Cja 224 - Due Process

Due Process

Mary A. Schutta

CJA/224

April 16, 2012

Sylvia Beaver

Due Process

Due process is procedures that guarantee the individual rights of offenders in criminal prosecution. The procedures and rules are fundamental for fair and orderly legal proceedings. The fifth and 14th amendment of the Constitution guarantees the right of the accused to know what the charges are against him or her. Due process also allows this to be heard by a court that has jurisdiction over the issue. Due process makes sure that fairness is part of the process, and it also makes sure the individual receives fair and preventable arbitrary actions from the government. It is also a process in which rules and procedures are used with discretion and removed in favor an openness that protects the individual’s rights. As stated by the Fifth Amendment “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crimes unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury.” In today’s society Due process has a major representation on the individual’s view point. The legal system needs to be fair concerning the validity of laws, authorized representatives, and the courts.

It seems in American society the phrase “innocent until proven guilty” has and will be heard in front of the media and on the front steps of court houses as long as there are crimes committed and court case that are and will need to heard. Today’s legal system has different elements and parts to a crime improving where it can be conducted out by the individual or individuals who committed the crime. The American legal system due process can be described as a set of legal proceedings ratified by the state or by the government to protect an individual’s rights and liberties. This process allows the accused individual to go through a court proceeding to prove his or her guilt or innocence. This process also allows the supposed offender the right to a fair and public trial. It also gives him or her right to be at the trial and to have the right to have an impartial jury. Finally it also gives him or her right to either speak or remain silent during the court trial. The 14th Amendment states that “no state can deprive any person of, life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The adversarial system is a type of legal system used in the United States. This type of legal system exercises the ideal that the supposed offender is considered innocent until proven guilty. This systems premise exercises the idea that both the defense and prosecuting attorneys will work at extreme lengths to make sure