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AMENDMENTS TO THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 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, and to petition the government
for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
(1791)
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state,
the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
(1791)
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the
consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed
by law.
Amendment IV
(1791)
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause,
supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to
be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
(1791)
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime,
unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising
in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in
time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same
offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled
in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property
be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
(1791)
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy
and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the
crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation;
to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process
for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel
for his defense.
Amendment VII
(1791)
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty
dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried
by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States,
than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
(1791)
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel
and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
(1791)
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed
to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
(1791)
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited
by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.
Amendment XI
(1798)
The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to
any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United
States by citizens of another state, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign
state.
Amendment XII
(1804)
The electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for
President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant
of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person
voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President,
and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President,
and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes
for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to
the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President
of the Senate;--The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the
Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes
shall then be counted;--the person having the greatest number of votes for
President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole
number of electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from
the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of
those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately,
by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be
taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum
for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the
states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. And
if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the
right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next
following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case
of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. The person
having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President,
if such number be a majority of the whole number of electors appointed, and
if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list,
the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall
consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the
whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally
ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President
of the United States.
Amendment XIII
(1865)
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within
the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Amendment XIV
(1868)
Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject
to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the
state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor
shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.
Section 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according
to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each
state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election
for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United
States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of
a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the
male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens
of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in
rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced
in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the
whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.
Section 3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or
elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military,
under the United States, or under any state, who, having previously taken
an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or
as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer
of any state, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort
to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House,
remove such disability.
Section 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized
by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for
services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.
But neither the United States nor any state shall assume or pay any debt or
obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United
States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such
debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
the provisions of this article.
Amendment XV
(1870)
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be
denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of race,
color, or previous condition of servitude.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Amendment XVI
(1913)
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever
source derived, without apportionment among the several states, and without
regard to any census of enumeration.
Amendment XVII
(1913)
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each
state, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall
have one vote. The electors in each state shall have the qualifications requisite
for electors of the most numerous branch of the state legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any state in the Senate, the
executive authority of such state shall issue writs of election to fill such
vacancies: Provided, that the legislature of any state may empower the executive
thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies
by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term
of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
Amendment XVIII
(1919)
Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture,
sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof
into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory
subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2. The Congress and the several states shall have concurrent power
to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several states,
as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission
hereof to the states by the Congress.
Amendment XIX
(1920)
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or
abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Amendment XX
(1933)
Section 1. The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon
on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives
at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have
ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors
shall then begin.
Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such
meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by
law appoint a different day.
Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President,
the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become
President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed
for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed
to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President
shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein
neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified,
declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who
is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a
President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any
of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President
whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case
of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice
President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following
the ratification of this article.
Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of
the several states within seven years from the date of its submission.
Amendment XXI
(1933)
Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the
United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2. The transportation or importation into any state, territory, or
possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating
liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several states,
as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission
hereof to the states by the Congress.
Amendment XXII
(1951)
Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more
than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as
President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was
elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than
once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of
President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent
any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President,
during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the
office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified
as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of
the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the
states by the Congress.
Amendment XXIII
(1961)
Section 1. The District constituting the seat of government of the United
States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number
of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be
entitled if it were a state, but in no event more than the least populous
state; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the states, but they
shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice
President, to be electors appointed by a state; and they shall meet in the
District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Amendment XXIV
(1964)
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary
or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President
or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or any state by reason of failure
to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
Amendment XXV
(1967)
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death
or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President,
the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation
by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of
the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration
that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until
he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and
duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal
officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may
by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the
Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office
as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the
Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration
that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office
unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers
of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide,
transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the
President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon
Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that
purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt
of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within
twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds
vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and
duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same
as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and
duties of his office.
Amendment XXVI
(1971)
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of
age or older, to vote, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States
or any state on account of age.
Section 2. The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
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