17:23 Oct 5, 2007 

In a way it is because these are rights that are guaranteed to you if you come in contact with the law. These are your rights and you have a responsibility to exercise and protect them not just for yourself but insure that others exercise and protect these rights as well.

So in a very semantical way, it is a contract because it has to do with the law and the guarantee of those rights are binding unless you are convicted of a federal crime in which case, you lose several of these rights..

21:03 Oct 3, 2007 

It certainly is not a contract and even in that case it would not be called carta

19:08 Oct 3, 2007 

I think they use "carta" because it is a legal and binding contract.