Talk:United States Bill of Rights

Semi-protected edit request on 4 April 2022

Missing from this page is what the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011 did to the Bill of Rights

In December 2011, Congress changed the Bill of Rights to remove habeas corpus using language in the National Defense Authorization Act of 2011. Only 13 senators, from both parties, vetoed this and on December 31, 2011 Obama signed it into law. AccuracyPrevails (talk) 07:04, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

 Not done: A law can't change the constitution, and that source is unreliable. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 12:04, 4 April 2022 (UTC)

References

Hamilton's reaction to the Bill of Rights after they were proposed by Congress and ratified

Is there a single reference that talks about Hamilton's reaction to the Bill of Rights after they were ratified and became law, or anything post-ratification where he invoked them in any way? Or even anything about his response once (his soon-to-be-former-partner) James Madison was convinced of the necessity of such a bill and Congress was well on its way to propose the amendments?

Every source I can find, and all the content current there in the relevant wiki pages, only talk about the pre-ratification part - Hamilton boasted in Federalist No. 84 essay that the Constitution was a masterpiece document the way it currently was and there was no need for a bill of rights; he was completely overruled as the other Federalists promised to add these amendments in order to assuage the Anti-Federalist concerns and help get the Constitution enacted. But is there any information on how he responded once it was clear he lost this battle? Or, once the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were in effect, any information about Hamilton mentioning them while in a government capacity as Secretary of the Treasury, or in any political discussion? Even the Alien and Sedition Acts article is missing any content that talks about them together.

The utter absence of such information and the complete silence from him is maddening - like he can never admit to anything from him and his essays being wrong. 2600:1012:A021:8AD:B9F8:AE1F:34FF:D500 (talk) 05:46, 18 August 2024 (UTC)

William Lambert, the engrosser of the Bill of Rights, in lede caption

I'd added William Lambert, who handwrote the original Bill of Rights document which is now displayed in the Charters of Freedom Rotunda of the National Archives. It was reverted as being tangential and as a "secondary detail".

Adding Lambert to the caption takes up very little space, as in this edit, and gives both the credit and a historical focus on this handwritten document which changed the world. Lambert was selected to do that job, did it well, and his work is displayed for all to visit during the run-up to the 250th anniversary of the document that preceded it and made it possible - the Declaration of Independence, exhibited a few feet away. Nothing tangential about Lambert's contribution to American and world history. Randy Kryn (talk) 23:47, 19 January 2025 (UTC)

MA compromise (last sentence) powers reserved to states = 9th amendment not 1oth

The last sentence in the Massachusetts compromise section says:

"The convention's proposed amendments included a requirement for grand jury indictment in capital cases, which would form part of the Fifth Amendment, and an amendment reserving powers to the states not expressly given to the federal government, which would later form the basis for the Tenth Amendment."

I believe that the last two words should read: Ninth Amendment, not Tenth. The 9th amendment is the one that says anything not enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights is left up to the states. I'm unable to edit the main page so I'm posting this here. Hopefully someone who can edit the page reads this and, if I'm correct that the 9th is more relevant than the 10th to this section, changes the word "tenth" to "ninth" in the main page. Thanks! 69.126.83.53 (talk) 00:29, 24 March 2025 (UTC)

The sentence accurately mentions the Tenth Amendment, which states: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Drdpw (talk) 00:59, 24 March 2025 (UTC)