Precarious

Chapter 16

"I wanted to pay her back for something."

"Did she go to the mall? She's not allowed to leave the house without supervision."

Dammit, Jace wasn't supposed to find out about our escapade. If I told him the truth about going to the mall with his sister, there would be no doubt that she would get into trouble. I didn't want to get Claire in trouble, but I didn't want to lie to him. I felt that Jace deserved to know the truth, but to compromise on Claire's part, maybe I could just tell a white lie.

"We went online shopping and Claire got me something, so I wanted to pay her back."

"Oh, that's fine. I was just confused about the situation."

"Class we're going to start presenting our topics about law. Jace and Sierra, the two of you will present first. If you need extra time, that's fine but just tell me now."

"We're finished."

"Excellent. Class, I expect you to be respectful and to pay attention. There will be a quiz on the different types of laws presented."

"Hi everyone. Jace and I decided to research the Constitutional law. For the sake of time, we're just going to be talking about the Bill of Rights, but we made a full report on the entire Constitution and we sent it to you a few days ago, Ms. Jamila."

"The first amendment give people the right to freedom of speech, religion, the right to assemble or peacefully protest, and freedom of the press."

"The second amendment gives people the right to have weapons even if they're not in the military."

"The third amendment banned the Quartering Act which existed before the Colonies became independent. Basically, the colonists were forced to shelter British troops and when they became independent, the lawmakers repealed the act. It's still legal to shelter soldiers in someone's home, but the owner must consent to doing so."

"The fourth amendment states that people have the right to privacy and states that authorities can't search your house, car, or belongings without a warrant. However, in case of an arrest, consent, a plain view of a harmful item, or a reason beyond doubt, the authorities can search someone without a warrant in order to keep order."

"The fifth amendment states that an accused person has the right to remain silent until a lawyer is present, can't be charged twice for the same crime, has the right to keep private property from the government, and can't be forced to testify against themselves in court."

"The sixth amendment states that an accused person has the right to an impartial jury, a speedy trial, which prevents the accused person from spending a long time in custody, and the right to a lawyer if they can't afford one in Federal court. However, because of the Supreme Court case Gideon versus Wainwright, defendants who can't afford a lawyer in State court are also provided one."

"The seventh amendment states that any case worth more than twenty dollars has the right to be heard by a jury. While twenty dollars today might not seem like a lot, while America was becoming a nation, twenty dollars was worth more than five hundred dollars at the time."

"The eight amendment prevents convicted people from receiving an unreasonable punishment or paying an excessive bail. For example, if someone is found guilty for driving without a license, an unreasonable punishment would be that they'd have to spend a decade in prison."

"The ninth amendment states that people have other rights besides the ones in the Constitution. It was written in order to limit the power of the Federal Government."

"The tenth amendment states that powers which aren't used by the Federal Government are reserved to the states. The balance between the State's and Government's power is referred to as federalism."