Anniversary gives reason to remember your rights

FOLKS are so busy in the run-up to Christmas that the significance of Dec. 15 tends to sail by without much of a second thought. That was Bill of Rights Day — the day in 1791 when America’s Founding Fathers ratified the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.

In short, the Bill of Rights is a convenient list showing how U.S. citizens are protected against our federal government. At the time those amendments were ratified, the American colonies had just broken away from British tyranny. Our Founders didn’t want to swap one type of tyranny for another.

Hence, the first 10 amendments. Politically, it might be the shortest masterpiece you’ll ever lay eyes on. We’ve paraphrased them here:

• Congress can’t pass any law about your religion; or keep you from practicing that religion. Congress can’t restrict what you say or publish. If you want the government to change something, citizens can gather peacefully and express their thoughts as a group.

• You can own and carry weapons.

• Soldiers can’t live in your house, unless Congress approves it during wartime.

• You, your house or your possessions can’t be searched unless a judge cites a specific probable cause.

• You can’t go on trial for a serious crime unless a jury says there’s enough evidence. If you’re found innocent, the government can’t retry you. You don’t have to say anything during your trial. You can’t be punished unless a jury convicts you. Unless the government compensates you fairly, it can’t take your possessions.

• If you’re arrested, either you get a quick public trial or they can’t unfairly detain you. A jury of your peers can help try you, and you get a careful explanation of what you’re accused of and who’s accusing you. And the government provides you a lawyer.

• You have the right to a jury in a civil case, too.

• Excessive bail or fines, and cruel and unusual punishment, are prohibited.

• You have other rights, even if they’re not spelled out in the Constitution.

• Any power not specifically given to Congress rests with the states or the people.

All that sounds obvious, doesn’t it? Maybe that’s because we’ve taken for granted the Bill’s protection. Not so in other countries where their citizens wear yokes of oppression.

Don’t take these precious amendments for granted. And don’t forget them, either. Too many people already have.

A survey last year by the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg Public Policy Center found that 37 percent of Americans questioned couldn’t name any of the five First Amendment rights. Almost half correctly identified the freedom of speech but none of the others.

How inexcusable and sad. Think about the last political or religious opinion you posted on social media. Do you think you’d have the freedom to do that in China? Or Saudi Arabia?

You have that freedom here — and many more. Please take some time to cherish that.

This editorial is from the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, a member of the GateHouse family of newspapers.