Know Your Rights

You can speak and write freely, follow any religion or none, gather peacefully, and ask the government to fix problems. The government can’t set up an official religion or punish you for criticizing it.

Protects the right to own and carry weapons. The exact limits are defined by the courts and rules vary from state to state.

The government can’t make you house soldiers in your home during peacetime.

Police generally need a warrant based on probable cause before they search you, your home, or your belongings, or take your property.

You can’t be tried twice for the same crime, or forced to testify against yourself (“plead the Fifth”). The government can’t take your life, liberty, or property without due process — or take your property without paying fairly for it.

If you’re charged with a crime: a prompt public trial, an impartial jury, the right to know the charges, to question your accusers, and to have a lawyer.

The right to a jury trial in many non-criminal (civil) disputes in federal court.

No excessive bail or fines, and no cruel and unusual punishment.

Just because a right isn’t written down here doesn’t mean you don’t have it. The people keep other rights too.

Any power the Constitution doesn’t hand to the federal government belongs to the states, or to the people.

Slavery and forced servitude are banned in the United States.

Everyone born or naturalized here is a citizen, and no state can deny anyone equal protection of the laws or fair process. This is the amendment that makes most of the Bill of Rights apply to state and local governments too.

The right to vote can’t be denied because of race or color.

The right to vote can’t be denied because of sex.

You can’t be charged a fee in order to vote in a federal election.

Citizens who are 18 or older have the right to vote.

Even before the amendments, the Constitution bars the government from jailing you with no reason (it must justify it — “habeas corpus”), from punishing you without a trial (“bills of attainder”), and from making something a crime after you already did it (“ex post facto” laws).

You generally don’t have to answer questions beyond identifying yourself (rules vary by state). You can calmly say, “I’m going to remain silent.”

If you’re arrested, you can ask for a lawyer — and if you can’t afford one, the court must provide one. You can say, “I want a lawyer,” and stop there.

You can say, “I do not consent to a search.” Officers may still search in certain situations, but saying it clearly protects your rights.

You can photograph or film things in plain view in a public place — including public officials doing their jobs.

Every eligible citizen can register and cast a ballot, free from intimidation. Register or check your status at vote.gov.

Federal laws prohibit discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability in areas like jobs, housing, and public services.

The U.S. Constitution sets the minimum rights every person in the country has. No state is allowed to drop below that line.

Your state’s own constitution can add rights on top — things like stronger privacy protections or broader voter access. States can grant more than the federal floor; they can never give less.

The rights you actually have are the federal ones plus whatever extra your state guarantees. It’s worth a few minutes to look up your own state’s bill of rights.