitutional doctrine known as Selective Incorporation, which prevents any state to create laws that would take away a persons constitutional rights. The doctrine was put in place after the civil war when the southern states had made their own laws that prevented former …show more content…

Even though I personally believe spreading hate into the world is one of the worst things an individual can do it is still wrong to try to shut down a person’s freedom to express their own beliefs no matter how disappointing their opinion may be. My thought process must have been similar to the judges on the Supreme Court during this case because the court ruled in favor of Mr. Neal claiming that the law created by Minnesota violated the first amendment of the Bill of Rights denying Mr. Neal’s freedom of speech and creating the essence of censorship by placing this law into

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In a small place called Salem Village, Massachusetts, over 200 people were accused of being witches and 20 people were executed, 1 being pressed to death. One woman, a woman who dared to do the impossible, a woman who dared to challenge the government, a woman by the name of Mary Dyer, was executed for practicing her religion which was declared illegal by the Puritan church. Why? It was because of suffocating grasp, the theocratic government, or the Puritan Church, had over the people. It all would have been different if the Puritan society was introduced to a document, we, as citizens of the United States, are so fortunate to have, which is called the Constitution, but more specifically, if they were introduced to the establishment clause.

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A divided New York Appellate Division affirmed on the ground that the statute was unconstitutional because it has the primary effect of advancing religion (Mercer Law Review, n.d). As the First Amendment of the U. S. Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” In this case the state of New York Legislature violated the Constitution.

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Chapter four of “Essentials of American Government Roots and Reform” describes civil liberties and their affect upon American government and society. Civil liberties, as defined in the book, are “the personal guarantees and freedoms that government cannot abridge, by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation.” Civil liberties that Americans enjoy include the freedom of religion, right to bear arms, freedom of speech, and freedom of privacy. I argue that civil liberties are important to preserve and that recent actions undertaken by the federal government have weakened them.

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The Bill of rights contained the most important accomplishment of the convention-The Establishment Clause. The Establishment Clause was designed to protect religion from government infringement. It’s survival and proper interpretation, may directly correlate to the survival of the United

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These amendments were added in the light of slavery but it sets the tone for future conflicts. There is a much greater understanding of the Bill of Rights now than there was back in the day. An example of incorporation is in the case Cantwell v Connecticut. This was about free exercise of religion. This case was about three Jehovah’s witnesses promoting the religion in a neighborhood while insulting Roman Catholicism.

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The ratification of the US Bill of Rights took place in 1789. The Bill of Rights supply citizens of the US with inalienable rights that they are born with and acquire if they immigrate. Since it was ratified, there have been several occasions in which these rights have been infringed upon during times of conflict, in which the United States government attempts to shield the nation from conflicting issues inside or even outside the country because of fear. The government believes that this unconstitutional action to restrict citizens’ rights must be done to protect citizens of the United States, but in an attempt to protect others, many become mistreated.

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This could include using your religion as an excuse to bomb a mall. The Bill of Rights ensures the Americans the right of free speech, but it also ensures that they are safe from harm caused by these freedoms. The amendments do an effective job at protecting the rights of the people when in regards to the five main freedoms. Most things are not limited in the United States, you can wear, do, say, or act

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This is a negative right, since it prohibits something rather than entitles it. Under this clause, the U.S. government is prohibited from establishing one religion above others. This is usually interpreted to mean that the Founding Fathers were trying to avoid the imposition of a 'state religion. ' Just like the Free Exercise Clause, though, there are times when it seems that religion and government can 't get out of each other 's way. Fortunately, the Constitution includes a process for resolving these questions: the U.S.

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It is the clear understanding of the First Amendment for over a century. The Bill of Rights guarantees the separation of church and state. It is prohibited to express the religious beliefs in all public institutions. However, it seems to be powerless to ban God in public schools, since local governments and not congress run public schools. The first big case that undermined the balance between the church and state.

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The Bill of Right’s which is also called the first 10 amendments is a set of laws for the right of the individual citizens of the united states to follow. The 1st Amendment protects your right to say what you want and lets you believe in any God you want. You have the right to stand and petition wherever you would like and say what you believe in as long as you are not hurting anyone. One amendment states, that all black men and women can vote, another amendment states the President can only be elected two times consecutively. Once you turn 18 you are free to vote and have the natural rights as an adult.

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Overview- The state of New York required every school to begin the day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and saying a nondenominational prayer. This law allowed students to not participate in the pray if it went against their belief. One of the student’s parents sued the school for violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The majority claimed that even though this law allowed students to not participating, the purpose of the First Amendment was to separate government with religion. The people believed that since there was a numerous different religion in the school, the school should not promote just one belief.

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For instance, when the federal government ruled that gay marriage is a lawful act, it secured the rights for people who didn’t have them beforehand, although there is a percentage of citizens who don’t agree with this practice, whether it be for religious reasons or otherwise. The solution? Our country has states for a reason, and during Colonial times, each state ran itself according to their beliefs. Consequently, if you disagree with your state’s belief on a certain issue, you have the ability to relocate to another that shares your values. Unfortunately, although there are some practices that differ between states, such as legalization of marijuana, not all laws are equal.

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The Bill of Rights are the first ten amendments in our Constitution which protect our fundamental rights and ensure a limited government. In 1868 the 14th Amendment was added, which guarantees citizens equal protection under the law and due process. For the Bill of Rights to be effective it would have to protect everyone rights equally, but there are too many cases when minorities or anyone else’s rights are infringed. Therefore the Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment is ineffective and does not protect the rights of all citizens. Someone’s race, gender, and religion could all affect how they are treated.

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Constitution: Preamble and Bill of Rights” the author is trying to secure the unalienable rights of the people. In the first Amendment of the U.S. Constitution it states, “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.” This Amendment gives power to the individual by prohibiting Congress from making new laws that will interfere with the freedom of speech of the people. The Preamble Constitution also reduces the power of the Federal Government by stating,” Secure the Blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” By saying this, the Constitution weakens the Federal Government by barring the government from making laws against these rights in not just the present but the future as well.

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These freedoms have been, discussed, debated and fought to preserve them. The Amendment also mentioned “the right of the people peaceably to assemble”. (Online Library of Liberty). Which consist on that every person has the right to a congress or congregate, without disturbing the peace or affecting the rights of others. This topic makes me think about what going on with the Jehovah Witnesses in Russia.

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