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Racial prejudice in america 1930s
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“The Due Process Clause serves two basic goals. One is to produce, through the use of fair procedures, more accurate results: to prevent the wrongful deprivation of interests. The other goal is to make people feel that the government has treated them fairly by, say, listening to their side of the story.” (exploring Constitutional Conflicts , n.d.) My case involves a young boy by the name of George Stinney Jr, who at the time of sentencing was 14 years old from Alcolu, South Carolina. Who was accused of murdering two young white girls by beating them over the head with a railroad spike and dumping them in a water-logged ditch. After a two-hour trial and a 10-minute jury deliberation, Stinney was convicted of murder on April 24 and sentenced …show more content…
Fundamental due process rights were violated such as: the right to counsel; this right ensures the right to legal counsel at all stages of a criminal proceeding. In this case, George Stinney lawyer wasn`t available to him until the trial, his right to a fair trial; this right allows the defendant case to be heard by a judge and to have the appropriate people available in their defense, and lastly, right to jury trial. This right allows a defendant to be judged by their fellow peers. George Stinney did not have that right since his trial only lasted 2 hours and with a 10-minute jury …show more content…
However, the case of George Stinney was held in a state court. Primarily because of the lack of courts that were in favor of a black defendant, and the amount of racism that plagued the South at that time. Unlike in 1944, when Stinney was not given the chance to argue in court, and his then lawyer did not call witnesses or conduct cross examination, his new lawyer was given the opportunity to do so. Furthermore, this case was a state matter since it was a murder in South Carolina, and the jurisdiction of the crime was within the limits of the states to make the judgement. On the other hand, Stinneys` individual rights was violated, which then became a federal jurisdiction, and the federal court, then had judgement over this
One of the benefits of due process is demonstrated in the Belshaw case. The inquisitorial system of justice is based on crime control; the Swiss police had a hard time in Canada with Mr. Belshaw, because of his right to due process, under Canadian law. Both systems of justice share common beliefs, for example, they both look for proof beyond a reasonable doubt. In Canada we fight about facts and laws, where-as the inquisitorial system searches for the facts. The adversarial system has a separation of powers with the police, crown, defense, and the judge. It is quite different for the inquisitorial system of justice, the police do the arrest, then they present the facts to crown, which then decide if they have a case and turn over the evidence to the judge. The only problem is that the judge decides what will lead them to the truth. How any evidence was collected is irrelevant. In due process if the police obtain evidence and violate the law or a persons charter of rights and freedoms the judge will exclude the evidence from the hearing, even if it would help or prove that the person is guilty. These two systems of justice are generated in democratic traditions.
(1) Based on case law from Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541, the Supreme Court held that the essentials of due process must be followed. The first holding given by the Supreme Court involved the indirect issue of due process. The Supreme Court held that in juvenile court proceedings the juvenile must be treated fairly and be given the essentials of due process.
Within the last five years, violent offenses by children have increased 68 percent, crimes such as: murder, rape, assault, and robbery. Honestly, with these figures, it is not surprising at all that the Juveniles Courts focus less on the children in danger, and focus more on dangerous children. This in fact is most likely the underlying reasoning behind juveniles being tried as adults by imposing harsher and stiffer sentences. However, these policies fail to recognize the developmental differences between young people and
The rights of Dwight Dexter in the Fifth Amendment were violated. The amendment prevents the government from prosecuting people unfairly. Accused cannot be jailed or have their property taken without due process
In July of 2008, one of the biggest crime cases devastated the United States nation-wide. The death of Caylee Anthony, a two year old baby, became the most popular topic in a brief amount of time. Caylee’s mother, Casey Anthony, became the main suspect after the child supposedly was kidnapped and went missing. To this day, the Casey Anthony case shocks me because justice, in my opinion, wasn’t served. I feel as if the criminal conviction system became somewhat corrupted in this case. The entire nation, including the court system, knew that Casey Anthony was behind this criminal act, but yet she escaped all charges. I chose this case not only because it’s debatable, but also to help state the obvious, this case was handled the wrong way. Clearly the legal system was biased, which worked in Casey Anthony’s favor, freeing a murderer.
Due process is a legal obligation that the state should adhere to the legal rights which are normally owned by the individuals who may be facing criminal or civil dealings. In every due process is very essential to one always questions whether the government has denied one party’s life, freedom, or property as they pursue their pleasure. The due process does integrate certain protections which consist of bill of rights such as the right to
The Fifth Amendment guarantees the right to grand jury, forbids double jeopardy, and protects against self incrimination. In this amendment it requires that due process of law be part of any court hearing that denies a citizen life, liberty or property. This case helped us place the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which grants anyone born in the United States citizenship right and equal protection of the
Due process is a clause present in the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights and is reiterated in Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment. The fact that it is mentioned twice in the Constitution speaks to its importance. Due process upholds the standard that guilt must be proven and not merely assumed. Overtime most libertie...
Throughout American history, our civil liberties as American citizens have evolved immensely. For example, the first ten amendments in the U.S. Constitution are referred to as the “The Bill of Rights,” which contains some of the most cherished civil liberties, such as freedom of speech and religion. These civil liberties however, did not originally apply to state governments or institutions the state established. The Bill of Rights focused solely on what the national government could not do, allowing state governments to do whatever they wanted. For example, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New Hampshire supported Congregationalist ministers with tax payer dollars for decades. After the Civil War, civil liberties expanded, because three new amendments were added: the Thirteenth, abolishing slavery, the Fourteenth, which redefined civil liberties and rights, and the Fifteenth, which allowed adult, male citizens to vote. The due process clause (contained in the Fourteenth Amendment) became one of the most important civil liberties, because it applied the language of the Fifth Amendment to state governments, proclaiming that they could not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law....
"Those who wrote our constitutions knew from history and experience that it was necessary to protect against unfounded criminal charges brought to eliminate enemies and against judges too responsive to the voice of higher authority"(Maravillosa 1). These words said by Justice Byron White are the exact living dispute of the protection of the rights the United States Constitution and its Amendments promise us. The Sixth Amendment protects the rights of the people specifically in the courtroom and the conditions of law. The rights within the Sixth Amendment ensure the American people the rights of an impartial jury, the right to a lawyer, and demonstrate ability of the court system to change.
The right to a trial by jury is one of the most fundamental concepts on which the American justice system rests. It had been in the English common law practice for several centuries and the American founders deemed in necessary to continue the practice and draft it into the United States Constitution. Prior to the Sixth Amendment, the Constitution guaranteed trial by jury for all crimes except impeachment. In 1968 the Supreme Court solidified this right in Duncan v. Louisiana stating that juries are a necessary check to g...
Due process is a right afforded us in the United States Constitution. It is mentioned in both the 5th and 14th amendments (Cornell University Law School, 2014). Due process is as relevant today as it was the day it was written as it “assumes that freedom is so important that every effort must be made to ensure that criminal justice decisions stem from reliable information (Cole & Smith, 2007, p. 11)”. The due process clause contained in our constitution is meant to afford all our citizens legal equality. Guilty until proven innocent is a widely known statement and it because of due process that this right is afforded us. This means that an accusation of criminal deviance must be proven beyond all reasonable doubt. Certain presumtions may be made and accepted as fact should no evidence to the contrary be presented; however, a jury of our peers (or a Judge should a jury trial be waived) must decide our fate based on the facts as they understand them and not on supposition. Due process also provides the expectation that all procedures of law will be followed to safeguard legality. Due process is the only statement contained in more than one amendment; thereby, acknowledging a specific intention. (Cornell University Law School, 2014). Due process protects us from any single state having the right to deny us life, liberty, or property without first following the proper legal channels.
In 1968, Herbert Packer was a Stanford University law professor who constructed two models of criminal process, due process and crime control. The due process model was Packer’s view that criminal defendants should be presumed innocent, courts must protect suspects’ rights, and there must be come limits placed on police powers. The crime control model is a model that emphasizes law and order and argues that every effort must be made to suppress crime, and to try, convict, and incarcerate offenders. Packer’s crime control model suggested that most cases ended in guilty please or withdrawals. In contrast, his due process model suggested that cases that go to trail and are appealed were the most influential. The due process and crime control model differentiate in
The Fifth Amendment is the Protection of Rights to Life, Liberty, and Property. From the National Center for Constitutional Studies, Amendment 5 states,” No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” For instance, the rights of due process surrounded the case of Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Company. According to an article entitled,” Punitive Damages Over 10:1 Violates Due Process” reports that,” The sole issue raised by both parties concerned the punitive damage award, specifically, whether the trial court’s remittitur of that award from $19 million to $350,000 based on a ratio of punitive to compensatory damages of 10:1 comports with due process. The trial court ruled that a policy provision limiting coverage was not conspicuous, plain, and clear and was therefore unenforceable, entitling Nickerson to $31,500 in additional benefits under the policy. A jury then found that Stonebridge had breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and awarded Nickerson $35,000 in compensatory damages for emotional distress. The jury found Stonebridge acted with fraud and fixed the punitive damage award at $19 million. The trial court conditionally granted Stonebridge’s new trial motion unless Nickerson consented to a reduction of the punitive damages to $350,000. Both parties appeal” (Zalma). Justice Crosky conducted his own new trial
The legal system in the United States doesn’t have a lot of gray areas when it comes to murder cases, usually someone’s going to jail at the end of the day. However there are certain cases involving children where the law needs to be viewed with exceptions. Sometimes the laws need to bring new ideas and concepts into consideration that weren’t thought of when the laws were originally written. For instance in most cases when an adult kills another adult, the adult who killed the other person will be convicted and sent to prison. But in the cases of when a young child kills another person the law cannot be too quick to convict them due to many discoveries in the field of childhood development. A young child ages 2-6 is still developing biologically,