You know, I've heard that one before ("Usually, our constitutions expand liberties, they don't contract them"). It seems to fall flat considering the changes and interpretations made to the federal Constitution since the beginning. Most I think have been restrictions on ennumerated rights, especially SCOTUS interpretations. Is there a right listed in the Bill of Rights that hasn't been further restricted over the course of time?
I don't think describing it as "expanding" liberties is the best explanation.
However, I would say that the majority of new amendments, and all the old amendments, were aimed at protecting people from the GOVERNMENT intervening IN their lives.
1st - Limits government intervention into speech, religion, etc
2nd - Limits government intervention into bearing arms
3rd - Limits government use of ones home
4th - Limits government invading your property/person
5th - 8th - Limits the government in how they can legally judge and punish youyou
9th - Limits the government in general from infringing upon other rights not stated
10th - Limits the government in what powers it can do
The entire bill of rights generally is limiting what the government can do to it's people through variou fashions
11th - First one limiting citizens instead of the government. Limits individuals ability to file suit against a state
12th - Changes the structure of how the government is formed, which is inherently a limiting nature on the government (limiting it to being done in a certain rules oriented way rather than simply whoever can take control gets control)
13th - Limiting the rights of people to own other people
14th - Limit's the government from discriminating against classes of people and can classify people as citizens
15th - Limits how government can deny voting rights to people OR bestows rights upon individuals who previously didn't have any
16th - Ding Ding Ding, first one that really bestows additional power unto the federal government
17th - Re-arranges the rules of the constitution, which again are inherently limiting of government
18th - Third one that is unquestionably removing rights from individuals with no other argument that can be made regarding it
19th - Again, either limiting the governments ability to discriminate OR bestowing a new right to a group that didn't have it prevoiusly
20th - Another limit of government by tweaking how government works
21st - Removal of the 18th, bringing us back to only two amendment clearly denying rights to citizens as a whole.
22nd - Limits government by limiting how long a President can remain in power
23rd - Changes the way the government constitutional works
24th - Limiting of government in restricting peoples vote
25th - Another governmental structure amendment
26th - Like the other voting ones...either limits discrimination regarding voting or bestows upon a group a right they previously didn't enjoy
27th - Government structure again
There are only two amendments that clearly aim at doing nothing but removing the rights of individuals, and one of those got repealed. There is one, the slavery amendment, which can be argued simultaneously gave people right and took rights away from others.
By and large, Constitutional Amendments are used to limit the government or structure the govenrment.
The gay marriage amendment would be like a quasi mix of the 13th and the voting amendments.
It's similar to the 13th in the sense that it's removing the possability of doing something under the law from a group of individuals. For the 13th, it was removing the ability for them to legally own another human being. For the proposed amendment, it would be removing the ability of homosexuals to marry someone else. In terms of the similarity to the voting amendment....the new amendment, in terms of defining it JUST as a man or woman...would be bestowing a new right upon an particular group of people.