FRESNO, CA (July 2, 2015) – This 4th of July let us not forget the sacrifices of our nation’s patriots whose blood and sacrifices have served as stone and chisel, ensuring America’s freedoms never vanish over time. A multitude of current cases in our local, State, and Federal courts both challenge and confirm the freedoms our nation’s foundation is built on. The decedent of famous abolitionist Elisha Tyson, Hammerschmidt Law Corporation’s CEO Jeffrey Tyson Hammerschmidt says “The U.S. Bill of Rights is what every American is entitled to, and what the government must never ignore.” Hammerschmidt went on to say “At our firm we fight to defend the rights of both victims and those who stand accused of crimes with these rights in mind.”
Written during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, the Constitution of the United States of America is the fundamental law of the US federal system of government and the landmark document of the Western world. It is the oldest written national constitution in use and defines the principal organs of government and their jurisdictions and the basic rights of citizens.
The first three articles of the U.S. Constitution call for the powers of the federal government to be divided among three separate, but equal branches: the legislative, the executive, and the judiciary branch. Under the separation of powers, each branch is independent, has a separate function, and may not usurp the functions of another branch. This balanced system of government is what often gives voice to our nation’s Bill of Rights.
The first ten amendments to the Constitution—the Bill of Rights—came into effect on December 15, 1791, limiting the powers of the federal government of the United States and protecting the rights of all citizens, residents and visitors in American territory.
The Bill of Rights, serving all who live in America, protects freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to keep and bear arms, the freedom of assembly and the freedom to petition. It also prohibits unreasonable search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment and compelled self-incrimination. Among the legal protections it affords, the Bill of Rights prohibits Congress from making any law respecting establishment of religion and prohibits the federal government from depriving any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law. In federal criminal cases it requires indictment by a grand jury for any capital offense, or infamous crime, guarantees a speedy public trial with an impartial jury in the district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy.
Let our community and nation never forget the timeless words of Henry Ward Beecher “Liberty is the soul’s right to breathe, and when it cannot take a long breath laws are girded too tight. Without liberty man is syncope.”
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