Worked examples
Two examples
Example 1
A city in New York wants to take a row of private garages to build a new fire station. The owners do not want to sell.Which amendment protects the owners?
- Ask what is happening. The government is taking private property, and it is for a public use, a fire station.
- The government’s power to take private property for public use is called eminent domain. It may do this even if the owners do not want to sell.
- But the Constitution sets a condition: “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” Just compensation means a fair price, usually the market value.
- Those words are the last part of the Fifth Amendment, called the takings clause. The owners can go to court if they believe the price is too low.
Answer: The Fifth Amendment
Example 2
A home health aide sues the agency she worked for. She brings the case in federal court, under the federal minimum wage law, and says the agency owes her $4,000 in unpaid wages. She asks for a jury to hear the case.Which amendment gives her the right to a jury?
- First ask: is this a criminal case or a civil case? A criminal case is brought by the government to punish a crime. A civil case is a dispute between people or organizations, usually about money.
- Here a worker is suing the agency she worked for, over money, and no one is accused of a crime. So it is a civil case.
- Juries in criminal cases come from the Sixth Amendment. Juries in civil cases come from the Seventh Amendment, when more than twenty dollars is at stake.
- $4,000 is far more than twenty dollars, and the case is in federal court, where the Seventh Amendment applies.
Answer: The Seventh Amendment
Where this is taught: Civics, Chapter 7: All ten, side by side
In your Kaplan book: Unit 3, Chapter 3, Lesson 2: Constitutional Government · Map of the Terrain, topic 22: Amendments 2 to 10
The drill
Ten questions
How many:
Read each question, and any reading or table in its box. Then tap your answer; a few questions ask you to choose words from a drop-down instead, the way the GED test does. Press Check my answers at the bottom.Read each question, and any reading or table in its box. Circle your answer; where there are brackets, circle the choice that fits. The answer key, with the reasoning, is on the last page.