Since an awful lot of folks in the government try so hard to misinterpret the Bill of Rights and to limit our rights, I submit the following "revision," in contemporary language. Had the founding fathers know what "modern" government would try to do, and their twisting of words, they probably would have written things this way.
Preamble
To protect the people, the government is severely restricted when it comes to inalienable rights and has no power to change or modify them, whether listed or unlisted.
Article I
The government shall make no law about establishing a state religion, nor shall
they prohibit the free exercise of a religion by its citizens, either individually
or corporately, in public or in private; nor limiting the freedom of speech, nor of the press; nor the right of
the citizenry to peaceably to assemble for their purposes, nor to travel freely,
nor to petition the government for a just redress of grievances of its citizens.
Article II
An armed citizenry being necessary to the security of a free people and state,
the right of citizens, either individually or corporately, to acquire, keep, bear, and transport arms, shall not be
infringed upon, limited, restricted, nor taxed, in any way.
Article III
No soldier nor agent of the government shall, in time of peace or war be quartered in any citizen’s house
or other buildings, without the consent of the owner, and reasonable
compensation shall be given to the owner of such housing, and retitution made
for any damages.
Article IV
All citizens shall be secure in their persons, houses, properties, papers,
rights, and effects, against unreasonable searches, forfeitures, and seizures.
No lawful property may be seized or forfeited for any reason unless upon a warrant. No
warrants shall be issued for seizures or forfeiture, except upon probable cause of a malum in se offense,
supported by oath or affirmation [of at least 3 sworn witnesses], and particularly
describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized, and
the reasons for such actions, and limiting things searched and seized to those items
enumerated in the warrant. If charges are dismissed or a not guilty
verdict is returned all property and rights will be immediately restored and
compensation made for any damages to property seized.
Article V
No citizen shall be held to answer for any crime, unless on a
presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the
military forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or
public danger. No citizen; shall be subject to prosecution or punishment
twice for the same offense. No citizen shall be compelled in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself. No citizen may be subjected to any
future punishment or forfeiture of property or rights after the completion of
the original sentence. No laws may be made retroactive to increase a sentence
or punishment after the fact.
Article VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and
public trial within [120] days, by an impartial jury of the state and district
wherein the crime shall have been committed, that district having been
previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the
accusation; to be confronted with all witnesses and evidence against him prior to the trial;
to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the
assistance of a learned and able counsel for his defense.
Article VII
No suits may be brought at common law, where the actual value in controversy is less
than 500 dollars. In suits where the actual value in question is greater than ten
thousand dollars a jury, shall be called and their verdict may not otherwise be
reexamined in any court of the United States. In suits, the plaintiff shall bear all costs of litigation of
both the plaintiff and defendant in the litigation if the plaintiff loses such
litigation.
Article VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and
unusual punishments inflicted, nor any rights permanently denied. A
citizen lawfully deprived of any right or privilege as part of a sentence shall
have those rights or privileges restored immediately upon the completion of the
sentence.
Article IX
The listing in the Constitution, of these certain rights, shall not be construed
to deny or disparage other inalienable rights not mentioned here or retained by
the people, either individually or corporately.
Article X
The powers not specifically delegated to the government by the Constitution, are reserved
exclusively to the states , or to
the citizens. No law, regulation, nor restriction, may be enacted by any
agency of the government, such powers being delegated solely to the congress.
SOME THOUGHTS ON SPECIFIC ARTICLES
I
Basically the government is not to muck with the lives and beliefs of its citizens.
II
The implicit meaning of the Second Article, regulating what a person can do, own, possess, or use in a responsible
manner whether it be firearms, machinery, or books is inconsistent with a
free nation. Misuse should be regulated, not possession.
III
I think this one is self explanatory. The government must at all times
respect the rights and property of its citizens no matter what the situation,
and the government cannot simply take over civilian property for its own
use--temporarily or permanently no matter what the situation.
IV
Particularly with respect to forfeiture, the state has no moral or legal authority to seize
property or to cause a person to forfeit property with out full and just
compensation, just because the government or its officials want it. The only
property that can be seized under law is that which was acquired under criminal
activity.
V and VI
There are basically only two types of crimes. "Malum in se" or crimes in and of themselves wrong
and malum prohabitum or crimes designated by the
state.
Malum in se crimes are things like such as murder, robbery, theft, armed assault or robbery, forcible rape or sexual assault, arson, piracy, hijacking, causing a death through negligence or misdeed such as DUI, and similar things
Malum prohabitum crimes are "crimes" created by legislation of the state, such as misstatements under oath, violations of local, state, or federal ordinances, and other similar non-violent offenses, and these days the state is in the business of making things illegal..
Life would be much simple and justice better served if only only malum in se crimes would be given jail time, while malum prohabitum offenses would be punished with fines, restitution, and indentured servitude, based upon the affect of the wrongful act upon the victim. As it now stands someone can actually be jailed longer for some minor non-violent offenses than someone who deliberately kills another person.
Having non-violent offenders provide restitution and servitude instead of incarcerating them would free up jail space for the violent offenders and would probably reduce the number of prisons needed, and might actually accomplish something for the victims. There's nothing wrong with indentured servitude as far as I'm concerned. Of course incarceration is big business these days.
With the possible exception of grievous crimes of violence a person's full rights should be restored at the completion of their sentence. They have paid their due.
VII
The intent of the founding fathers was to limit frivolous or harassing
lawsuits. The original $20 stipulation was a lot of money in those days.
VIII
Bail, fines, and punishment have to be in proportion to the value of the offense.
Torture and other punishments to inflict pain for revenge are not allowed. In
addition, there is no moral nor other justification to continue to deny a person's
rights (particularly one who's offense was non-violent in nature) at the
completion of their sentence.
IX
Even if a "natural" right isn't listed in these articles it is still a right and it cannot
be altered nor taken away by the government. In short, if in doubt the
right is the people's.
X
Powers not stated in the Constitution as being the purview of the government are
reserved for the states or the citizens. Nowhere in the Constitution, nor in the minds of the Founding Father's are
government agencies or individual personnel given the power to make laws and to make
non-compliance a criminal activity. Laws can only be made by congress.
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Updated 2008-01-15