AMENDMENT 9
Original Text
“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
Killian’s Interpretation
“Failure of the Constitution to mention a specific right does not mean that the government can abridge that right, but its protection has to be found elsewhere” (Killian 32).
Schreck’s Interpretation
“It means that just because a certain right is not listed in the Constitution, it doesn’t mean you don’t have that right. […] The Constitution doesn’t tell you all the rights that you have… because it doesn’t know” (Schreck 18). “It acknowledges that who we are now may not be who we will become. It leaves a little room… for the future self” (Schreck 19).
AMENDMENT 13
Original Text
“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.”
Killian’s Interpretation
“President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation did not apply to slavery in the states that had not seceded. To abolish slavery entirely, Congress proposed this amendment, which also gave Congress proposed this amendment, which also gave Congress specific authority to enforce the amendment by legislation. Under these provisions, Congress has legislated against slavery-like conditions, such as peonage” (Killian 34).
Thursday’s Interpretation
“Look at the 13th Amendment, for example: It abolishes slavery only for it to be reimagined as a prison industry that is a new systemic form of oppression. A felon is not equal to me. Even after serving their time, even after being ‘rehabilitated,’ a felon cannot vote. A felon cannot serve on a jury” (Schreck 89).
AMENDMENT 14
Original Text
“Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens 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 States, 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 of emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
“Section 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.”
Killian’s Interpretation
“In the Dredd Scott decision of 1857, the Supreme Court had said that African-Americans were not citizens. This amendment declared that every person born or naturalized in the US was a citizen. The amendment’s “due process” clause has had enormous constitutional importance, since the Supreme Court has used it to apply most of the Bill of Rights to the states. The amendment also establishes that all citizens are entitled to ‘equal protection of the laws,’ the provision which the Supreme Court cited in the Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, ruling school segregation unconstitutional” (Killian 34-35).
Schreck’s Interpretation
Section 1, Clause 1. “So the 14th Amendment is like a giant, super-charged force field protecting all of your human rights. […] Lincoln knew though that just ending slavery would not be enough, so he got his friend John Bingham to help him write the 14th and 15th Amendments: The Reconstruction Amendments. These amendments made the newly freed slaves citizens, guaranteed them equal protection under the law, and protected their right to vote. […] I want to emphasize that this amendment guaranteed equal rights only to men. Black women were not given these rights. No women were given these rights. The question of Native American rights never even came up. Even Lincoln was trapped in a penumbra on that one” (Schreck 21-22).
Section 1, Clause 2. “Clause 2 ensures that you, as Americans, are free to travel from State to State; free to buy property in any State; and free to pursue happiness in every State” (Schreck 25).
Section 1, Clause 3. “This is one of the most miraculous clauses in our entire Constitution! The due process clause. We stole it from the Magna Carta. It ensures that the government cannot lock you up, take your stuff, or kill you – without a good reason” (Schreck 28).
Section 1, Clause 4.
“The equal protection clause. It says that we must all be treated equally, that we cannot be discriminated against on the basis of race, sex, religion, or immigration status. It actually uses the word ‘person,’ not ‘citizen.’ Which means that if you are an undocumented immigrant, you must be given all the protections of Clause 3, the due process clause. You cannot be locked up without a fair trial. You cannot have anything – or anyone – seized from you…” (Schreck 36).
“People used to have it to do so much good in this country. It was the heart of the Civil Rights Act. […] It was used to win all sorts of rights for working women, including the right to equal pay and the right to be free from sexual harassment” (Schreck 37).
Special Note
In Castle Rock v. Gonzales – “Feminist legal scholars have called this decision the death of the 14th Amendment for women. This ruling is most devastating for Black women, women of color, trans women, binary, and nonbinary folx, women with disabilities, immigrants – people who are less likely to be helped by police than I am. It’s especially devastating to indigenous women, who suffer the most violence in our country” (Schreck 44).
Works Cited
1. Killian, Johnny H. “The Constitution of the United States of America.” Senate.gov, https://www.senate.gov/civics/resources/pdf/US_Constitution-Senate_Publication_103-21.pdf. Accessed 31 Jul. 2025.
2. Schreck, Heidi. What the Constitution Means to Me. Theatre Communications Group, 2020.