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Saturday, January 19, 2013

the drug war and the laws that prohibit the private consumption of certain drugs are un-Constitutional


July 26, 2011
President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous: 
Major step towards equity,
 justice, effective law enforcement
(Los Angeles, CA) – Today the NAACP passed
 a historic resolution 
calling for an end to the war on drugs. 
 The resolution was voted on by a majority
 of delegates at the 102nd NAACP Annual
 Convention in Los Angeles, CA.  
The overall message of the resolution is 
captured by its title: A Call to End the 
War on Drugs, Allocate Funding to 
Investigate Substance Abuse Treatment, 
Education, and Opportunities in
 Communities of Color for A Better Tomorrow.









































According to the Constitution

 Amendment 18 and 21, as long as drugs 

or in liquid form they are legal as follows:

Jim
Crow's drug war And 

The Bill Of Rights





Why the War on Drugs is a war against black people there is a new
Jim Crow system that traps many African-Americans in a
permanent underclass. That system is driven by the War on Drugs
which causes many young people to be stigmatized by felony
records — for a victimless crime — geared to stop their
education, housing, voting, property ownership, end their ability for control of their own procreating and assuming familia responsibilities and thereby rendering their offspring as the property of the state and most certainly to infringe on one's 2nd degree rights.

  .
"The arguments and rationalizations that have been trotted out in
support of racial exclusion and discrimination in its various forms
have changed and evolved, but the outcome has remained largely

the same. ...Rather than rely on race, we use our criminal justice system to

label people of color 'criminals' and then engage in all of the

practices we supposedly left behind. Today it is perfectly legal to

discriminate against criminals in nearly all the ways that it was

once legal to discriminate against African Americans." Jim

Crow's drug war 

USING THE BLATANT WORDING OF THE UNITED STATES

AMENDMENT 13

BILL OF RIGHTS
Abolition of slavery

Section 1. 
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, 

except as a punishment for crime where of 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 these article by appropriate legislation.

December 6, 1865.













COMPARE TO SOUTH AFRICA'S 13th 

AMENDMENT WHICH SIMPLY READS AS:




Section 13  Slavery, servitude and forced labour

No one may be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour.





According to the Constitution Amendment 18 and 21, as long as drugs or in liquid form they are legal as follows:

Amendment 18

Prohibition of liquor

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 there of 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.January 16, 1919. Repealed by the Twenty-First, December 5, 1933.


Amendment 21

Repeal of Prohibition

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. 

The 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.

December 5, 1933.








Why was there such violence? My own answer is that the violence was extreme, ritualized, exaggerated because race an extreme, ritualized, exaggerated category. My answer is also that racism is not automatic, not "human nature:" it took an enormous amount of social violence to make racism work--disenfranchisement, segregation laws, and finally even bizarre and grotesque acts of violence, to keep white and black people separate, and especially to keep black people down.




For Todays Thinkers




How can we constitutionally engage the Drug Market in a way that will save lives rather than destroy them?


 In Mali, jihad has frequently been mixed with kidnapping Europeans and seeking ransoms, drug trafficking and other criminal activities. Indeed, Mali has become an important node in the drug trade as Latin American cocaine passes through the Sahara en route to Europe and the Middle East. This lucrative trade has tempted many Malians, including government officials, who have profited handsomely from it. While, Mali’s economy has ground to a halt, many displaced persons have fled the north, and there are indications that famine could affect the country in the coming months.






Black Families Declare War on The NRA's Treason It's War on Drugs (African Children)"; Unlawful Imprisonment; Illiteracy; Death by Proxy



Why do they Hate Drugs Too Much--MoneyNeglected War
http://www.drugwar101.com/blog/archives/5357

Drug War 101

Drugs, weapons, human traffic and abuse. From the Mexican streets, to the Colombian mountains, to the Afghan-Russian border, to your teen's bedroom



















  • Briton grandmother sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking
  • Constitution Basics
  • Citizen Heroes: “They can’t kill us all”
  • Citizen Heroes: Drug War Insecurity Leads 40 communities in Michoacán to Arm Themselves
  • 92,000 Dead in Mexico’s War on the Drug Cartels
  • Ahmed Dogan Assassination Attempt (video)
  • Call off war on drugs, leader of Guatemala tells the west
  • 158 Mexican police detained for alleged drug ties
  • Plan To Offer Drug War Training To Mexican Commandos Raises Red Flags
  • Operation Martillo: Warship seizes 2,000 pounds of cocaine
  • Siberia Man Demands Lethal Drug Injection in Hostage Standoff to End Addiction
  • Hezbollah, Mexican organized crime connection debated
  • Priest arrested in Meth bust



  • A British woman has been sentenced to death after attempting to smuggle £1.6m-worth of cocaine into Bali.

    Briton grandmother sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug trafficking


    Selling Drugs to Fund Terror: Al Qaeda Linked to Cocaine Trafficking




             http://www.drugwar101.com/blog/archives/5343














    The NRA is responsible for the death and maiming of children "Nothing," wrote Albert Einstein, "is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced." If U.S. drug laws were truly enforceable, there'd be no drug war.
    But when, for example, over 100 million Americans have acknowledged using marijuana, when the president and at least two of his predecessors, along with the mayor of New York City and uncountable other notables in public life are known to have used pot and/or other drugs you have a clear picture of the unenforceability of our drug laws. Not to mention the hypocrisy of our leaders. Imagine if Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Michael Bloomberg had been busted for their "youthful indiscretions," had earned the label, "convicted drug offender." We wouldn't know their names today..

    Description: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/images/blank.gif
     ALIGATOR BAIT Postcard 1902 stainilgo ad 
    3.

    Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.


    PLAIN LANGUAGE VERSION:
    You have the right to live, and to live in freedom and safety.

    Illustrated version 

    NOTES:
    Our local and national governments are responsible for working towards providing us safety and security. The tools that are used—for instance, laws or a police force—should not hinder our freedoms and rights. It is our responsibility to influence our governments to guarantee this right to everybody.

    DEFINITIONS:
    liberty is freedom in the public sphere, freedom from captivity, oppression or despotic rule.

    Description: UESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
    Description: http://www.un.org/cyberschoolbus/images/blank.gif

    Draw a four-columned table and label column one liberty and column threesecurity. Students should list what liberties they have or want and then what kinds of security they have or want. Label columns two and four as means. Across from each of the items in columns one and three, write down the means by which that particular form of liberty or security might be achieved. For example, under security one could list ‘walk home safely at night’. One way to achieve that is by setting up ‘neighborhood watches’ or a ‘police patrol’. Once you have the table complete, discuss the following: can any of the items listed under means also be used to seriously obstruct the liberty or security of citizens?




    The drug war 

    and the laws that prohibit the 

    private consumption of certain drugs

    are un-Constitutional and deadly.


    The drug war also explains other abuses we see in modern policing: illegal stop and frisk practices; other violations of the Fourth Amendment [which bars unlawful searches and seizures]; character-challenged cops planting dope or guns or converting seized drugs to their own use.

    Black Families Declare War on The NRA's Treason It's War on Drugs (African Children)"; Unlawful Imprisonment; Illiteracy; Death by Proxy

    Gun Injuries:


    Injuries:  The rate of gun injuries was 10 times higher among Black children and teens than it was

    among White children and teens.

    34,387 Children and Teens were Injured by Guns in 2008 and 2009 Six times as many children and teens

    This is equal to one child or teen every 31 minutes, 47 every day, and 331 children and teens every week.

    Gun Deaths:

    5,740 Children and Teens were Killed by Guns in 2008 and2009

    (Protect Children, Not Guns 2012 analyzes the latest fatal and nonfatal firearm injury data from the
    U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2008 and 2009 for children and teens ages 0-19.1)






    killed  :  Black males 15-19 were 8 times as likely as White males of the same age and

    2 1/2 times as likely as their Hispanic peers to be killed in a gun homicide in 2009.


    In 2008,  2,947 children and teens died from guns in the United States and 2,793 died in 2009
    for a total of 5,740—DEATH:

    one child or teen every three hours, eight every day, 55 every week for two years. The NRA is responsible for the death and maiming of children.


    Mexico drug war leaves more than 20,000 missing While More than 60,000 people died in the war on drugs during the Calderon administration, even though he deployed the country's armed forces to battle drug gangs.http://za.news.yahoo.com/mexico-drug-war-leaves-20-000-missing-report-050639488.html




    Police and army troops squared off with presumed hitmen working for drug traffickers in two deadly incidents in Mexico that left 11 gunmen dead, authorities said.
    In Puente Nacional, in the eastern state of Veracruz, armed men attacked army troops who responded, killing six of the gunmen.
    And in Culiacan, in northwestern Sinaloa state, police and army troops clashed with gunmen, and five more gunmen were killed in that incident.
    Mexico's relentless drug violence has claimed more than 70,000 lives across the country since 2006.http://za.news.yahoo.com/11-killed-mexican-drugs-clashes-040510743.html











    The Drug War and the Constitution: "The drug war and the laws that prohibit the private consumption of certain drugs are un-Constitutional"It was necessary to amend the Constitution in order to prohibit the drug alcohol? How is it possible to prohibit other drugs without going through the formal amendment process?



    Federalist Papers_.] Alexander Hamilton writing in Federalist number 84And then his argument is:

    "For why declare that things shall not be done which there is no power to do? Why for instance, should it be said, that the liberty of the press shall not be restrained, when no power is given by which restrictions may be imposed? I will not contend that such a provision would confer a regulating power; but it is evident that it would furnish, to men disposed to usurp, a plausible pretence for claiming that power. They might urge with a semblance of reason, that the constitution ought not to be charged with the absurdity of providing against the abuse of an authority, which was not given, and that the provision against restraining the liberty of the press afforded a clear implication, that a power to prescribe proper regulations concerning it, was intended to be vested in the national government. This", he concluded, "may serve as a specimen of the numerous handles which would be given to the doctrine of constructive powers, by the indulgence of an injudicious zeal for bills of rights."


    This idea of alcohol prohibition. We were talking about a new power that was being acquired -- surrendered by the people and the states - and so the 18th Amendment was passed to give that power to the Federal government. 


    In the case of our second question -- prohibiting other drugs -- We are talking about new powers being granted to the Federal government that have never been surrendered by the people and the states:


    Ergo, the drug war, prohibition laws, the DEA, the whole ball of wax, are all unconstitutional. I think what we have here is a prime example of the illegal acquisition of powers by a central government through a process of slow accretion. And this was exactly the sort of thing Hamilton was warning against back in 1787.



    We need to come to terms with the fact that, for millions of Americans, community cops function more as an entitled, occupying force than a public safety resource "Nothing," wrote Albert Einstein, "is more destructive of respect for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which cannot be enforced." If U.S. drug laws were truly enforceable, there'd be no drug war.

    But when, for example, over 100 million Americans have acknowledged using marijuana, when the president and at least two of his predecessors, along with the mayor of New York City and uncountable other notables in public life are known to have used pot and/or other drugs you have a clear picture of the unenforceability of our drug laws. Not to mention the hypocrisy of our leaders. Imagine if Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Michael Bloomberg had been busted for their "youthful indiscretions," had earned the label, "convicted drug offender." We wouldn't know their names today.
    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper/five-of-the-drug-wars-casualties_b_1831804.html 







    South Africa Bill Of Rights

    South Africa - ConstitutionIndex Page Document Table of Contents

      { Official Title: Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 }

      { Adopted on: 8 May 1996 }
      { Amended on: 11 Oct 1996 }
      { In Foce since: 7 Feb 1997 }
      { ICL Document Status: 7 Feb 1997}
    Preamble
    We, the people of South Africa,
    Recognise the injustices of our past;
    Honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land;
    Respect those who have worked to build and develop our country; and
    Believe that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, united in our diversity.
    We therefore, through our freely elected representatives, adopt this Constitution as the supreme law of the Republic so as to -
    Heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights;
    Lay the foundations for a democratic and open society in which government is based on the will of the people and every citizen is equally protected by law;
    Improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person; and
    Build a united and democratic South Africa able to take its rightful place as a sovereign state in the family of nations.
    May God protect our people.
    Nkosi Sikelel iAfrika. Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso.
    God seân Suid-Afrika. God bless South Africa.
    Mudzimu fhatutshedza Afurika. Hosi katekisa Afrika.




    Section 35  Arrested, detained and accused personshttp://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sf00000_.html

    (1) Everyone who is arrested for allegedly committing an offence has the right -
    (a) to remain silent;
    (b) to be informed promptly -
    (i) of the right to remain silent; and
    (ii) of the consequences of not remaining silent;
    (c) not to be compelled to make any confession or admission that could be used in evidence against that person;
    (d) to be brought before a court as soon as reasonably possible, but not later than -
    (i) 48 hours after the arrest; or
    (ii) the end of the first court day after the expiry of the 48 hours, if the 48 hours expire outside ordinary court hours or on a day which is not an ordinary court day;
    (e) at the first court appearance after being arrested, to be charged or to be informed of the reason for the detention to continue, or to be released; and
    (f) to be released from detention if the interests of justice permit, subject to reasonable conditions.
    (2) Everyone who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner, has the right -
    (a) to be informed promptly of the reason for being detained;
    (b) to choose, and to consult with, a legal practitioner, and to be informed of this right promptly;
    (c) to have a legal practitioner assigned to the detained person by the state and at state expense, if substantial injustice would otherwise result, and to be informed of this right promptly;
    (d) to challenge the lawfulness of the detention in person before a court and, if the detention is unlawful, to be released;
    (e) to conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, including at least exercise and the provision, at state expense, of adequate accommodation, nutrition, reading material and medical treatment; and
    (f) to communicate with, and be visited by, that person's -
    (i) spouse or partner;
    (ii) next of kin;
    (iii) chosen religious counsellor; and
    (iv) chosen medical practitioner.
    (3) Every accused person has a right to a fair trial, which includes the right -
    (a) to be informed of the charge with sufficient detail to answer it;
    (b) to have adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence;
    (c) to a public trial before an ordinary court;
    (d) to have their trial begin and conclude without unreasonable delay;
    (e) to be present when being tried;
    (f) to choose, and be represented by, a legal practitioner, and to be informed of this right promptly;
    (g) to have a legal practitioner assigned to the accused person by the state and at state expense, if substantial injustice would otherwise result, and to be informed of this right promptly;
    (h) to be presumed innocent, to remain silent, and not to testify during the proceedings;
    (i) to adduce and challenge evidence;
    (j) not to be compelled to give self-incriminating evidence;
    (k) to be tried in a language that the accused person understands or, if that is not practicable, to have the proceedings interpreted in that language;
    (l) not to be convicted for an act or omission that was not an offence under either national or international law at the time it was committed or omitted;
    (m) not to be tried for an offence in respect of an act or omission for which that person has previously been either acquitted or convicted;
    (n) to the benefit of the least severe of the prescribed punishments if the prescribed punishment for the offence has been changed between the time that the offence was committed and the time of sentencing; and
    (o) of appeal to, or review by, a higher court.
    (4) Whenever this section requires information to be given to a person, that information must be given in a language that the person understands.
    (5) Evidence obtained in a manner that violates any right in the Bill of Rights must be excluded if the admission of that evidence would render the trial unfair or otherwise be detrimental to the administration of justice.



    Section 9  Equalityhttp://www.servat.unibe.ch/icl/sf00000_.html




    (1) Everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law.

    (2) Equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms. To promote the achievement of equality, legislative and other measures designed to protect or advance persons, or categories of persons, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination may be taken.

    (3) The state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth.

    (4) No person may unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds in terms of subsection (3). National legislation must be enacted to prevent or prohibit unfair discrimination.

    (5) Discrimination on one or more of the grounds listed in subsection (3) is unfair unless it is established that the discrimination is fair.



    Section 10  Human dignity

    Everyone has inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected.

    Section 11  Life

    Everyone has the right to life.


    Section 12  Freedom and security of the person

    (1) Everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right -
    (a) not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause;
    (b) not to be detained without trial;
    (c) to be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources;
    (d) not to be tortured in any way; and
    (e) not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhuman or degrading way.
    (2) Everyone has the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right -
    (a) to make decisions concerning reproduction;
    (b) to security in and control over their body; and
    (c) not to be subjected to medical or scientific experiments without their informed consent.


    Section 13  Slavery, servitude and forced labour

    No one may be subjected to slavery, servitude or forced labour.


    Section 14  Privacy

    Everyone has the right to privacy, which includes the right not to have -
    (a) their person or home searched;
    (b) their property searched;
    (c) their possessions seized; or
    (d) the privacy of their communications infringed.




    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
    BILL OF RIGHTS






    « Index of Historic Documents
    Bill of Rights and Later Amendments
    Index to this page


    Bill of Rights

    Amendment 1 Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly
    Amendment 2 Right to bear arms
    Amendment 3 Quartering of soldiers
    Amendment 4 Search and arrest
    Amendment 5 Rights in criminal cases
    Amendment 6 Right to a fair trial
    Amendment 7 Rights in civil cases
    Amendment 8 Bail, fines, punishment
    Amendment 9 Rights retained by the People
    Amendment 10 States' rights 

    Later Amendments

    Amendment 11 Lawsuits against states
    Amendment 12 Presidential elections
    Amendment 13 Abolition of slavery
    Amendment 14 Civil rights
    Amendment 15 Black suffrage
    Amendment 16 Income taxes
    Amendment 17 Senatorial elections
    Amendment 18 Prohibition of liquor
    Amendment 19 Women's suffrage
    Amendment 20 Terms of office
    Amendment 21 Repeal of Prohibition
    Amendment 22 Term Limits for the Presidency
    Amendment 23 Washington, D.C., suffrage
    Amendment 24 Abolition of poll taxes
    Amendment 25 Presidential succession
    Amendment 26 18-year-old suffrage
    Amendment 27 Congressional pay raises


    Original Ten Amendments: The Bill of Rights


    Passed by Congress September 25, 1789.
Ratified December 15, 1791.

    Amendment I

    Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly
    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.

    Amendment II

    Right to 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.

    Amendment III

    Quartering of soldiers

    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

    Search and arrest

    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

    Rights in criminal cases

    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

    Right to a fair trial

    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 defence.

    Amendment VII

    Rights in civil cases

    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 re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

    Amendment VIII

    Bail, fines, punishment
    Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

    Amendment IX

    Rights retained by the People

    The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

    Amendment X

    States' rights

    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.


    Later Amendments

    Amendment 11

    Lawsuits against states

    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.
    February 7, 1795.

    Amendment 12

    Presidential elections

    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 the 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 Electors appointed; and if no person have such 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.
    June 15, 1804.
Superseded by Section 3 of the Twentieth Amendment.

    Amendment 13

    Abolition of slavery

    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 these article by appropriate legislation.
    December 6, 1865.
    Amendment 14

    Civil rights

    Section 1

    All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of 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.
    July 9, 1868.

    Amendment 15

    Black suffrage

    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.
    February 3, 1870.

    Amendment 16

    Income taxes

    The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
    February 3, 1913.

    Amendment 17

    Senatorial elections

    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 legislature.
    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: Provided, 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.
    April 8, 1913.

    Amendment 18

    Prohibition of liquor

    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 there of 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.
    January 16, 1919. Repealed by the Twenty-First, December 5, 1933.

    Amendment 19

    Women's suffrage

    The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any States on account of sex.
    Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
    August 18, 1920.

    Amendment 20

    Terms of office

    Section 1. 

    The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d 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 3d 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 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.
    January 23, 1933.

    Amendment 21

    Repeal of Prohibition

    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.

     The 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.
    December 5, 1933.

    Amendment 22

    Term Limits for the Presidency

    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 the 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.
    February 27, 1951.



    Amendment 23

    Washington, D.C., suffrage

    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 article by appropriate legislation.
    March 29, 1961.



    Amendment 24

    Abolition of poll taxes


    Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors 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 article by appropriate legislation.
    January 23, 1964.



    Amendment 25

    Presidential succession

    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 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.
    February 10, 1967.



    Amendment 26

    18-year-old suffrage

    Section 1. 

    The right of citizens of the United States, who are 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.
    June 30, 1971.



    Amendment 27

    Congressional pay raises

    No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.
    May 7, 1992. (Note: Congress submitted the text of this amendment as part of the proposed Bill of Rights on September 27, 1789. The Amendment was not ratified together with the first ten Amendments.)


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