The+Living+Constitution+Group+5

This project is focused on the Bill of Rights and the Articles of the Constitution. We take a closer look to how these two documents that guide the United States of America is used in our current society. They execute events that have been going on recently and how the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are involved.
 * __Introduction__**

The Constitution is very significant because it lays down the foundation for our country and is used as a guide to benefit society as a whole. It protects our the citizens from a government that could take absolute power in its hands. The Constitution is what makes the United States unique and represents the values our country was founded on. The Constitution also prevents power from being abused by anybody and brings balance to our government. It illustrated specific powers, mainly the executive, judicial and legislative.
 * __Significance of the Constitution__**

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 * Alyssa Domdoma**

media type="custom" key="8591310" media type="custom" key="8591318" Web 2.0 - Alyssa Domdoma 10th Amendment Pt: 1 : State Laws (what the state has control over) Pt: 2 Hawaii signs civil union - Time line --> http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/120841 Sources: http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/02/24/hawaii.civil.unions/index.html?iref=obinsite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_same-sex_marriage http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0761909.html http://www.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,1904681,00.html http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/phil/blphil_eth_gaym_chron.htm

Brandon Choi media type="custom" key="8594670" media type="custom" key="8594716" media type="custom" key="8595668"

Web: 2.0: http://voicethread.com/share/1810932/ (Source: http://www.kcra.com/news/26962357/detail.html?source=sac)

Click Link for enlarged version : http://i51.tinypic.com/169qa3d.png Brian Hickel The 3rd amendment states that citizens cannot be forced to quarter troops during peacetime. This means that the government cannot force people to provide shelter for troops. From an article published February 2nd, 2011 New Jersey Real-Time News, the soldiers at Fort Hood are living there because they cannot be forced to live with people. This is why military bases are built around the country, to station troops and provide them with shelter. Military bases are also good for the local economy, providing jobs and cash flow. There are approximately 205 military bases domestically all which are built because of the 3rd amendment. [] Brian Hickel The 4th amendment states protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. It requires a warrant to be issued by a Judge with probable cause. In this particular case on February 24th, 2011 written for ktla.com, search warrants were issued for the investigators to be able to search through the information in order to find convicting evidence. This evidence will help lead to the prosecution of the criminal. Without a search warrant the obtained evidence would not be valid in court. Any evidence acquired illegally is to be thrown out of court. [] Brian Hickel The 5th Article of the Constitution deals with the process that must be followed in order for the Constitution to be changed. A convention can be assembled with at least two-thirds of the legislatures of the States agreeing to it. During the convention a vote of three-fourths of the States is need to ratify a new amendment. Published February 1st, 2011 for Bloomberg, the State of Utah is pushing for the States to call a convention in order to ratify an amendment requiring a majority of the states to approve any increase in the federal debt ceiling. Today, in order for a convention to be called, 34 States would have to approve one. Then for the amendment to be ratified, 38 States would have to be in favor of the proposed amendment. [] Brian Hickel The 6th article of the Constitution states that the laws and treaties of the United States are the supreme law of the land. Therefore if a crime is committed in one State, the criminal can be arrested in any State for this crime. As reported on March 24, 2009 for WHSV.com, Sokhun An was wanted on 14 felony charges committed in the State of Maryland. He was eventually arrested in Virginia. Because the U.S. law is the supreme law of the land, Sokhun An was able to be arrested in Virginia. []

Brian Hickel's Web 2.0media type="youtube" key="gnoku9nmipE?fs=1" height="390" width="480"

Parleen Shahi

**The Concept of the Living Constitution**

Image Source: http://ponderingprinciples.com/2009/06/17/

The “living Constitution” takes a modern interpretation into viewing the Constitution and applying it to our nation. Our society is constantly changing in its values and way of thinking, thus causing revisions to the Constitution to better fit an adequate framework for our nation. The Constitution is termed “living” because of the fact that it is not bound to the way it was originally written and has the ability to be changed.Our nation is constantly evolving and is the reason the Constitution is coined the term "breathing" because we, just like the Constitution, evolve and realize and learn new things. Originalists would oppose this type of interpretation.

Source: []

**Article 1**



__Source__: House to take Patriot Act extension next week. []

__Date__: 02/04/2011

__Brief Description:__ The House of Representatives is looking to vote on a legislation bill proposed by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner to extend the Patriot law, which is a counterterrorism surveillance law that allows the FBI to use wiretaps on targets and also allows the government to access “any tangible items” that would aid them in the surveillance of potential targets.

__Relation:__ As stated in Article 1 of the Constitution, there is a process before a bill can become a law. This article is concerned with the legislative, which is Congress’ powers, including the Senate and the House of Representatives. For this bill to be passed, the House of Representatives must receive a majority vote in order to pass the bill on to the President. The president will then sign the bill to make it into a law or veto it. The House of Representatives expect that this bill will pass by a majority of the Republicans in the House.




 * Amendment 5**

__Source:__ Who’s ready for some fun? Barry Bonds’ perjury case moving forward []

__Date:__ October 16, 2010

__Brief Description:__ Barry Bonds is to trail for lying to the grand jury about using steroids during his career as a baseball player. His teammates are being testified and there is speculation whether they will plead the 5th amendment or not.

__Relation:__ According to Amendment 5 of the Constitution, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime.” The other baseball players have the right to remain silent, which could cause the jury to believe that they were guilty of using steroid with Bonds. They can refuse to answer based on self-incrimination. This is because government cannot make someone testify against themselves.


 * Amendment 6**



__Source__: Prosecutor wants Conrad Murray’s ‘speedy trial’ delayed. []

__Date__: February 25, 2011

__Brief Description:__ In the case of Dr. Conrad Murray, who is being charged for the death of Michael Jackson, the trial is being delayed. He invoked his right to a speedy trial. The reason to this delay is because of witness investigations are still in need to take place.

__Relation:__ This article relates to Amendment 6 in the Bill of Rights because in any criminal prosecution, the accused, in this case, Dr. Conrad Murray, shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial. This is the fairest case for Murray because he deserves to know what he’s being tried for and what questions the jurors may have for him to answer. It has been made public, as stated by the amendment, also.


 * Article 2 - Web 2.0**

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In conclusion we all learned that even though the constitution was written a long time ago, and may seem like they do not affect everyday life, it does in many ways. It is also the inspiration for some laws being created today. We also learned about the different amendments and how they apply in today's society. The laws and ideas of the Constitution and Bill of Rights has and will affect future generations. Before this project, most of us had no idea how these documents can relate to our lives, but as we got more information and more in depth we discovered that almost everything we do revolves around these laws and regulations. The grade we believe we deserve is at least an A or a high B because we have invested a lot of time and hard work and diligently to complete this project. We attempted to be as detailed and precise as possible with each of the assigned parts.
 * Conclusion:**