The Importance Of Due Process

Due Process is a broad and vague guarantee of fair procedure in deciding cases; the fifth and fourth amendment provisions prohibiting the federal government and the states, respectively, from depriving citizens of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law.(joel Samaha). Due Process has a very big role when it comes to the public view point because the system seems fair concerning the legitimacy of the law and the courts. As stated by (Meyer Grant, 2003) “perception of fairness or unfairness reflect concern with the process of justice as well the outcome”. Throughout this research paper one can get a better understanding of Due Process, and analyze some

Alabama case. The “Scottsboro boys” were accused of raping two white women in 1931. Seven white boys came into a railroad station in Alabama and told the stationmaster that a bunch of Negros” had picked a fight with them and thrown them off a freight train. When the train went to Scottsboro, the posse rounded up nine black boys and two white girls. As the deputy was tying up the boys one of the white girls told the sheriff that the boys had raped her and her friend. Alabama officials hurried through the legal proceedings. A total of three trails took one day and all nine boys were sentenced to death. Liberals, radicals, and Communists around the country rallied to the defense of the “Scottsboro boys.” This case violates the due process clause because the defendants were not given reasonable time and opportunity to secure counsel in their defense. Another significant case to Due Process is Brown V. Mississippi. In 1943 , March 30 The Sheriffs took Yank Ellington, a young black man, to a dead white man’s house and accused this black man of killing him. When he denied to killing the man the sheriffs hung him by rope to the limb of a tree, let him down, hung him again, and let him down a second time. The Ellington still claimed his innocence so the sheriffs tied him to a tree and whipped him. When he continued to refuse demands to confess they finally released him. A

Alabama case along with Brown V. Mississippi, established what came to be called the fundamental fairness doctrine of due process. According to the fundamental fairness doctrine due process is a command to the states to provide two basic fair trails. The two basic fair trails are; Notice to defendants of the charges against them and a hearing on the facts before convicting and punishing defendants. The Doctrine is left up to individual states to determine the specifics of notice and