Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

A short constitutional provision prohibiting the quartering of soldiers in private homes without consent. In the processed material the amendment appears not as a physical prop but as a cited legal text — a one‑paragraph clause invoked aloud, referenced by citation and memory during an Oval Office debate to signal legal precedent and the home’s sanctity.

2 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E9 · The Short List

Textualism vs. Lived Rights

The Third Amendment is cited by Sam as an example of a constitutional provision that safeguards home privacy, used to imply a broader, lived right to privacy contrary to Harrison's strict textualism.

Before: Not physically handled but linguistically invoked in argument.

After: Remains a rhetorical touchstone supporting Sam's position that privacy is reflected in the Bill of Rights' protections.

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S1E9 · The Short List

Cream in Coffee: Bartlet Punctures Textualism

The Third Amendment is explicitly invoked by Sam to demonstrate that privacy protections are embedded in the Bill of Rights; it functions as evidence against a purely enumerative reading that would deny implied privacy.

Before: Intact as a cited constitutional passage, conceptually present in legal debate.

After: Remains cited; its rhetorical force is mobilized by Sam to challenge textualist limits and to broaden the privacy argument in the room.

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