The Constitution Protects the Civil Rights of Americans
             The Constitution does protect the civil rights of Americans. Even though some laws are passed that violate the civil rights of people in the United States, the Supreme Court corrects these errors. The cases reviewed here ask if it is okay to compose and mandate prayer in schools, whether the death penalty is Constitutional, and how much privacy is given to the American people. In the following Supreme Court cases, the reader will find that the decisions made are Constitutional and ensure that the civil rights of Americans are protected.
             The First Amendment to the Constitution forbids the government form supporting religion. In the Supreme Court case, Engle v.. Vitale, a New York school system composed a prayer and forced children to pray in the mornings at school. This action by the school system clearly violates the "no establishment" clause of the First Amendment, which states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion..." The Supreme Court ruled six to one that it was unconstitutional for schools to compose and mandate prayer.
             The Engle decision was a good decision. Since the government now had no say in how school children prayed, the rights of minority religious groups were protected. This decision ensures that students in schools across the country will not have to go against their religion to please the government. Because this decision ensures the people's right to worship in the way that they choose, American society as a whole benefits from this decision.
             The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment." In the case, Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled that the death penalty was not unconstitutional as long as it was not arbitrarily applied. This case was accurately read because the writers of the Bill of Rights did not believe that the death pena
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