XXVIII (Group 2)

Our XXVIII Amendment

The rights of citizens of the United States shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sexual orientation. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

XXI Amendment

Amendment XXI

Text of the Amendment: The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed. 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. 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.

Plain English: The prohibition of alcohol law, 18th amendment, has been repealed but will be regulated. States can pass and determine alcohol laws for their own state. Transportation and importation of alcohol against these regulations will be illegal.

Story of its passage and ratification: Congress first proposed the 21st amendment on February 20, 1933. This is the only amendment so far that repeals a previous amendment, the 18th amendment. The 22nd amendment is also the only amendment to be ratified through the method of the state ratifying convention. It repealed the amendment that dealt with the prohibition of alcohol in the United States. That amendment was passed after years of argument and campaigning by a temperance movement that spread across the nation during the early 1900s. Prohibition was supposed to be a good thing in the United States. It was supposed to stop alcohol consumption that would cause crime, broken families, and poor health. Instead, prohibition caused a rise in organized crime, illegal trade of alcohol, and illegal bars and clubs called speakeasies. This 13 year period showed that prohibition was a failed attempt and by 1933, it was unpopular with the majority of the United States. On December 5, 1933, the 21st Amendment was ratified by Congress. This amendment was ratified by state conventions instead of state legislators because those legislators would have voted pro-prohibition due to their previous views on the issue. Prohibition cost the United States government millions of dollars in law enforcement and loss tax revenue from the the sale of alcohol.

Effect of the Amendment on the U.S.: The early changes that this amendment caused were mainly positive on the U.S. such as, weakening organized crime groups, giving adults personal freedom to drink, and gave the country an economic boom with the new tax on alcohol. Alcohol is sold differently depending on the state. Some states allow grocery stores to sell both beers and spirits while others only allow beers because the high alcohol level drinks are sold by state owned stores. Other than that, the U.S. 21st amendment’s ban on prohibition is widely connected with the legalization of marijuana. People see some of the similarities between banning alcohol back then and banning marijuana now. If marijuana became legal and regulated like alcohol, there could be a reduce in crime and another income growth to the country. The federal government was strong against marijuana however, the times continue to change and alcohol sales is now state regulated so even the decision on marijuana can be made by a state law.

Effect of the Amendment on us: For us the amendment doesn’t really do much other than the fact that one of the regulations changed the age requirement to purchase alcohol to 21 in the U.S. It has given us the option to drink when we are of legal age and depending on the state we would have to either go to a grocery store or state owned alcohol store to purchase beer or spirits.

XVII Amendment

Amendment XXVII

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

Plain English: This amendment does not allow any law to increase or decrease the salary of the salary of the members of Congress to take effect until the beginning of the next set of terms of office for the Representatives.  

Story of its passage and ratification: This amendment was first drafted by James Madison from Virginia in 1789 and proposed by the First Congress on September 25, 1789. It was originally part of the original Bill of Rights along with eleven other amendments but only ten of the amendments were approved by the states and the amendment about congressional pay was not passed. This amendment was only originally ratified by six states but that wasn't enough to pass it. This amendment along with another one that dealt with adjusting the size of the House of Representatives according to population growth of the nation stayed unratified for a long time. However, in 1982 Gregory Watson, a twenty-year-old student at the University of Texas, wrote a term paper arguing for ratification of the amendment. He later went on a one-man campaign for the amendment's ratification after being discouraged by his teacher and being told that this amendment was unrealistic. Watson wrote letters to state legislators across the country starting with states where the House of Representatives and the Senate members were under control by the same party. He went to Maine who was the first state to ratify the amendement due to Wilson's campaign. Some states were supportive of this amendment and wanted it to be ratified. Other states didn't fully agree with the amendment but the state legislators voted to pass the ratification to please their voters. On May 20, 1992, after Michigan became the thirty-eighth state to ratify the amendment a few weeks earlier, the twenty seventh amendment became a part of the U.S. Constitution. This amendment wanted to prevent members of Congress that may choose to act in their own interests rather than the public interest when they passing laws that could raise their salaries. The amendment postpones salary increases until after an election so members of Congress may not immediately raise their own salaries during their term. The ratification process of the Twenty-seventh Amendment was the longest-running amendment effort in the history of the United States. After the amendment was proposed to Congress and failed to be ratified in 1789, it took over 200 years for it to be finally ratified and put in as an amendment in 1992. Before the 27th Amendment was ratified, the longest it had taken to ratify an amendment was four years and that was the 22nd Amendment. This leaves only one of the original twelve proposed amendments to the first Congress to not be passed.

Effect of the Amendment on the U.S.: This amendment had a limited effect on the U.S. The 27th amendment just affected the members of Congress and prevents them from giving themselves a pay raise until the next term of election. It just creates a restraint on Congress members so that they don’t have the power to change their compensation during the current term. It doesn't specify whether or not they couldn't give themselves more money in their salary or how much.

Effect of the Amendment on us: This amendment has a minimal effect on us. We are normal citizens of the United States and laws affecting the compensation of Congress members wouldn’t cause an impact on us. We may feel it is unfair that regular employees have to work very hard to earn a pay raise from their employers and Congress members could all just vote on a law to get a pay raise on the next election, provided that they get reelected. This amendment helps create obstacles for Congress from raising their pay from taxpayer's dollars. Instead of our money going toward raising the salaries of Congress members who may just be impeding progress for the nation, it should go towards better things like education or better infrastructure. Hopefully, the members of Congress that we voted on won’t spend unnecessary time on raising their salaries and instead focus on more important issues.

II Amendment

Amendment II

Text of the Amendment: 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.

Plain English: All people of the United States have the right to bear arms regardless of whether or not they served in a militia.

Story of its passage and ratification: The second amendment was part of the first 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights added on December 15, 1791, which was based off the English Bill of Rights established in 1689 by Sir William Blackstone. It incorporates the basic rights that all people should have which are the natural rights of self defense, resistance to oppression, and having the civic duty to protect their state.

Effect of the Amendment on the U.S.:  Militias were only common a few years after the amendment was passed. After a certain point when people started trusting their local authorities and government, militias were no longer needed so if people wanted to fight or were drafted, they would just join the army. So basically, the state militias are no longer needed in the U.S. however every citizen in the U.S. can have firearms. Gun control is then state regulated so the amount and type of guns a person can have is regulated by their state and the citizen just has to go through a simple background check. Many people feel there is a need to be able to protect themselves in our country but there is no strict law or regulation that can prevent guns from being in the wrong hands. Depending on the state, people at the ages of 16-21 are able to purchase a handgun and/or long gun, sometimes the age differs depending on the type of gun.

Effect of the Amendment on us:  Today the first part of the amendment has no effect on us. There is no organized militia in our states or a regulated citizen’s militia in each state and citizens can’t own firearms strong enough to go against the police or army. However, the second part of this amendment affects us greatly today because it has caused many debates and conflicts. Giving every single citizen the right to bear arms has made our country one of the top in gun crimes. These problems and conflicts has resulted in mainly 2 opposing sides, people against owning guns and the others who want to preserve gun rights for recreational or self defense purposes. Opposition is strong because of recent tragic events where many people died due to guns being in the wrong hands mainly because gun laws were not strict enough. In Pennsylvania we can purchase a handgun or long gun at the age of 18.