The Creation of the Constitution
The Articles of Confederation failed to unify the nation because in this document, the empowerment of the government of the United States was utterly limited. This made it almost impossible for the state officials to fulfill their daily duties in economical, political and social areas. In particular, the government had no empowerment to tax which meant that the state had no financial means for solving different problems which regularly occurred. Besides, inner and foreign commerce could not be regulated by the Congress as it had no empowerment for this. Moreover, there existed no executive establishments and state regulative organizations which could control the implementation of Constitutional regulations. Finally, there was no state system of courts which paralyzed the government in the area of law enforcement. Although the above-mentioned establishments and organizations existed on a local level, it did not help to solve numerous issues existing in the country. What is more important, the absence of law enforcement structures on a state level led to the lack of integration in the nation.
To solve such considerable difficulties, a number of important regulations concerning governmental empowerment were to be included to the Constitution. Particularly, the state executive and judicial branches were to be foreseen. In addition, the regulations concerning economical empowerment of the government were to be adopted. Also, the legislative norms establishing excessive empowerment of individual states’ authorities and the lack of economic empowerment of the federal government were to be removed from the Articles of Confederation. For example, the following regulation was to be removed: “the taxes for paying that proportion shall be laid and levied by the authority and direction of the legislatures of the several States within the time agreed upon by the United States in Congress assembled” (Articles of Confederation, n. d., para. 16).
The Bill of Rights
According to Bill of Rights (n. d., para 3, 4, 8, 11, 13-15):
- The 1st Amendment guarantees the right for freedom of speech, press, assembling, making petitions, and choosing religion.
- The 4th Amendment guarantees the right for privacy and protection from unwarranted search and seizure by any type of law enforcement organizations.
- The 5th Amendment guarantees protection against governmental authority abuse during legal procedures. The 5th Amendment states that no one may force an individual to give testimony against him- or herself.
- The 6th Amendment guarantees the right to receive legal assistance and council during all the stages of a criminal procedure. If the person is not able to pay for the legal service the government will offer its assistance.
- The 8th Amendment does not allow cruel and unusual punishment, and guarantees the right for reasonable and fair bail.
Evaluating all the above-discussed Amendments along with the current debate concerning them existing in the society, I would choose to surrender the 4th Amendment. Today, the 4th Amendment and the Exclusionary Rule based on it have lost their meaning in modern society. Instead of offering people necessary help, this Amendment causes a lot of problems for the law enforcement agencies which become limited in their actions directed to control the level of crime in the country. Besides, the 4th Amendment is connected to a number of issues including its inability to protect the rights of the citizens on the reason of exclusions from it.
References
Articles of Confederation: 1781. (n. d.). Web.
Bill of Rights. (n. d.). Web.