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bill-of-rights-rewritten.md

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1

Nobody can create, enforce, or hold as legitimate any law which:

  • establishes a government-sanctioned religion,
  • prohibits the free exercise of spiritual practice,
  • abridges the freedom to express ideas, by whatever media
  • abridges the freedom to engage in journalism or otherwise document or create content, and to then distribute it by whatever media
  • abridges the right to peaceably assemble
  • abridges the right to petition any government for any reason

2

The right to own and carry personal arms cannot be infringed.

3

No government may force anyone to have military personnel as guests in her home, nor turn any existing neighborhood into a military base while people still live there.

4

The right of people to security and sovereignty over their own persons, homes, records, and personal possessions can not be violated.

If a government actor wants to search or seize something, he may not do so unless a legal warrant is issued by a magistrate of the jurisdiction in question. This warrant must be supported by testimony under oath which specifically and unambiguously names the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized.

5

  • Very serious crimes can only be officially alleged by a grand jury, except against military personnel during a time of war.

  • If a complete trial for a crime has been concluded results in an acquittal, the accused may never be charged for the act in question again.

  • Nobody can be forced to testify against herself in a criminal proceeding.

  • Only by due process of law can any government punish anyone or take anything from anyone.

  • No government can take any private property for public use without fair compensation.

6

  • Criminal trials must be fast and public in proceeding and record.

  • Criminal trials must be heard and adjudicated by a jury, selected at random from a pre-defined area which encompasses the location where the act being charged took place.

  • Anyone accused of a crime must be informed, in plain language, of the acts for which they are being charged and the nature of the laws prohibiting these acts.

  • In any criminal proceeding, the accused may confront and question any person alleging guilt, may compel witnesses to come forward to testify, and may be represented by counsel.

7

In a civil claim over property of significant value, all facts must be determined by a jury, and can later be overturned only by a jury.

8

  • In cases where the government can show a substantial risk that a person accused of a crime will flee instead of appearing for a trial, a small, reasonable - not excessive - bail may be required.

  • If levied as punishment, fines may not be excessive.

  • No cruel and unusual punishments may be inflicted.

9

This document, taken together, may be referred to as a "Bill of Rights." However, this Bill of Rights is not the source of the rights in question - it merely outlines a few of them explicitly. It is also not exhaustive.

No government actor may use the absence of a right in this document to disparage or deny a right not mentioned here.

10

If the Constitution does not specifically delegate a power to the national government, that power is reserved for the states or for individual people.