Five Constitutional Rights Most Americans Have But Do Not Know How to Use

NewsOnScale Staff

September 16, 2026

The United States Constitution is not an abstract document. It contains specific enforceable protections that apply to every American in their daily life. Most Americans were never taught what those protections actually say or what the Supreme Court has held about them.

Here is what the Constitution actually guarantees on five issues that affect ordinary Americans right now.

1. The Right to Travel

The Supreme Court has recognized the right to travel as a fundamental constitutional right in multiple decisions. In Saenz v. Roe, 526 U.S. 489 (1999), the Court held that the right to travel encompasses the right of citizens to be treated equally in their new state of residence.

In Shuttlesworth v. City of Birmingham, 394 U.S. 147 (1969), the Court held that if a state converts a right into a licensed privilege the citizen may ignore the license and fee and engage in the right with impunity.

In Murdock v. Pennsylvania, 319 U.S. 105 (1943), the Court held that a municipality cannot convert a constitutional liberty into a licensed privilege and charge a fee for its exercise.

Federal statute 18 U.S.C. Section 31 defines motor vehicle in a commercial context. Private travel in your own vehicle for personal non-commercial purposes occupies different legal ground than the commercial motor vehicle code that traffic enforcement systems are built on.

2. The Fourth Amendment

The Fourth Amendment reads: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause.

Kyllo v. United States, 533 U.S. 27 (2001): The Court held that using thermal imaging technology not available to the general public to surveil a home without a warrant constitutes an unconstitutional search.

United States v. Jones, 565 U.S. 400 (2012): Unanimous ruling that attaching a GPS device to a vehicle and tracking its movements constitutes a Fourth Amendment search requiring a warrant.

Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018): The Court ruled that accessing historical cell phone location data requires a warrant.

Flock cameras — automated license plate readers that track every vehicle without a warrant — sit in an unresolved legal space given Kyllo and Jones. No court has definitively ruled on their constitutionality as a mass surveillance system.

3. The Declare War Clause

Article I Section 8 gives Congress the exclusive power to declare war. Not the President. Congress. The last time Congress exercised this power was June 5 1942.

The United States has since fought in Korea, Vietnam, Kuwait, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and currently Iran. None began with a formal congressional declaration of war.

Congress has three tools that would carry actual force: a formal declaration of war, legislation cutting off military funding, or impeachment. It has used none of them regarding the current Iran conflict.

4. Property Rights and the Fifth Amendment

The Fifth Amendment states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005): The Court ruled that government can seize private property and transfer it to another private party for economic development. One of the most criticized Supreme Court decisions in recent history.

Timbs v. Indiana, 586 U.S. 146 (2019): Unanimous ruling that the Eighth Amendment prohibition on excessive fines applies to the states and limits civil asset forfeiture.

You do not own your home if the government can seize it for failure to pay annual property tax. The constitutional tension between property tax and the Fifth Amendment has never been fully resolved by the courts.

5. First Amendment and Platform Suppression

The First Amendment prohibits Congress from making laws abridging freedom of speech. It applies to government — not to private companies. Social media platforms are private companies. The First Amendment does not directly prohibit them from banning users.

What does apply: The Florida Digital Rights Act prohibits social media platforms from deplatforming candidates who have qualified for public office. The Ninth Circuit ruled August 10 2026 that Section 230 operates as a liability defense not immunity from suit. Defamation per se applies when platforms make false accusations of serious federal crimes.

The First Amendment does not protect you from private platform censorship. State laws, defamation law, and platform-specific statutes do — if you know how to use them.

The Common Thread

Each of these five constitutional protections exists in the text of the Constitution and has been affirmed by the Supreme Court. Each has a significant gap between what the document says and what actually happens to ordinary Americans. Understanding the gap is the first step to being able to use it.

DISCLOSURE: NewsOnScale is an independent media publication operated by AMILLI AI CORP. JJ Johnson is the founder of AMILLI AI CORP and a declared candidate for President of the United States in 2028. All Supreme Court cases cited in this article are publicly available at supremecourt.gov.