This webpage includes information about the amendments to the U.S. Constitution and their role in the history of the United States of America.

The Founders paid close attention to the rights of the accused because they realized that the government had the power both to prosecute and convict. Protections were needed to guard against the government's abuse of these powers. Understanding how the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments operate to guarantee such protection and how they work to ensure both individual liberty and limit government is vital to maintaining free citizenship. This lesson explores these amendments and the protections they provide.

The Founders listed several rights guaranteed to the people in the first eight amendments of the Bill of Rights. They did not believe that this list was all encompassing, so they included the Ninth Amendment as a way to protect the rights of the people that were not listed in the first Eight. This lesson explores the nature of these unnamed rights and examines the arguments around who should interpret them, judges or the people.

The Founders believed that property is among the natural rights governments exist to protect. One of the ways the Founders protected property rights was in the Fifth Amendment. This amendment restricts the government's ability to take property and ensures that when it does take property, it must pay for it. This lesson explores the Fifth Amendment and its applications.

In this lesson, based on the Annenberg Classroom videos âFAQs: Juries,â students learn about the importance, history, and constitutional foundations of jury service. They become familiar with federal and state juror questionnaires and jury summonses. Students also participate in an attitudinal survey about jury service.

Case background and primary source documents concerning the Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona. Dealing with the Fifth and Sixth Amendments and whether or not the accused needs to be advised of their rights upon arrest, this lesson asks students to evaluate the extent to which Miranda is the fulfillment of the legal tradition of the promise against self-incrimination.

Case background and primary source documents concerning the Supreme Court case of Nollan v. California Coastal Commission. Dealing with whether or not regulations restricting property owners' actions on their own property are protected by the Fifth Amendment, this lesson asks students why property rights are sometimes referred to as a "bundle of sticks."

This documentary explores the landmark Supreme Court decision Miranda v. Arizona that said criminal suspects, at the time of their arrest but before any interrogation, must be told of their Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and Sixth Amendment right to an attorney. The decision led to the familiar Miranda warning that begins âYou have the right to remain silent … â

The Fifth Amendment addresses the right to a grand jury for serious federal criminal charges, protection against double jeopardy, the right against self-incrimination, the right to due process, and the takings clause.

This portion of the Fifth Amendment protects individuals from being punished more than once for the same criminal act.

This provision of the Fifth Amendment protects a person from being forced to reveal to the police, prosecutor, judge, or jury any information that might subject him or her to criminal prosecution.

The right of due process has grown in two directions: It affords individuals a right to a fair process (known as procedural due process) and a right to enjoy certain fundamental liberties without governmental interference (known as substantive due process). The Fifth Amendment's due process clause applies to the federal government's conduct. In 1868 the adoption of the 14th Amendment expanded the right of due process to include limits on the actions of state governments.

The takings clause in the Fifth Amendment strikes a balance between the rights of private property owners and the right of the government to take that property for a purpose that benefits the public at large. When the government takes private property, it is required to pay just compensation to the property owner for his or her loss.

The legal term double jeopardy refers to the constitutional protection against being made to stand trial or face punishment more than once for the same criminal offense. The double jeopardy clause is present in the Fifth Amendment to the U. S. Constitution, which provides that “No person shall ... be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.”

This lesson is based on the Annenberg Classroom video âThe Right to Remain Silent: Miranda v. Arizona,â which explores the landmark Supreme Court case that made law enforcement the protectors of individual liberty where people are most vulnerable – in the interrogation room.