The 2011 Bill of Rights Day Haiku Challenge concluded on 12/16/2011. Mahalo to all who contributed!

For the 2012 Bill of Rights Day Haiku Challenge, click here.

Submissions were made via email, facebook, etc - they are grouped by Amendment, where specified or obvious. In the spirit of the 1st Amendment, haiku are published verbatim, and may not reflect the views of the ACLU of Hawaii, and may not be suitable for all readers. Inspired? (we are!) Is your favorite Amendment still not haikued? Add your voice! Submit YOUR haiku to office@acluhawaii.org!

1st Amendment: Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause, freedom of speech, of the press, and of assembly; right to petition

I worship a god
You worship no god at all
We are both welcome
                - Example haiku
 
Freedom of Speech
hammering her edge of truth
Foundry of Sky.
                 - @apwpoet (via Twitter)
 
How happy that free speech 
spans a White House peace protest
and zombie costumes (http://reason.com/blog/2010/02/26/zombie-wrongfully-detained-hav)
                - Veronica Lorson Fowler
 
Expressed aloud
disdain for current policy.
No cops, no worries.
               - Benjamin William Allen
 
Our freedom of speech
By Citizens United
Has been perverted
                - James Palmer
 
The First Amendment
Keeps church and state separate.
May it always be.
- Jeff Miller
 
Never surrender
Basic rights out of fear
Of an opinion
                 - Rene Canham
 
Free speech rights: secure?
Only if we're vigilant.
Otherwise,
               - Bill Dingfelder 
 
The need for money
 To win elective office
Kills democracy
                - James Palmer
 
The rights of conscience
A wall of separation
Sov'reign reverence
               - Skepticles
 
Freedom to Assemble, Speak out or to write, 
We died for and live for, penned here black and white.
               - Maurice Friedman/Bard Of Earth  
 
One person standing,
Dissenting, opposed but safe:
The right to be heard.
             - Carolyn Jackson (this haiku also inspired by 5th and 14th Amendments)
 
I do not like you
you can say or opine
I may say the same
              - Priya Varaprath
 
Speak now for all time
be silent for no one
Our first amendment
              - Carol Bain
 
Freedom of conscience
Government may not offend
Fight for civil rights
               - Holly Huber
 
No paper tiger
or parchment barrier
protects if silent
                - Carol Bain
 
State and church don't mix
First Amendment is the fix
Keep church out of state
                 - Mitch Kahle
 
You annex my land
I occupy the Thom. Square
I'm the one wrong
                 -  Derek JW
 
I speak my truth,
a voice cries for justice,
Justice is truth for both.
                - Barbara Franklin
 
Pulled over by cop
Told him he was full of shit
Punched me in the eye
               - Anonymous
 
To free human souls
True rights of We the People
This we live and breathe
             - Will Espero
 
Use it or lose it
Choose to not remain silent
Unless arrested
              - Elmer Gantry
 

2nd Amendment: Sovereign state, the right to keep and bear arms

Commas screw it up:
Yes, Virginia, there is no
sanity clause there.
             - Bill Dingfelder
 
The Founding Fathers
Could not foresee machine guns
Instead of flintlocks
             - James Palmer
 
The right to bear arms.
A conundrum for us all.
We need a balance.
              - Anonymous
 
The right to bare arms? 
Michele Obama OWNS it!
That's not what you meant?
                 - CAH
 
I may own a gun
The second amendment says,
But I don’t want one.
             -  Keene Rees
 
Fight for one’s nation
Protection of family
We defend with arms
             - Will Espero
 
God Damn It To Hell
Put new handgun in pocket
Shot my own foot off
             - Anonymous
 
The right to bear arms?
I’d take gorilla instead.
Stronger, with fingers.
             - Anonymous
 
3rd Amendment: Protection from quartering of troops 
Uninvited troops
Taking up the couch. Hey, please
don't block my TV.
           - Bill Dingfelder
 

4th Amendment: Protection from unreasonable search and seizure

Warrant for my house?
Yes, but why not for my car?
Search me, I don't know...
         - Bill Dingfelder
 
Plan to search and seize?
Not without a warrant, pig!
Keep the f*&* out, yo!
              - Anonymous
 

5th Amendment: Due process, double jeopardy, self incrimination, eminent domain.

Habeas Corpus
NDAA passes, no veto in sight
Nice knowing you Due Process
             - Ann Ominous
 
Runaway fears cause
Indefinite detention
At home and abroad.
           - John Chasnoff (this Haiku inspired by the disastrous National Defense Authorization Act)
 
Double jeopardy?
Not unless I'm on that show
with Alex Trebak.
          - Bill Dingfelder
 
Questions can be sly.
"Are you still beating your wife?"
Better to zip it.
            - Frankie Futrelle
 
I was beaten down
Handcuffed and thrown in a jail
Case now dismissed... pfft
            - Damon Tucker
 
6th Amendment: Trial by jury & rights of the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy trial, public trial, right to counsel
My day in court, but
I couldn't afford a lawyer.
This one?  Hey, wake up!
              - Bill Dingfelder
 
The NDAA?
Article 6 says no to
endless detention
           - @hello9 (via Twitter)
 

7th Amendment: Civil trial by jury

Let my peers decide
Mediation?  What is that?
Alas there are none
           - Harvey Lung
 
Jury of my peers:
Hope they're just as smart and kind
and handsome as me!
          - Bill Dingfelder
 
8th Amendment: Prohibition of excessive bail and cruel & unusual punishment
 Stop executions
The death penalty is cruel
Life without parole
          - ACLU of Ohi0
 
Cruel, unusual?
Arizona cons in pink
undies - does that fit?
          - Bill Dingfleder
 
9th Amendment: Protection of rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution
Not listed? Then they're 
rights "retained by the people?"
(Guess gay rights are fine!)
         - Bill Dingfelder
 
10th Amendment: Powers of States and people
Federal powers
Get Tea Partiers all steamed
(or so they've stated...)
         - Bill Dingfelder
 

19th Amendment: No sex discrimination in the voting booth

Women weren’t allowed
When my own mother was young.
Today I can vote!
             - Keene Rees
 

Misc/Tributes

Keep it like it reads.
(Fine, unless you're gay or bi,
female, or not white) 
              - Bill Dingfelder (inspired by the concept of Constitutional originalism)
 
Precious liberty
Freedom can’t protect itself
Fight, A C L U!
            - Debra Sanchez
 
Professor Van Dyke.
Hero to the Bill of Rights.
I miss him so much.
             - Anonymous
 
Our brave Bill of Rights
essence of liberty
My freedoms endure
          - Carol Bain
 
We must be prepared
To protect all rights or
Risk loss forever
        - Carol Bain
 
The most fun of all
is my unauthorized
free will of action
         - Carol Bain
 
Liberties are lost
Like muscles atrophy
Exercise all rights!
         - Carol Bain