The states have rights too

The Tenth Amendment restates the Constitution's principle of federalism by providing that powers not granted to the federal government nor prohibited to the states by the Constitution of the United States are reserved to the states or the people. The Tenth Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights to further define the balance of power between the federal government and the states. Any power not listed, says the Tenth Amendment, is left to the states or the people. Although the Tenth Amendment does not specify what these “powers” may be, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that laws affecting family relations (such as marriage, divorce, and adoption), commerce that occurs within a state’s own borders, and local law enforcement activities, are among those specifically reserved to the states or the people. This amendment is around because we don't want our government to have complete control over us and this amendment allows our states to have some sort of sovereignty. States don't lower the drinking age because they're afraid of losing contact with the federal government which it has threaten to do to states who disobey the universal drinking age law.

Just because its not written doesn't mean we don't have it

The 9th amendment addresses rights of the people that are not specifically enumerated in the Constitution. I like this amendment and see its use because the founders didn't have the foresight to write down every little thing they thought might be abused so this amendment helps protect us from things the government might try to take from us. This amendment is akin to our natural rights. Refer to the picture below when you need a reminder of your right. We're free like eagles.

No cruel and unusual punishment for us

Our 8th amendment right guarantees us that excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. A common argument against the 8th amendment is the interpretation of cruel and unusual punishment. I think that the death penalty is cruel and unusual yet many others don't. This isn't 800 B.C. where they punished criminals with an eye for eye like mentality, like Hammurabi did. Since we're supposed to be a righteous and moral society I think we can punish murderers and extreme rapists without having to kill them. I'd rather have someone sit in a maximum security prison with a 23 hour lock down, I feel like thats a more fitting punishment than death. Need to bail somebody out? Look at the commercial below for help.

I'll take a trial by jury

The 7th Amendment guarantees an accused person the right to have a trial by jury in most civil cases and also guarantees that facts decided by those juries cannot be reexamined at a later date. This amendment is important to me because I'd rather have the prosecution try to convince 12 people I'm guilty instead of 1. Having a 12 person jury allows your lawyer to appeal to multiple people for your defense and increase your chances of an acquital.

Your fate is decided by a jury of your peers, though sometimes this isn't always the case. For those times its not, we have appellate courts.

Why yes I would like a lawyer

Our 6th amendment right ensures that we get a speedy and public trial and along with that, an attorney to represent us in court. O.J. Simpson particularly enjoyed this amendment because Johnnie Cochran and the rest of his legal team got him an acquital. I think this is one of the more important amendment rights we have because very few people can represent themselves in court properly. And even though a public defender can sometimes be terrible, some representation is better than none. Heres the 6th amendment below for you to view whenever you need a reminder of your right.

I plead the fifth!

Our 5th constitutional amendment right protects us from self-incrimination, and because of this amendment, you don't have to answer police questions during an interrogation nor during a trial. This amendment has many parts to it such as double jeopardy and due process, double jeopardy forbids the government for prosecuting a person for the crime twice and is also a great movie starring Ashley Judd. Due process means that your rights won't be trampled on just because you're on trial. This video below shows all the parts of the amendment and some creative ways to implore them.

No officer you can't search my vehicle

Our 4th amendment protects us from illegal searches and seizures, I'm sure we've all been pulled over at one time or another by an annoying cop and then asked if we give them permission to search our vehicles because we somehow looked suspicious to them. Well no officer you can't search my car because you don't have probable cause to do so and unless you have that or a warrant you can leave me alone. If its one thing I've learned from watching law & order everyday its that the police won't be stupid enough to perform an illegal search on your vehicle because that evidence will get tossed out of court. Heres a helpful video that'll teach you the proper way to use your 4th amendment.

Uh uh find another place to stay!

Our 3rd amendment right protects us from quartering soldiers, this isn't an amendment that we need to implore nowadays soldiers already have quarters to stay in provided to them by the military. I think its still a good amendment to have though, just in case one day our government decides to be cheap and close down military camps and bases, thus forcing soldiers to quarter with nearby people who may not necessarily want to provide quarters for soldiers.

Stop or I'll shoot

Our 2nd constitutional amendment guarantees us the right to bare arms, many people have particularly embraced this amendment and gone off and formed militias and small para-military groups. A lot of which happen to be funded by the N.R.A. The video below is a promotional video used by the N.R.A. clearly expressing their love of the 2nd amendment and encouraging people to join the cause and sport a gun. I wish we didn't have guns, but we do and they're fairly necessary. Strict gun control laws hurt more than they help because law abiding citizens are in greater danger because criminals have easy access to guns. I like that Obama wants better gun regulation, but ultimately people are going to get their hands on a gun one way or another.