constitutional right

(noun)

Rights given to citizens by the constitution.

Related Terms

Examples of constitutional right in the following topics:

  • The Ninth Amendment

    • The Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, addresses rights of the people that are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution.
    • Subsequent to Griswold, some judges have tried to use the Ninth Amendment to justify judicially enforcing rights that are not enumerated.
    • Wade ruled in favor of a "Ninth Amendment right to choose to have an abortion," although it stressed that the right was "not unqualified or unfettered. "
    • The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
    • Analyze the relationship between enumerated and unenumerated right in the Constitution

  • The Constitutional Right to Petition the Government

    • In the United States, the right to petition is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the national Constitution.
    • In the United States the right to petition is guaranteed by the First Amendment to the federal constitution, which specifically prohibits Congress from abridging "the right of the people...to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. " Although often overlooked in favor of other more famous freedoms, and sometimes taken for granted, many other civil liberties are enforceable against the government only by exercising this basic right .
    • The right to petition is a fundamental in a Constitutional Republic, such as the United States, as a means of protecting public participation in government.
    • The right to petition is protected by the First Amendment in the Bill of Rights.
    • Constitution

  • The Twenty-Seven Amendments of the U.S. Constitution

    • There are 27 amendments to the constitution, the first 10 being the Bill of Rights .
    • The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
    • The 11th secures the right to sue a state.
    • The 19th gives women the right to vote.
    • The Bill of Rights are the first 10 of 27 amendements to the Constitution, and serve to protect the natural rights of liberty and property.

  • Ratification of the Constitution

    • In order for all states to ratify, a compromise over a bill of rights had to be made.
    • New York and Virginia ratified the Constitution under the condition that a Bill of Rights be added.
    • Ten of the amendments would become the Bill of Rights.
    • The Bill of Rights was enacted on December 15, 1791.
    • Amendment 7: Provides for the right to trial by jury in civil cases.

  • Informal Methods of Amending the Constitution: Societal Change and Judicial Review

    • The United States Constitution can be changed informally.
    • Sometimes society changes, leading to shifts in how constitutional rights are applied.
    • Due to a burgeoning middle class at the peak of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, society became focused on expanding rights for the middle and working classes.
    • This led to the right to vote being extended to more and more people.
    • A number of other countries whose constitutions provide for such a review of constitutional compatibility of primary legislation have established special constitutional courts with authority to deal with this issue.

  • The Bill of Rights

    • The Bill of Rights refers to the first ten amendments of the Constitution that outlines the basic freedoms held by American citizens.
    • The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution.
    • However, the idea of adding a bill of rights to the Constitution met with some resistance from the Federalists.
    • Ninth Amendment: protects the rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution.
    • James Madison, "Father of the Constitution" and first author of the Bill of Rights

  • The Bill of Rights

    • The Bill of Rights is the collective name for the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution .
    • The Constitution may never have been ratified if a bill of rights had not been added .
    • The Ninth Amendment protects rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution.
    • James Madison, "Father of the Constitution" and first author of the Bill of Rights
    • Without the addition of the Bill of Rights, it is unlikely that the Constitution would have been ratified.

  • The Second Amendment

    • The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the part of the United States Bill of Rights that protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
    • 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.

  • The Constitution

    • The first 10 constitutional amendments ratified by three-fourths of the states in 1791 are known as the Bill of Rights.
    • These basic rights were life, liberty, and property.
    • The first 10, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified simultaneously by 1791.
    • There is a viewpoint that some Americans have come to see the documents of the Constitution, along with the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, as being a cornerstone of a type of civic religion.
    • This is suggested by the prominent display of the Constitution, along with the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights.

  • The State Constitutions

    • In the United States, each state has its own constitution.
    • The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, provides that "[t]he 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. " The Guarantee Clause of Article 4 of the Constitution states that "[t]he United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government. " These two provisions give states the wide latitude to adopt a constitution, the fundamental documents of state law.
    • Often modeled after the federal Constitution, they outline the structure of the state government and typically establish a bill of rights, an executive branch headed by a governor (and often one or more other officials, such as a lieutenant governor and state attorney general), a state legislature, and state courts, including a state supreme court (a few states have two high courts: one for civil cases and the other for criminal cases).
    • Many state constitutions, unlike the federal constitution, also begin with an invocation of God.
    • These constitutions are subject to congressional approval and oversight, which is not the case with state constitutions.