Description
The Due Process Clause is a guarantee of basic fairness. Fairness has many components to it. ?This discussion asks you to examine due process.
Please thoroughly discuss each of the following:
- What is meant by ?Fundamental Fairness??
- What are the various components of due process in the criminal procedure? ?In your response, include some examples of procedural protections that are afforded to individuals in a criminal case.
- How does the court balance individual rights against government interests?
Peer 1:The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment protects individuals from any state that tries and deprives them of ?life, liberty, or property, without due process of law? (Chapman & Yoshino, n.d.). Within the Due Process Clause, fundamental fairness must be followed. Fundamental fairness is a subjective standard and occurs during the court proceeding to ensure that balance and/or impartiality is present in the due process (?Fundamental Fairness,? n.d.). Due process ensures that individuals that face a formal proceeding within the criminal justice system receive fair treatment.Some of the different aspects of due process are knowing the charges against you via a government notice, the government proving the non-standard conduct of which you are being charged for, the opportunity to defend the charges brought against you in a hearing, the government proving substantial and credible evidence against you to support the charges and to provide documentation on the adverse findings (?Procedural Due Process,? n.d.). Individuals in a criminal case are offered the right to; counsel, pre-deprivation hearing, cross-examine witnesses, an unbiased trial, call witness, know opposing evidence and more.Due process is split into two categories to protect both the government and individual fundamental rights and non-fundamental rights. Laws must protect the government and the security of our national, while also protecting the rights every citizen has. At times, rights may be deprived, but in the best interest for both parties and necessary for a compelling objective. In most cases, the outcome of a criminal trail will depend on whether the liberty interest is classified as a fundamental right or non-fundamental right.
Peer 2:Fundamental Fairness is defined as ?the balance or impartiality (of a court proceeding) that is essential to due process? (Fundamental Fairness, n.d.). This means that one party may not possess an unequal advantage over another party. It is for this reason that discrimination based on race, sex, gender, religion, and sexual orientation is prohibited under the law.There are five elements that make up due process. ?They are equality, economy, expedition, evidence, and equity? (North. 1984). Equality means that there cannot be any discrimination. Economy refers to the absence of barriers to entry or cost of access cannot be greater for one party or another. Expedition requires all speed to be met to dispense justice. Evidence requires fact and proof, not assumptions and belief. Finally, equity requires rightness and reasonableness. The punishment should fit the crime and be levied against all offenders the same. Due process is the result of a long history of judicial proceedings and precedent. Due process and Fundamental Fairness can be seen as one and the same. Both refer to and mean the same thing. All people are created equally and should be treated the same regardless of race, sex, gender, etc. Furthermore, personal rights, such as privacy are protected by the law and require specific characteristics to be evident in order to be violated.The balancing act between individual rights and government interests is key to maintaining peace in society. One way that the government maintains this balance is through the ?Objective Basis Requirement and Evidence?. The government is not allowed to impede upon a citizens privacy and rights based on mere hunches. There must be evidence and objective belief. A key example of this would be the requirement for a search warrant before any law enforcement officers may enter a home or residence. In order to obtain a search warrant, officers must submit proof of what they expect to find to a judge, who will rule on the validity of the request. If a search warrant is not obtained before entry then any items found upon the unlawful search would be ruled inadmissible in court. This is referred to as ?Fruit of the poisonous tree?.
Peer #3In this week?s lesson we covered many elements surrounding the Due Process Clause. One of the elements discussed was the fundamental fairness doctrine. The fundamental fairness doctrine was established by three cases people were charged with crimes without receiving a proper trial to determine whether they were rightfully convicted or not. With the establishment of the fundamental fairness doctrine all states are required to provide certain rights to defendants to receive a fair trial. These two rights are the notice of the charges against them, as well as a hearing to discuss the factual evidence or lack thereof before being sentenced to a punishment and conviction. ??When discussing due process there are many components that make up the process to ensure basic fairness. Explained at a basic elemental breakdown some of the components include the following: The government must notify you of the charges being held against you. The government must clearly provide the laws or statutes that you are being accused of violating. The government must give you the opportunity to dispute the charges being accused in a timely and meaningful manner. The government must provide evidence without a reasonable doubt to support the charges being held against the accused. And finally, the government must explain to the defendant of any adverse findings during the prosecuting process. Along with these elements there are some procedural protections that may be in place as well. To name a few there are, the right to counsel, the right to be present when adverse evidence is presented, and the right to recover compensation for wrongful deprivation. ??The use of Due Process is one of the main aspects that help provide balance between the courts and government interest. Due process including the 5th and 14th amendments help to ensure that an individual, whether found guilty or not, has a fair trial and protection of their rights against infringement.
