American Government Reflections

Chapter 14: Assuring Individual Rights

Protecting Individual Liberties
The government must follow due process or fair procedures of the law when conducting
government functions. There are two types of due process: procedural due process and
substantive due process. Procedural due process means that the government must apply a law
fairly and act according to the rules and procedures set up by the law. Substantive due process
refers to the court considering whether the city's time, place and regulations are fair. These
processes limit police power and helps to prevent abuse of power. I think that these processes
help protect citizen's privacy and help ensure that they are not being wrongly accused of a crime.
Another way that an individual's privacy and security is protected is through the need for search
warrants and the exclusionary rule. I think that search warrants allow a person to remain secure
and ensures that the police will not confiscate or search their homes without probable cause. This
limits the instances where people can try to criminalize another in the hope that they will be
jailed. I also think that exclusionary rules prevent evidence, that has been obtained illegally, from
being used against a person in court and protects their rights. However, certain cases are exempt
from the need for a search warrant. Vehicles, private communication devices, and student
searches all do not need search warrants. This is because vehicles can easily drive away and
destroy the evidence, private communications can be monitored with wiretap that do not need
any intrusion into the home, and students can be searched if suspicions are aroused for the health
and safety of other students. I think that private communication devices should require a search
warrant to tap the devices just as the police need a search warrant to investigate the home. This is
because private communications should remain private to the family and not be monitored unless
given a probable cause.
Rights of the Accused
Though the government has many ways in which it prevents crime and upholds the law, the
use of its power must not violate the Constitution. The government may not write bills of
attainder, pass ex post facto laws, or deny a person to a writ of habeas corpus. For bills of
attainder, the government cannot pass laws specifically directed against a person. I think this
protects an individual and stops the government from acting unconstitutionally. The government
also cannot pass ex post facto laws which would punish those who actions were against the laws
before the laws were passed. This protects the individual for being punished for a crime that did
not go against a law before the law was passed and that they had no knowledge of. This ensures
that the person is not unfairly charged for an action that they did that is now considered a crime
under the new laws. Also, an accused person has the right to a court order that shows reasonable
reasons for jailing a person accused of a crime. I believe that this ensures that a person is not
unjustly held. Additionally, the accused is further protected because they have the right to a
grand jury and cannot be forced to incriminate themselves and must be informed of their
Miranda rights. The grand jury established whether the accused person's crime calls for a trial or
should be released from police custody. Also, notifying an person about their rights ensures that
they get a fair trial and also limits the police abuse of power. I think this helps prevent the
accused from incriminating himself/herself and from others forcing a confession.
Ensuring Fair Trials and Punishments

The government must provide an accused person with a fair trial. The provisions that the
government must respect in regards to a fair trial are the following: the right to a public and
speedy trial, the right to trial by jury, the right to an adequate defense, and restrictions on trying a
person for the same crime twice. The right to a speedy trial ensures that the evidence is not lost
and that witnesses will not forget what they saw. I think this gives the accused a more accurate
and fair trial as the evidence is less likely to have been misplaced or tampered with and the
witness will probably remember more details about the crime. The right to a public trial also
helps prevent the abuse of the law and keeps the public informed about the trial and how the
justices system works. I also think that the right to trial by jury gives the defendant a fairer
chance as a jury takes into account more opinions and viewpoints of the crime whereas a bench
trial has only the judge deciding the final verdict of the case. Additionally, and adequate defense
must be given to an accused person as it allows them to still be able to defend themselves even if
they cannot afford a lawyer and prevents and innocent person from being convicted of a crime
because they could not provide a strong defense. Finally, I think it is beneficial to a person that
the laws protecting a person from being tried for the same crime twice. This helps prevent a case
from continuing for long periods of time and makes room for other cases to be heard by the
court.
Then, the rights of the convicted are also protected and the government must provide fair
punishment. The definition of cruel and unusual punishment changes with society so I believe
that judges must consider society's standards when constructing a punishment as well as the
severity of the crime. The most controversial topic however, is capital punishment. I believe that
capital punishment should only be used in the most severe criminal cases.