what is the difference between the U.S. constitution and the U.S. patriot act?
113416
one ensures citizen rights and the other one takes them away in order to "ensure safety". one is an old document that forms the basis for US law. the other is a fear-based document, passed by the congress when most of them had no time to read it (many pages, released just before it was voted on) and were under tremendous pressure to cave to the demands of the executive branch. \n\njust like most decisions made from a fear-root, it was a tremendous mistake. it was also endorsing desires for power that the conservatives had been planning for a long time. it's one of the reasons that conspiracy theorists think 9.11 was permitted by the president.
785997
United States Constitution and the United States Bill of rights. The structure keeps changing but the basics pretty much remains the same.
142252
The Patriot Act did not create any new laws, only consolidated existing ones, so terrorism has nothing to do with it.  The government, with reasonable premises and a sometimes a court order, can pull IMs and phone logs for a number of reasons, just being that they believe you or her were involved in any crime they are investigating.
1173224
For the record, we did not get to vote on the so-called Patriot Act.  And as you so correctly point out, there is nothing patriotic about it.\n\nThose who have fought to defend our Constitution must be spinning madly in their graves now, knowing what the American public is currently tolerating in the name of "security."  \n\nThey are in no sense patriots who tamper with our system of justice.  "True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else."  Clarence Darrow
914342
First Amendment of the Constitution\nCongress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. \n\nThe Amendment was meant to protect all citizens from censorship, particularly when criticizing the government.\n\nHowever, the Bush Administration attempted to violate these rights during anti-war protests but when thousands of activists were brought to court on charges of raising their voices up against the war, the judges had to overturn the charges citing the first Amendment.\n\nThe Bush Administration keeps many civil liberties attorneys quite busy protecting the rights of citizens.\n\nThe Constitution was being dismantled by the Bush piece by piece as he instituted amendments against many basic rights. Voting people feared these rights were being lost forever so they voted the Republicans out in large numbers during the last election.
280228
The Patriot Act is a pile of crap and there is nothing patriotic about it. It is a way to remove rights guaranteed by the Constitution and is a violation of the Constitution as well.\n\nAlthough some consider it a great and necessary tool to fight terrorism, that's strictly hype by bush and his handlers. Americans are being manipulated by that ignorant, AWOL, son of a bush who has delusions of empororship.\n\nThe founders of our country never intended for such a thing to happen and warned us against it. They also warned us about men like bush, but folks seemed to have had their eyes closed when they put him in office. \n\nThat clown can't even communicate past simple, confused and mixed up sentences, unless some script writer puts words in his mouth.\n\nHaving said that, I think that act ought to be flushed down the toilet.\n\nADDITION: P.S. King georgie dosn't need the act anyway. He just ignores the law and does exactly what he wants, because he's president and that makes him the boss. He said so himself.
40360
It is "the Bill of Rights" [not 'or"]\n\nThe first 10 Amendments to the US Constitution.  They were adopted at the same time as the Constitution, and enumerate individual and other rights reserved to the states, such as freedom of speech, religion, assembly (No. 1), right to bear arms (no. 2); freedom from unreasonable search and seizure (no. 4) etc.
400702
constitution and Bill of rights
1103155
The constitution is considered "the highest law in the land."  It contains the Preamble, which is basically a statement of what the US is all about; the Articles, which give the basic structure of the government and the powers that each branch of government has, and the rules for amending the constitution; and the Amendments, which cover all kinds of issues regarding citizenship, rights of citizens, and more stuff about the structure of the government and how it gets paid.
154150
Absolutely. The USA PATRIOT Act violated the amendment. As did Bush's wiretapping.
1001450
The constitution is the basis for all law in the United States
319630
The evidence collected by the NSA, for example, when monitoring traffic from an enemy in some other country contacting some one here had better be admissible in court or we are all in danger of the next 9/11. The patriot act gives us the tools necessary to (hopefully) prevent terrorists\nfrom doing us any more harm here or abroad. Had Clinton had that available the first time the twin towers were attacked, we may have prevented 9/11 from ever happening.
763421
It is not in the constitution,  actually no law is in the constitution.\n\nThe laws, and state codes are listed in the state codes.\nThis will be a many thousand page book, and made up of several books to include consumer, traffic, criminal and dozens of other areas.
14924
The U.S. Constitution is the basis for all law in the U.S.  It describes the how the government of the Unitied States operates.  It also grants people certain rights.\n\nOf course, the present administration has great contempt for the Constitution.
576221
The Constitution is organized into three parts: \n\nPreamble: Describes the purpose of the document and government. \nArticles: Establish how the government is structured and how the Constitution can be changed. There are seven articles. \nAmendments: Changes to the Constitution; the first ten are called the Bill of Rights.
913674
The Bill of Rights--the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States--ranks alongside the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence as one of the nation's most treasured documents. Since its adoption in 1791, the Bill of Rights has served as the cornerstone of basic American freedoms. Its laws specify the fundamental rights and most cherished liberties of the American people and protect them from the whims of popular majority opinions and abusive government officials.\nWhat the Bill of Rights Says\n\nThe first eight amendments of the Bill of Rights set forth specific guarantees and liberties. The Ninth Amendment acknowledges that the American people have rights that are not even specified in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. (The Federalists argued for this particular amendment, stating that it would be impossible to list all of the rights and liberties that should be protected.)\n\nThe Tenth Amendment emphasizes the national character of the United States constitutional system. It declares that the states or people retain those "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution."\n\nMost people, however, believe that their most important rights are those guaranteed by the First Amendment. Commonly called "First Amendment freedoms," these are the fundamental freedoms of religion, speech, and press, as well as the right of the people to assemble and to petition a government.\n\nOther vital provisions contained in the first eight amendments also deal with the rights of individuals. They are designed to protect people against inconsistent or abusive government, particularly in criminal proceedings.\n\nFor example, the Fourth Amendment protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures (either of themselves or of their property and possessions) by law enforcement officials.\n\nThe Fifth Amendment prohibits double jeopardy, which means that someone cannot be tried twice for the same crime. The Fifth Amendment also states that people cannot be compelled to testify against themselves (self-incrimination), and it guarantees "due process," which means people accused of a crime must be properly notified of the charges and given a fair hearing.\n\nThe Sixth Amendment establishes the right of an accused person to a public trial by jury. The accused also has the right to have a lawyer, to confront hostile witnesses, and to obtain witnesses in his or her defense.\n\nFinally, the Eighth Amendment prohibits the infliction of "cruel and unusual punishments" (either mental or physical) on those convicted of a crime.\n\nThe remaining amendments (the Second, Third, and Seventh) do not cover individual rights in criminal proceedings but address other specific concerns. The Second Amendment is the most noteworthy and controversial of these remaining amendments. After noting the need for a "well regulated militia" (a body of citizen soldiers called to serve during times of emergency or war), this amendment declares that the people's right "…to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."\n\nThe Third Amendment prevents the government from making citizens shelter soldiers in their homes. This amendment was drafted in response to abuses by British forces during the Revolutionary War.\n\nThe Seventh Amendment was included to meet the demands of many Anti-Federalists who wanted to insure trial by jury in civil suits.\n\nToday, for all intents and purposes, the fundamental rights and liberties guaranteed by the Bill of Rights apply with equal force to both the national and the state governments.\n\nState Bills of Rights\n\nAll of the fifty state constitutions contain a bill of rights. The Illinois Bill of Rights borrows from the Declaration of Independence in stating, "All men are by nature free and independent and have certain inherent and unalienable rights among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Some
121198
Yes, there is a difference because the people who born in US have a constitutional citizenship, that’s a citizenship derive by constitution but there are people who actually are US citizens but don’t born in US, nether in US military base camp and that people have a statutory citizenship and that’s derived by law. That people enjoy must of the benefits in the constitution and the responsibilities but not all of theme. For example the people who are from Puerto Rico are US citizens but that people can’t vote for the president of the US in Puerto Rico, if that people move to Florida or New York or other state of the nation then they can vote for the president. .