The police are allowed to lie to you. I know, that sounds wrong but the courts have continually affirmed it over and over. Why? For the same reason that you’re allowed to scream from the mountain tops (or on the Capitol steps) that the 2020 election was stolen: Freedom of speech. Of course they can abuse this the same way you can, for personal gain or to lead someone astray. This has always been the case. But in the last three years America has become a police state, with citizen rights and protections tossed in the garbage, with political show trials adjudicated on scant and/or fabricated evidence, with brazenly biased judges acting with impunity and ignoring hundreds of years of legal processes, just because they can. More on that later.
This is a police state. We need to confront it, but we can’t do so without a solid understanding of our rights.
You Are An American
And with that, you have rights that nobody can deny you, no matter which obscure law the legal knot twisters want to restrain you with.
The Fifth Amendment provides that “no person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” Our cases establish that the Government violates this guarantee by taking away someone’s life, liberty, or property under a criminal law so vague that it fails to give ordinary people fair notice of the conduct it punishes, or so standardless that it invites arbitrary enforcement. – Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority in Johnson v. United States, June 26, 2015.
Let’s review what every American should learn in grade school. As we tiptoe into a modern dystopia, we should at least know the bedrock principles that this country was founded on — the ones that the forces of darkness are gleefully chipping away from underneath our feet. Can we stop them? Yes, but it starts with every interaction you and I have with overreaching authorities, be they police, school or hospital administrators, children’s services, or federal agents.
Everyone should have a copy of the U.S. Constitution in print. For now, you can download and print this one, but as more content and history is removed from the internet, that may not always be the case. I recommend getting a nicely bound compact version and refer to it often.
The first articles of the Constitution lay out the way the government works. After that, the founders added amendments to the Constitution known as the Bill of Rights, and that’s what I’d like to focus on here. There are 27 amendments, although most of the later ones pertain to voting, politicians and their offices, and other less personal issues. I’ve paraphrased these for brevity and for now we’ll focus on the ones most applicable to our conversation. You can find the full list at the bottom of this post in the exact legal wording.
Do you know your Constitutional rights when the police or Feds come knocking on your door, pull you over, or call you up, searching for information?
Your Rights
1st Amendment: You have the freedom of speech, and the freedom to assemble, to report, and to worship. No one can close your church. They can’t deny your right to gather in groups of any size. You’re allowed to take pictures and report on events. You’re even allowed to give cops the finger and tell them to “[bleep] off.” I don’t recommend that last one, but courts have continuously affirmed your right to do so. ‘Merica.
2nd Amendment: You have the right to own a gun. How and where you can carry it is determined by state law (but shouldn’t be, IMO).
4th Amendment: You are protected from unreasonable search and seizure. The police must have a valid legal reason to stop you, detain you, and search your home, car, backpack, etc. They can’t just search your car or shed. They have to see something, or hear something. Failing that, they need a proper warrant based on probable cause to enter your dwelling, seize your phone, or search your home with specific items listed on the warrant that they are looking for.
5th Amendment: You have the right to remain silent, and you have the right to refuse to cooperate with their investigation unless compelled by a court to do so. Even at a traffic stop you don’t have to say a word after you let them know you’re invoking your right to remain silent. The police are the ones who need to justify their actions, not the other way around. You can refuse to speak with them on the phone or at your front door, and you can ignore their requests to come on down and have a chat. Every defense lawyer will tell you that this is your single greatest legal protection.
6th Amendment: You have the right to a speedy trial, and to know the exact charges and evidence against you at the time of your arrest. They don’t get to just hold you indefinitely on a misdemeanor charge while fishing for other crimes to charge you with.
7th Amendment: You have the right to be tried by a jury of your peers. You don’t have to submit to a bench trial (where the judge is the only authority and has god-like power) unless certain municipal stipulations are a factor, like small claims or traffic offenses. It will almost always benefit the accused to sit in front of a jury (unless you’re in D.C.) despite what prosecutors say. Ask Kyle Rittenhouse.
8th Amendment: You have the right to bail at a reasonable cost. They’re not allowed to set your bail so high that you can’t afford to get out to prepare you defense.
14th Amendment: You have the right to due process of law, and equal protection under the law. In State and Federal jurisdictions you have the presumption of innocence and judges must affirm this. You have a right to interview witnesses, to see the evidence against you, to access all the discovery the prosecution has.
The War on Terror
Unfortunately, none of those will matter much if the Feds choose to label you a Domestic Terrorist.
Thanks to the Patriot Act, corrupt courts, and feckless representatives in Congress, if you cross the wrong imaginary line you can kiss all of those Constitutional protections goodbye, even basic ones like being told the charges against you, or freedom from unreasonable search and seizure.
Get the wrong judge to sign off on a ridiculous order, and you could find yourself sitting in a D.C. gulag. Scream as he might, your lawyer could be denied the evidence that would exonerate you, like the video you took on your own phone of the incident, because the government seized it, hid it till the trial was over, and then deleted it before giving it back to you long after sentencing.
All of that is patently unconstitutional, by the way, and until that is overturned American will continue to operate as a police state. And it’s possible they could SWAT me for saying so.
SWATTED
Imagine you’re laying in bed one morning, glancing at the clock, knowing you need to get up and prepare breakfast for the kids. Suddenly there is pounding on your front door.
“FBI open up!” you hear someone shouting from several rooms away.
You leap out of bed and turn circles, getting your bearings. You struggle to get to the door as the pounding and yelling increases, see your kids’ fear as you pass their rooms and can only give them a confused look in response.
Too late to get to the door in time, it’s suddenly smashed open by several heavily-armed men in tactical gear. They point their weapons at you, and at your terrified children standing in their footie jammies and hopefully not wetting themselves. They force you to the ground, restrain your hands, and violate your home. Maybe they let you stand and compose yourself, maybe they arrest you for refusing to comply with a Federal search warrant. The facts of the matter are irrelevant because the law, and your constitutional rights, don’t apply to them.
If you’re not too traumatized, you might have the wherewithal to ask to see their warrant. That is, if you’re not preoccupied with whatever they’re doing to your wife and kids in the next room. Maybe you know that the warrant is supposed to have a letter attached, specifying exactly what they’re looking for. But they won’t tell you that. Nor will the media cover the matter.
You’ve just been swatted, a term for when someone informs the police or Feds that you may have committed a crime, or perhaps they said you’re a danger to yourself or others. Doesn’t really matter. A judge signed off on it, and there are plenty of corrupt and careless judges to choose from. And because our election machines are designed for fraud, judges are insulated from being kicked off the bench.
So you sit in the back of the cruiser while the Feds spend the next six hours tearing apart your home, disabling your security cameras while joking about it, and confiscating all the home’s phones and computers.
Maybe you bought a Gadsden flag online, or an ISIS one. Perhaps you’ve been researching election machine fraud and collecting the wrong kind of public records, or you posted memes that someone in D.C. didn’t like, or you legally purchased a firearm in a private sale, or wore the wrong kind of jacket on a plane.
In their search, they claim to have found evidence against you — a gun barrel that is 1/4 inch too short, child pornography on your phone, a few hand grenades — and suddenly you’re cooked, though they won’t allow you to see any of the evidence against you.
Your court-appointed attorney immediately pressures you to plead guilty to charges you’re not guilty of in order to avoid a more severe penalty. All you have to do is agree to register as a domestic terrorist, or sex-offender. You decide to ditch that attorney for someone with moxie, but nobody will take your case — that is, unless you’ve got $100,000 to get the ball rolling.
You finally get a decent lawyer who demands access to the evidence. The government ignores it. You demand a court hearing. The courts put it off. You languish in jail for days, months, years, waiting for your day in court.
And that is where hundreds of Americans are currently sitting. If all of that sounds unreal you might be living under a rock, because it’s happening today to someone in America. Courts, Federal agencies, local police departments, and District Attorneys are everywhere violating the Constitutional rights of citizens:
“Judge Tanya Chutkan during her sentencing brazenly lied about the January 6 Capitol riot and called it an ‘armed attempted overthrow of this government.’” Read more…
“White Couple Sentenced to 28 Years for Displaying Confederate Flags.” More…
“For more than two years, the surveillance footage from the 2021 Capitol riot, aired this week by Tucker Carlson, was kept from the American public by a Democratic Congress so a false narrative became cemented in the public consciousness.” More…
““It is egregious the way these people have been treated, for as much as two years pretrial, before any finding of fact. When people find out what has been going on in the DC gulag, it is going to shock the American conscience forever.” More…
“The government is charging a majority of Trump supporters with 1512.(c)(2) charges – a felony – something that has never happened before.” More…
“The obstruction charge on which the government is relying so heavily may, in fact, be unconstitutional as applied to most of the Jan. 6 defendants.” More…
“All throughout the trial, judge Jeb Boseberg repeatedly stated, ‘Well Ryan is guilty, you just need to put on a defense.’” Watch more…
Why Fight A System Stacked Against Us?
It may be the case that most cops, some lawyers, and a few prosecutors are honorable individuals doing a hard job protecting the community. I’ve met some great ones over the past several years. However, it’s also a fact that many — perhaps even most — in government and law enforcement are out there doing shady stuff, ignoring the law, and trampling on the rights of law-abiding citizens.
In the past six months two people in my immediate family have been on the receiving end of police misconduct. Those are crazy odds. To the department’s credit, both times a simple phone call to the higher ups corrected the matter. The CO’s admitted their officers were in the wrong and they apologized that their cops didn’t follow proper procedure or understand the law. They made it right. Sadly, for many this is not the case.
It’s really hard to tell the good from the bad, and therefore it’s imperative that you know your rights lest you get railroaded even though you did nothing wrong. The day may come when you find yourself in the cross hairs of a political witch hunt, especially if you spend much time reading posts like this. If they come knocking, here’s what I’ll do:
Pray for God’s protection. He’s the only infallible authority and you can trust His guidance.
Record the interaction. If you can afford it, get a dash cam and a surveillance system with audio.
Smile and don’t let them steal my joy, for this too will pass.
Require that they provide me the warrant and accompanying letter.
Voice my intent to invoke my 5th Amendment right to remain silent. Then shut up.
Document everything from that step forward.
One way or another, this period of history will end. It will either come crashing down like a flaming roof upon a burning structure, unable to prevent the destruction that has been wrought, or it will be stripped down and rebuilt into the towering example of liberty it once was. I don’t know which way it will go. Our job is to remember what America was founded on, to proclaim it to every big and small tyrant we encounter, to face them down in the halls of power and at our front doors, and to trust God to deliver us out of the hands of those who’ve so recklessly tried to prostitute what better men created.
You can follow me on Telegram, Substack, Truth Social, Frank Social, GETTR, and Gab. You can also reach me on Twitter (X), but I don’t post there very often because I still don’t trust them yet. You can subscribe to receive new posts to your inbox as well as get information on my latest novel, book four in my modern war series.
If you enjoy my work, please consider supporting us with a paid subscription. Keep fighting.
For Further Reading:
Standing Your Ground: Lawfare’s Attempt To Disarm America
Declarations: A Nation At War With Its Own People
The American Crisis: Revisited
Critical Documents:
The Constitution of the United States of America
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Amendment II
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment VII
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X
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.
Amendment XI
Passed by Congress March 4, 1794. Ratified February 7, 1795.
Note: Article III, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 11. The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.
AMENDMENT XII
Passed by Congress December 9, 1803. Ratified June 15, 1804.
Note: A portion of Article II, section 1 of the Constitution was superseded by the 12th amendment. The Electors shall meet in their respective states and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same state with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate; — the President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted; — The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, then from the persons having the highest numbers not exceeding three on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by states, the representation from each state having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the states, and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice. [And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-President shall act as President, as in case of the death or other constitutional disability of the President. –]* The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed, and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. *Superseded by section 3 of the 20th amendment.
AMENDMENT XIII
Passed by Congress January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865.
Note: A portion of Article IV, section 2, of the Constitution was superseded by the 13th amendment.
Section 1.
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XIV
Passed by Congress June 13, 1866. Ratified July 9, 1868.
Note: Article I, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of the 14th amendment.
Section 1.
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age,* and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
Section 3.
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
Section 4.
The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Section 5.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
*Changed by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
AMENDMENT XV
Passed by Congress February 26, 1869. Ratified February 3, 1870.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude–
Section 2.
The Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XVI
Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 16.
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
AMENDMENT XVII
Passed by Congress May 13, 1912. Ratified April 8, 1913.
Note: Article I, section 3, of the Constitution was modified by the 17th amendment.
The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.
This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of the Constitution.
AMENDMENT XVIII
Passed by Congress December 18, 1917. Ratified January 16, 1919. Repealed by amendment 21.
Section 1.
After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.
Section 2.
The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XIX
Passed by Congress June 4, 1919. Ratified August 18, 1920.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XX
Passed by Congress March 2, 1932. Ratified January 23, 1933.
Note: Article I, section 4, of the Constitution was modified by section 2 of this amendment. In addition, a portion of the 12th amendment was superseded by section 3.
Section 1.
The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4.
The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
AMENDMENT XXI
Passed by Congress February 20, 1933. Ratified December 5, 1933.
Section 1.
The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.
Section 2.
The transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby prohibited.
Section 3.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by conventions in the several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from the date of the submission hereof to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XXII
Passed by Congress March 21, 1947. Ratified February 27, 1951.
Section 1.
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.
Section 2.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
AMENDMENT XXIII
Passed by Congress June 16, 1960. Ratified March 29, 1961.
Section 1.
The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct:
A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXIV
Passed by Congress August 27, 1962. Ratified January 23, 1964.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXV
Passed by Congress July 6, 1965. Ratified February 10, 1967.
Note: Article II, section 1, of the Constitution was affected by the 25th amendment.
Section 1.
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2.
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3.
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4.
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
AMENDMENT XXVI
Passed by Congress March 23, 1971. Ratified July 1, 1971.
Note: Amendment 14, section 2, of the Constitution was modified by section 1 of the 26th amendment.
Section 1.
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
Section 2.
The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
AMENDMENT XXVII
Originally proposed Sept. 25, 1789. Ratified May 7, 1992.
No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of Representatives shall have intervened.