ABSTRACT
Constitutional amendments have played a key role in the protection of civil rights and liberties in US history. The founding fathers devoted little discussion to the issue at the Constitutional Convention, apparently believing that the strengthened national government they were creating would pose little threat to civil rights and liberties. During debates over the ratification of the Constitution, Antifederalists used the absence of a bill of rights to argue against it. The first and one of the most important uses of the amending process resulted in the adoption of the first ten amendments known as the Bill of Rights. Opponents of amendments restricting burning the American flag or of proposals responding to other contemporary Supreme Court decisions have argued that the amending process has never yet been, and should never be, used to restrict guarantees of liberty in the Bill of Rights or elsewhere.
