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Virginia Bill of Rights June 12, 1776 A
DECLARATION OF RIGHTS made by the representatives of
the good people of Virginia, assembled in full and
free Convention; which rights do pertain to them,
and their posterity, as the basis and foundation of
government.
1. That all men are by nature equally free and
independent, and have certain inherent rights, of
which, when they enter into a state of society, they
cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their
posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and
liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing
property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and
safety.
2. That all power is vested in, and consequently
derived from, the people; that magistrates are their
trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to
them.
3. That government is, or ought to be, instituted
for the common benefit, protection, and security, of
the people, nation, or community; of all the various
modes and forms of government that is best, which is
capable of producing the greatest degree of
happiness and safety, and is most effectually
secured against the danger of maladministration; and
that whenever any government shall be found
inadequate or contrary to these purposes, a majority
of the community hath an indubitable, unalienable,
and indefeasible right, to reform, alter, or abolish
it, in such manner as shall be judged most conducive
to the publick weal.
4. That no man, or set of men, are entitled to
exclusive or separate emoluments or privileges from
the community, but in consideration of publick
services; which, not being descendible, neither
ought the offices of magistrate, legislator, or
judge, to be hereditary.
5. That the legislative and executive powers of
the state should be separate and distinct from the
judicative; and that the members of the two first
may be restrained from oppression, by feeling and
participating the burthens of the people, they
should, at fixed periods, be reduced to a private
station, return into that body from which they were
originally taken, and the vacancies be supplied by
frequent, certain, and regular elections, in which
all, or any part of the former members, to be again
eligible, or ineligible, as the laws shall direct.
6. That elections of members to serve as
representatives of the people, in assembly, ought to
be free; and that all men, having sufficient
evidence of permanent common interest with, and
attachment to, the community, have the right of
suffrage, and cannot be taxed or deprived of their
property for publick uses without their own consent,
or that of their representatives so elected, nor
bound by any law to which they have not, in like
manner, assented, for the publick good.
7. That all power of suspending laws, or the
execution of laws, by any authority without consent
of the representatives of the people, is injurious
to their rights, and ought not to be exercised.
8. That in all capital or criminal prosecutions a
man hath a right to demand the cause and nature of
his accusation, to be confronted with the accusers
and witnesses, to call for evidence in his favour,
and to a speedy trial by an impartial jury of his
vicinage, without whose unanimous consent he cannot
be found guilty, nor can he be compelled to give
evidence against himself; that no man be deprived of
his liberty except by the law of the land, or the
judgment of his peers.
9. That excessive bail ought not to be required,
nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted.
10. That general warrants, whereby any officer or
messenger may be commanded to search suspected
places without evidence of a fact committed, or to
seize any person or persons not named, or whose
offence is not particularly described and supported
by evidence, are grievous and oppressive, and ought
not to be granted.
11. That in controversies respecting property,
and in suits between man and man, the ancient trial
by jury is preferable to any other, and ought to be
held sacred.
12. That the freedom of the press is one of the
great bulwarks of liberty, and can never be
restrained but by despotick governments.
13. That a well regulated militia, composed of
the body of the people, trained to arms, is the
proper, natural, and safe defence of a free state;
that standing armies, in time of peace, should be
avoided, as dangerous to liberty; and that, in all
cases, the military should be under strict
subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
14. That the people have a right to uniform
government; and therefore, that no government
separate from, or independent of, the government of
Virginia, ought to be erected or established within
the limits thereof.
15. That no free government, or the blessing of
liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a
firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance,
frugality, and virtue, and by frequent recurrence to
fundamental principles.
16. That religion, or the duty which we owe to
our CREATOR, and the manner of discharging it, can
be directed only by reason and conviction, not by
force or violence; and therefore all men are equally
entitled to the free exercise of religion, according
to the dictates of conscience; and that it is the
mutual duty of all to practice Christian
forbearance, love, and charity, towards each other.
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