Most often the most ignored right in the Bill of Rights itself is the Third Amendment. If I were to ask anybody on the street I believe 99.99% of the people asked would not know what the Third Amendment was. So just incase you are one of those who are unfamiliar with it, here it is:
"No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered
in any house, without the consent of the Owner,
nor in time of war, but in a manner to be pres-
cribed by law."
Why do we have this in our Constitution? Is there a threat that our military will attempt to take quarter in our homes and that the American people will be forced to billet the troops at our own expense? The answer to these questions are no, of course not, our military has adequate housing and never in the history of our Nation has this been an issue that we've needed to fret. So why was it added into the Constitution by our Founding Fathers then? The answer is both simple and complex at the same time.
First the simple answer. If we read the Declaration of Independence we will see that one of the complaints against Ol' King George was that he had a large amount of standing troops during times of peace during the colonial days of America. These troops were permitted to take over any home of their choosing and would eat all the food and behave in manners unbefitting proper gentlemen of the day. The colonist were obliged to feed, house and care for (in a manner similar to servidtud) the troops for the duration of their stay. These billeting requirements usually lasted until the colonist had no more to give then the soldiers would move on to their next host. This was a sore spot to the colonist therefore when there was a push by the federalist to ensure a standing army during times of peace in the new fledgling nation, those opposed to this insisted on having a guarantee within the Constitution protecting the American people against the tyranical advances of a rogue army. That is pretty much the short of it.
Similarly, just as the First and Second Amendment protected the Citizens against an oppressive government, the Third was added with the same purpose in mind. Our Founding Fathers, understood that if there was a desire by the government who controlled the military to oppress the people, there would be no barrier to protect the person in their property from full scale "invasion". They therefore knowing once again the steps which would be taken by an oppressive government, having been subjected to one and studying the oppressive regeims of the past, placed into the Constitution various laws and protections to ensure that the Citizens would have a chance against their government if need arose.
Indeed as stated at the begining of this treatice, the Third Amendment has been widely forgotten and ignored. No litigation has arisen from this particular Amendment although it has been used to cite the Constitutions guarantee to privacy and property. In one instance which was brought before a lower court, in a case regarding a group of corrections officers who were on strike and subsequently expelled from their State sponsored housing to house the National Guard who were taking over guarding duties at the prisons effected by the strike, the court ruled that the corrections officers' Third Amendment rights were violated by the actions of the State. This ruling was appealed to an Appeals Court and the ruling was vacated, stating that due to the circumstances surrounding the eviction from the housing facilities, and the necessity to provide security at the prisons the State had not violated the rights of the guards and therefore there was no issue of Constitutionality at hand. Other than this one court case no other case has been brought up with regards to the "original" meaning or intent of this Amendment.
This is one Amendment which needs to be watched carefully, because when we forget and ignor something that at one time was a problem, it will usually come back to haunt us in the future. The old addage, those who ignor history are usually doomed to repeat it is very true. This Amendment is important for the sole fact that it shows a clear picture that our Founding Fathers understood historical events and endeavored to protect us from the cycle which has destroyed every major power in the history of the world. It also shows that they desired to protect us from the burden and expense of a tyranical government.
