The First Amendment The First Amendment states that “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.” This Amendment basically protects free speech, among other rights—but in recent years it has been necessary to define

Lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=U.S.&vol=408&invol=238). The issues surrounding the 8th Amendment are often complex. The cruel and unusual punishment clause, for instance, may well be at a constitutional crossroads as we move into the 21st century. Depending on the health and position of society, and the manner in which globalization has changed the way America is perceived in the world, and perceives itself, a change in attitude regarding the rubric of punishment is part of

The only way, it would seem, to affect the kind of change that supporters of the initiative want is to amend the state constitution, effectively changing the law of the land. Supporters argue that this is the only viable option left, especially in light of the fact that marijuana is less dangerous the alcohol -- a legal drug -- and that the war on drugs has netted no significant

Georgia (428 U.S. 153). In that case, the Supreme Court finally ruled specifically that capital punishment was not inherently necessarily cruel or unusual, and therefore, was not a violation of the Eighth Amendment in and of itself (Schmalleger, 2008). Since Gregg, the issues surrounding the Eighth Amendment constitutionality of capital punishment relate to the specific methods of implementation in light of evidence that lethal injection, the most common method used

Nelson -- the decision in which was binding on all lower courts -- was decided in favor of the state law in Minnesota banning same-sex marriages (UMT 2010). Conclusion The issue of the rights of gay, lesbian, and transgendered people are still in a state f flux and some confusion, based on the Supreme Court's rulings on the various matters. On the one hand, there is a legal mandate in place

Regardless of the theoretical interpretation of this amendment, the practical effects thus far have been quite clear -- responsibilities and rights not handled by the federal government are left up to state and local governments. One of the most important areas in which this can be seen in action is through the investigation of crime. Because the federal government does not prohibit any state or locality's rights in searching