Правительство Соединенных Штатов — страница 2

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searches or seizures. Amendment 5 Grand jury indictment required to prosecute a person for a serious crime. No “double jeopardy” – being tried twice for the same offence. Forcing a person to testify against himself or herself prohibited. No loss of life, liberty or property without due process. Amendment 6 Right to speedy, public, impartial trial with defense counsel, and right to cross-examine witnesses. Amendment 7 Jury trials in civil suits where value exceeds 20 dollars. Amendment 8 No excessive bail or fines, no cruel and unusual punishments. PROTECTION OF STATES’ RIGHTS AND UNNAMED RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE Amendment 9 Unlisted rights are not necessarily denied. Amendment 10 Powers not delegated to the United States or denied to states are reserved to the states or to

the people. The Bill of Rights was ratified in1791, but its application as broadened significantly by the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, which was ratified in 1868. A key phrase in the 14th Amendment – “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law” – has been interpreted by the Supreme Court as forbidding the states from violating most of the rights and freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights. THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH At a time when all the major European states had heredi­tary monarchs, the idea of a president with a limited term of office was itself revolutionary. The Constitution vests the ex­ecutive power in the president. It also provides for the election of a vice president who succeeds to the presidency in case

of the death, resignation or incapacitation of the president. While the Constitution spells out in some detail the duties and powers of the president, it does not delegate any specific exec­utive powers to the vice president or to members of the presi­dential Cabinet or to other federal officials. Creation of a powerful unitary presidency was the source of some contention in the Constitutional Convention. Several states had had experience with executive councils made up of several members, a system that had been followed with con­siderable success by the Swiss for some years. And Benjamin Franklin urged that a similar system be adopted by the United States. Moreover, many delegates, still smarting under the excesses of executive power wielded by the British king, were wary of

a powerful presidency. Nonetheless, advocates of a single president—operating under strict checks and balances—carried the day. In addition to a right of succession, the vice president was made the presiding officer of the Senate. A constitutional amendment adopted in 1967 amplifies the process of presi­dential succession. It describes the specific conditions under which the vice president is empowered to take over the office of president if the president should become incapacitated. It also provides for resumption of the office by the president in the event of his or her recovery. In addition, the amendment enables the president to name a vice president, with congres­sional approval, when the second office is vacated. This 25th Amendment to the Constitution was put into

practice twice in 1974: when Vice President Spiro T. Agnew resigned and was replaced by Gerald R. Ford; and when, after President Richard Nixon's resignation, President Ford nominated and Congress confirmed former New York governor Nelson A. Rockefeller as vice president. The Constitution gives Congress the power to establish the order of succession after the vice president. At present, in the event both the president and vice president vacate their offices, the speaker of the House of Representatives would as­sume the presidency. Next comes the president pro tempore of the Senate (a senator elected by that body to preside in the absence of the vice president), and then Cabinet officers in designated order. The seat of government, which moved in 1800 to Wash­ington, D.C. (the

District of Columbia), is a federal enclave on the eastern seaboard. The White House, both residence and office of the president, is located there. Although land for the federal capital was ceded by the states of Maryland and Vir­ginia, the present District of Columbia occupies only the area given by Maryland; the Virginia sector, unused by the govern­ment for half a century, reverted to Virginia in 1846. THE PRESIDENCY TERM OF OFFICE: Elected by the people, through the electoral college, to a four-year term; limited to two terms. SALARY: $200,000 plus $50,000 allowance for expenses, and up to $100,000 tax-free for travel and official entertainment INAUGURATION: January 20, following the November general election QUALIFICATIONS: Native-born American citizen, at least 35 years