Chapter 15: The Bill or Rights

NEW WORDS

Amendments Liberties/Freedoms Bill of Rights Rights of the Accused

1) Changes to the Constitution are called ______________________________.

2) The Bill of Rights protects the rights and ________________________________ of American citizens, such as freedom of speech and freedom of religion.

3) The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution are known as the _____________________________________________________.

4) The Bill of Rights ensures that people suspected of crimes have basic rights, such as the right to a lawyer. These are known as the ____________________________________________________.

Write the number of the amendment next to the statement that describes it. Choose the correct amendment!

1) This amendment protects citizens against cruel and unusual punishment when they break the law.

2) This amendment protects people's right to own certain kinds of guns.

3) This amendment protects people from being put on trial twice for the same crime (double jeopardy). It also protects people from being forced to be witnesses against themselves.

4) This amendment protects the freedoms of speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly.

5) This amendment protects the right to a fair, speedy, and public trial. It also protects the right of people accused of a crime to have a lawyer.

6) This amendment protects citizens against unreasonable search and seizure.

Each statement below represents something the U.S. government cannot legally do. For each statement, write the amendment that protects citizens from these government actions.

7) Police enter a citizen's house without good reason or permission from a judge. The police search for evidence to try to solve a crime.

8) A judge puts a person in jail for six years for not stopping at a red light.

9) A person accused of a crime cannot afford a lawyer. She is forced to defend herself in court.

10) A person accused of a crime is found "not guilty" at his first trial. The government decides to put him on trial again. At the second trial, he is found "guilty" and is put in jail.

11) The government closed a newspaper for printing articles that criticize the president.

12) The government confiscates (takes away) all guns from citizens.