Bill of Rights Day observed this week

Bill of Rights Day is observed on Dec. 15.  Dec. 15, 1791, saw the ratification of the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution itself had been accepted by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787.

With the ratification by the ninth state (New Hampshire) on June 21,1778, the U. S. Constitution became legal. The other states would eventually join the first nine, with Rhode Island the last state to ratify on May 29, 1790. Throughout the process of ratification, a growing call for protection of individual liberties was heard.

This hue and cry was answered by the first10 amendments to the Constitution – the Bill of Rights.  Many of the freedoms we associate with the constitution and call our “constitutional rights” are actually found in those first 10 amendments.

Briefly those freedoms guaranteed us in the Bill of Rights are:

Amendment 1 – freedom of speech, press, assembly, protest and religion

Amendment 2 – freedom to keep and bear arms

Amendment 3 – freedom from housing soldiers

Amendment 4 – freedom from unreasonable search and seizure

Amendment 5 – freedom from double jeopardy, self-incrimination, lack of compensation and the right to due process and for serious charges to originate with a grand jury

Amendment 6 – the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury

Amendment 7 – the right to a jury trial is extended to federal cases

Amendment 8 – freedom from excessive fines, cruel and unusual punishment

Amendment 9 – though the Constitution lists specific rights it doesn’t deny people others not specified

Amendment 10 – the rights listed in the Constitution belong to the federal government, those not mentioned belong to the states or the people.

Review these 10 amendments, with their guarantee of fundamental rights, and celebrate them today, Dec. 15, 2022.