Our Wonderful Bill of Rights: The Fifth and Eighth Amendments

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution not only protects us against double jeopardy and self-incrimination; it also prohibits the confiscation of our property by the Federal Government without proper compensation. Yet, today, Americans routinely find their property devalued by governmental edicts restricting their use of it – or even taken from them altogether in the interest of some putative common good. The Wilderness Act of 1964, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, and more recently the Endangered Species Act and the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts have all infringed on the private property rights of Americans. The Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, and the Environmental Protection Agency are just a few of the federal regulatory agencies that seek to dictate how we dispose of our own private property.

The Fifth Amendment states, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury . . . nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb, nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” But no compensation is forthcoming to the thousands of farmers, ranchers, loggers, and other hard-working Americans who have had the use of their property so severely restricted that they are no longer able to make a living from it – all in the so-called public interest of certain federally favored flora and fauna.

Federal judges and regulatory agents also disregard the Eighth Amendment, which is meant to protect us against unreasonable fines and punishments. The Eighth Amendment states that “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” And yet, excessive fines are levied against alleged violators of vaguely defined and broadly interpreted environmental provisions. In one notorious case, a judge’s weird idea of wetlands sent a Florida landowner to prison for nearly two years – just for spreading soil on his own property.