Rights and the American Constitution, Essay Example

In 1787, there was a convention of delegates from 13 states in Philadelphia for the drafting of the United State’s constitution. The constitution, however, did not comprise the bill of rights. It was interpreted as protecting the government but not the individuals. The Anti-Federalists wanted a liberal part of the constitution that will grant people their rights as liberal citizens. However, the Federalists were opposed to this move of including the bill of rights in the constitution. Thomas Jefferson, was the man behind the push for the bill of rights in America. He wrote a letter to James Madison who then drafted the bill of rights by 1791 and formed the constitution’s first amendment. Jefferson argued that the bill of rights is what was entitled for the people against their government and it would be the highest injustice ever for any government to deny its people their bill or rights. The bill constituted ten distinct amendments that dealt with issues that ranged from freedom of speech, religious liberty and unusual punishment (Martin 30).

In the suit involving Barron and Baltimore, the Supreme Court made an original ruling that the bill of rights is only restricted to the federal government and not the state government. Baron had filed a lawsuit claiming that the state had violated his rights as per the Fifth Amendment in the bill of rights. He demanded compensation from the city, which had ruined his wharf by disposing wharf sand on it. After winning the suit, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment saying that the bill of rights did not apply to the state government. The ruling of the Supreme Court continued to be used until the period after the civil war when the fourteenth amendment of the constitution included the fifth amendment of the bill of rights into the federal government (Martin 35).

Incorporation is the process by which the American courts have applied sections of the bill of rights at the states level. After the formation of the fourteenth amendment, there were several debates by the Supreme Court on how to incorporate the bill of right into the state government. There were arguments that the constitution should fully incorporate the bill of rights in the state government. This full incorporation was termed as Nationalization of the bill of rights.  Some people objected the inclusion of the whole bill of rights in the state government and suggested that the process should be selective to comprise of only some fundamental rights should be applicable to the state. Finally, the Supreme Court decided to practice selective incorporation of the bill of rights into the state government (McGuire 191).

In my own opinion, the court has not made the right decision of interpreting the fourteenth amendment to limit individuals’ liberty. The bill of rights is composed of fundamental human rights that apply to all humans. The idea to select some amendments in the bill is a deprivation of human rights and violates the original purpose of the bill of rights. Selectively incorporating of the bill of rights will mean that the bill has weaknesses yet it is truly perfect to the respect of individual’s liberty. This action may bring about controversies across the state with courts quoting jurisprudences from other state courts in defending their rulings. The accused may also defend themselves with other jurisprudences from other state courts with regard to the bill of rights. This would also indicate the individual’s liberty is limited to specific states and varies from one state to another. The courts should therefore, look for ways of incorporating fully the bill into the state government for equitable implementation of the human rights.

Works Cited

Martin, Rex. “Rights and the American Constitution: The Issue

of Judicial Review and Its Compatibility with Democracy.” Philosophical Perspectives on Democracy in the 21st Century. Springer International Publishing, 2014. 29-41.Print.

McGuire, Kevin. “The Psychological Origins of a Constitutional

Revolution: The Supreme Court, Birth Order, and Nationalizing the Bill of Rights.” Political Research Quarterly.New York, 2012. 190-195.Print.