[sam_paine]

This is depressing:

How dead are the Bill of Rights?

1st Amendment:	no establishment of religion	20% dead	Lemon v. Kurtman Test is appropriate though religious fanatics on local level increasingly ignoring the law.
1st Amendment	free exercise of religion	80% dead	Employment Division v. Smith allows government to regulate religion to enforce a compelling state interest.
1st Amendment	free speech	70% dead	5 major areas of exceptions now exist; as well as time, place and manner rules; and special context rules.
1st Amendment	free press	10% dead	Courts often use gag orders to prevent news coverage of trials.
1st Amendment	right to assemble/petition	70% dead	HUD Housing efforts
2nd Amendment	right to bear arms	90% dead	Crime Bill of 1994 banned 19 types of semi-automatic rifles.
3rd Amendment	no quartering of soldiers	0% dead
4th Amendment	no searches without warrants	100% dead	Limited by definition of reasonable expectation of privacy; 11 exceptions to warrant requirement; and United States v. Leon good faith rule. *In 1995, Congress completely obliterated this Amendment. It no longer has any force and effect.
5th Amendment	Grand jury indictment required	0% dead	* 0%, but grand juries are now usually stacked with pro-prosecution regulars who do not know how to exercise their roles as grand jurists.
5th Amendment	no double jeopardy	80% dead	The Wheeler and Heath cases allow prosecution by the Feds and multiple states while the Blockburger line of cases allows multiple prosecutions resulting from the same conduct.
5th Amendment	privilege against self-incrimination	40% dead	The Schmerber and Muniz cases have reduced this protection to only the extremely limited category of testimonial evidence.
5th Amendment	due process	100% dead	Expanded way beyond original intent to create bureaucratic nightmare. * Made more evident when in 1996, the Supreme Court allowed all regions of government to seize property without any due process and allowed the ignorance of the 'can not take private property without compensation' clause.
6th Amendment	speedy trial	90% dead	Under Barker v. Wingo Test defendants have been made to wait as long as seven years before trial takes place.
6th Amendment	right to jury (criminal case)	30% dead	Batson line of cases places rights of jurors over the fair trial rights of defendants.
6th Amendment	confrontation by witnesses	100% dead	Maryland v. Craig allows witnesses to testify from other rooms or even on videotape without any chance to cross examine.
6th Amendment	right to counsel	10% dead	Applies only in cases where actual incarceration is imposed.
7th Amendment	right to jury     (civil case)	0% dead
8th Amendment	no cruel or unusual punishment	100% dead	Expanded by liberals well beyond its intended meaning, which has resulted in codling criminals.
8th Amendment	no excessive bail or fines	100% dead	Both excessive fines and bail are regularly used now.
9th Amendment	nondisparagement clause	100% dead	Expanded by liberals well beyond its intended meaning.
10th Amendment	reserved powers clause	100% dead	Garcia v. San Antonio Metro Transit Authority killed the 10th Amendment, and all hopes for control over congressional power.

*editors comments.

**information provided by 'The Rape of the American Constitution', by Chuck Shiver, published by Loompanics Unlimited.

[davidosborne]

btt for index

[ExSoldier]

Don't be depressed! I wouldn't call Loompanics an authoritative source and this list is four years (minimum) out of date. How can they label the 2nd Amendment 90% dead if the assertion rests on a law that no longer exists?

I'll admit that our court system is flawed but get raided on a faulty warrant (exclusionary rule exceptions or not) and see how fast a decent lawyer can get that case kicked. Look at Randy Weaver. The feds had him cold, or so they thought until Jerry Spence took his case for free and merely pointed out the flaws in the governments case without even presenting his own defense. Not Guilty and a state level indictment against the federal agents who perpetrated the crime. Admittedly Clinton's Justice Dept had them wiggle out of it, but still. The 4th is NOT dead. No way.

The 5th and the others are in a state of constant flux but I don't think you can call them dead based merely on case law. Why? Because there are companies that make a fortune selling case law updates on a monthly basis to law firms and law schools all over the country and a CURRENT case, right on point is what makes or breaks a trial.

[plain talk]

I got as far as Second Amendment is 90% dead and stopped reading as I find the “conclusions” irrational and suspect.

[hocndoc]

He lost me with the gratuitous “religious fanatics” comment.

[HKMk23]

Alright. Before we go consuming material published by Loompanics, it should be noted that this is the SAME publishing operation that gave that notorious — and egregiously wrong — tax evader, Irwin Schiff, a platform by publishing his amusing work “The Federal Mafia”.

To assert that Loompanics is source of highly credible material requires — how shall I say it? — the “suspension of disbelief”.

Not saying all of what you posted is invalid, just that the specific cite doesn’t help the case you were making.