Rights library
Know the text. Then the limits.
Each page is a civic explainer for youth life — school, online, community. None of it is a court filing. For discipline, work, and police contact, see Life & Law.
First Amendment
Freedom of speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition
The First Amendment limits how the government may restrict speech, press, religion, assembly, and petition. Schools and private apps are not the same as Congress. This page is education, not a prediction about your case.
Second Amendment
Keeping and bearing arms
The Second Amendment addresses the right to keep and bear arms. How it applies depends on the text, history, and later cases. This page does not teach anyone how to obtain or use a weapon.
Third Amendment
Quartering of soldiers
The Third Amendment limits the government from housing soldiers in private homes in peacetime without consent.
Fourth Amendment
Searches, seizures, and a reasonable expectation of privacy
The Fourth Amendment addresses government searches and seizures. What is allowed depends on who is searching, where, and why. School searches and police searches are different settings. This is not advice about a specific backpack, locker, or phone.
Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment — silence and due process ideas
Among other things, the Fifth Amendment includes protection against being forced to be a witness against yourself in a criminal case, and due-process ideas that also appear in the Fourteenth Amendment. A school discipline meeting is not automatically a criminal trial.
Sixth Amendment
Fair criminal process: notice, counsel, and a public trial
If the government accuses you of a crime, you are entitled to a fair process, including the help of a lawyer in serious cases.
Seventh Amendment
Civil jury trials in federal court
The Seventh Amendment preserves a jury trial in many federal civil cases above a historical dollar amount.
Eighth Amendment
Cruel and unusual punishment, and excessive fines
Punishment by the government has limits. Youth status matters when courts look at harsh sentences.
Ninth Amendment
Rights retained by the people
The Ninth Amendment says the listing of certain rights in the Constitution does not mean people have only those rights.
Tenth Amendment
Powers reserved to the states and the people
The Tenth Amendment reserves to the states or the people the powers not given to the federal government and not prohibited to the states.
Eleventh Amendment
Suits against states
The Eleventh Amendment limits certain lawsuits against states in federal court.
Twelfth Amendment
Presidential elections
The Twelfth Amendment changed how the Electoral College chooses the President and Vice President.
Thirteenth Amendment
Abolition of slavery
The Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime after conviction.
Fourteenth Amendment
Equal protection and state due process
The Fourteenth Amendment includes equal protection and due process limits on the states. Government generally must use fair procedures and may not classify people without a legally sufficient reason. Private unfairness is not automatically a constitutional case.
Fifteenth Amendment
Race and the vote
The Fifteenth Amendment says the right to vote shall not be denied by the United States or a state on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
Sixteenth Amendment
Federal income tax
The Sixteenth Amendment allows Congress to tax income without apportioning that tax among the states by population.
Seventeenth Amendment
Direct election of senators
The Seventeenth Amendment provides for popular election of U.S. Senators.
Eighteenth Amendment
Prohibition (later repealed)
The Eighteenth Amendment prohibited intoxicating liquors nationwide. It was later repealed by the Twenty-First.
Nineteenth Amendment
Women’s suffrage
The Nineteenth Amendment says the right to vote shall not be denied on account of sex.
Twentieth Amendment
Terms and succession timing
The Twentieth Amendment moved the start of presidential and congressional terms and addressed succession if a president-elect dies.
Twenty-First Amendment
Repeal of Prohibition
The Twenty-First Amendment repealed the Eighteenth and left much liquor regulation to the states.
Twenty-Second Amendment
Two-term presidency
The Twenty-Second Amendment limits an elected President to two terms.
Twenty-Third Amendment
Electoral votes for D.C.
The Twenty-Third Amendment gives the District of Columbia electors in presidential elections.
Twenty-Fourth Amendment
No poll tax in federal elections
The Twenty-Fourth Amendment bans poll taxes in federal elections.
Twenty-Fifth Amendment
Presidential vacancy and disability
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment sets rules for vice-presidential vacancy and for a President who cannot discharge the powers of the office.
Twenty-Sixth Amendment
Vote at eighteen
The Twenty-Sixth Amendment says the right to vote for citizens eighteen or older shall not be denied on account of age.
Twenty-Seventh Amendment
Congressional pay changes
The Twenty-Seventh Amendment says a congressional pay change takes effect after the next election for the House.