 |
| |
| When
the Cops Pull you Over for a Traffic Stop...
|
|
Articles
I - VII: The Organization of the Federal Government
|
|
|
| |
When
the Cops Pull you Over for a Traffic Stop...
1. It may be for a traffic stop or police investigation.
2. When you see overhead lights and hear the
siren, remain calm and safely pull over to the right side of the
road.
3. Remain in your vehicle unless the office
advises otherwise.
4. Keep your hands on the steering wheel where
the officer can see them.
5. Avoid any sudden movements especially toward
the floor board, rear seat or passenger side of the vehicle.
6. Do not immediately reach for your license
and registration until the officer requests them.
7. If your documents are out of reach, inform
the officer before you reach for them.
8. You may want to consider notifying the officer
of the location of any gun in your vehicle or on your person.
It is better to be safe than sorry or dead.
9. If the stop occurs at night, promptly turn
on your overhead lights to the interior of your car will be illuminated.
10. Encourage passengers to remain quiet and to cooperate
with instructions.
11. Don't argue if you receive a ticket. It's best
to argue in court.
12. Accept the citation calmly. Accepting and signing
a ticket is not usually an admission of guilt. Your signature
on the ticket is usually required. Failure to sign could
result in a physical arrest. |
| |
Articles
I - VII: The Organization of the Federal Government
The organization of the Federal government is laid out in the
first seven articles of the Constitution. Article I vests all
law-making powers in the House of Representatives and the Senate,
giving those legislative bodies the right to raise taxes, borrow
money, regulate interstate commerce, conscript military forces,
and declare war. Each legislative body was given power to determine
its own rules of procedure. As an additional check on the executive
branch, the House was authorized to instigate impeachment proceedings
against the chief executive officer, the President, and the Senate
to adjudicate them.
Article II vests executive power in the hands of the President,
including responsibilities as the chief executive officer, commander-in-chief
of the military forces, and with treaty-making power (with the
approval of two-thirds of the Senate). The President is also given
power of appointment for positions within the Federal government,
upon approval of the majority of the Senate.
Article III puts judicial power in the hands of the courts. The
Supreme Court of the United States is mandated as the final court
of appeal from the lower state and federal courts. The courts
interpret the Constitution -- that is, they have the power of
judicial review. Although this power was not explicitly
mentioned in the Constitution, the principle was definitively
established by Chief Justice John Marshall in the 1803 Supreme
Court case Marbury v. Madison.
Article IV of the Constitution treats relations among the states
and the rights of citizens of the states. Article V deals with
the procedures to amend the Constitution. (Amendments to the Constitution
may be proposed by a 2/3 vote of both houses of Congress, or by
a Constitutional convention called by Congress upon the appeal
of 2/3 of state legislatures. Any proposed amendments must be
ratified by 3/4 of state legislatures or by Constitutional conventions
called by the states. To date, all amendments to the Constitution
have been initiated by Congress, rather than the state legislatures.)
Article VI deals with public debt and final and ultimate authority
of the Constitution. Article VII sets forth terms of ratification
of amendments.
Enumerated Powers and the "Elastic" Clause Article
X states that the national (federal) government has only those
powers that are delegated to it explicitly -- enumerated
-- in the Constitution. All other government powers fall by default
to the states -- residual powers -- with the limitation
that nothing prescribed by state law can nullify any of the powers
granted in the Constitution. Despite the fact that residual powers
remained with the states, the "elastic clause" of the
Constitution (Article I, section 8) states that Congress shall
have the authority to "make all Laws which shall be necessary
and proper for carrying into Execution" the powers given
to the federal government by the Constitution.
Amendments to the Constitution Twenty-seven amendments
have been added to the Constitution since 1789. The first ten
amendments, known as the Bill
of Rights, were adopted as a unit in 1791.
Although the federal government is required by the provisions
of the Constitution to respect the individual citizen's basic
rights, such as right of trial by jury (Article I, Sec. 9), the
most significant guarantees for individual civil rights were provided
by ratification of the Bill of Rights (Amendments 1-10). The First
Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, speech, and the press,
the rights of peaceful assembly and petition. Other amendments
guarantee private property, fair treatment of those accused of
crimes, such as unreasonable search and seizure, freedom from
self-incrimination, a speedy and impartial jury trial, and representation
by counsel.
Other
amendments provided for abolishing slavery (13th -
1865), universal male suffrage [right to vote] (15th - 1870),
a federal income tax (16th - 1913), direct election of U.S. Senators
(17th - 1913), women's suffrage (19th - 1920), limiting to two
the number of terms any one person may serve as president (22nd
- 1951), suffrage to citizens 18 years and older (26th - 1970).
The 18th Amendment (1919), mandating nationwide prohibition of
alcoholic beverages, met with open defiance; the 21st Amendment
(1933) repealed the failed 18th Amendment. An attempt to pass
an Equal Rights Amendment (1972) fell three states short of ratification;
it was reintroduced in Congress in 1982.
The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, placed several significant
limitations on the powers of the states. It extended the federal
protections of the Bill of Rights to citizens under state law,
who previously had to look to each state constitution for such
rights. The other provision of the 14th Amendment which places
limits upon the powers of the state is the guarantee of "equal
protection under the law" for all citizens of the United
States. The Supreme Court applied this clause in its landmark
decision outlawing school segregation (Brown v. Board of Education
of Topeka). |
|
|
|