The BILL OF RIGHTS

                        As provided in the FIRST TEN
                                 AMENDMENTS
                         TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
                               UNITED STATES

                        Effective December 15, 1791
 
 

Preamble to the bill of rights of the Constitution of the United States of America

Conventions of a number of States, having at the time of their adopting
the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction
or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses
should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the
Government, will but ensure the beneficent ends of its institution

      RESOLVED...the following articles be ... part of the said
      Constitution;

  NOTE: THIS PREAMBLE IS NOT OFFICIALLY A PART OF THE CONSTITUTION

ARTICLES IN ADDITION TO, AND AMENDMENT OF, THE CONSTITUTION OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, PROPOSED BY CONGRESS, AND RATIFIED BY THE
LEGISLATURES OF THE SEVERAL STATES, PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF
THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION

                                AMENDMENT I
                                  (1791)

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of
speech, or 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 offence 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
                                   (1795)

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 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 the Electors appointed; and if no person have such a 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  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 income, from
whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States,
and without regard to any census or 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: Provide, 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 3rd 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 3rd 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 then 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 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 amendment 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, 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 amendment 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 the
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)
eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States or by any State on account of age.

SECTION 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by
appropriate legislation.
 

                              AMENDMENT XXVII
                                  (1992)

   No law, varying the compensation for the services of Senators and
Representatives, shall take effect until an election of Representatives
have intervened.