5th Amendment

5th Amendment

• “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.”

5th Amendment

• Has 4 important protections for people accused of a crime.

5th Amendment

• 1. You can not be tried for a serious crime unless a jury says there is enough evidence to convict you.

5th Amendment

• 2. A person found innocent of a crime can not be tried again for the same crime.

• You can’t be “twice put in jeopardy of life and limb”

• This protects you from harassment.

5th Amendment

• 3. No one “shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself”– You can not be forced

to testify against yourself.

– Protection against self incrimination.

5th Amendment

• You can refuse to answer questions if the answers would connect you to a crime.

• The government bears the burden of proof.

• Defendant does not have to prove the case for the prosecutor.

Miranda Rights

• Ernest o Miranda was arrested for kidnapping an 18 year old woman.

• Victim picked him our of lineup.• Police questioned him for 2 hours. During this

time, he was not told he could have a lawyer present.

• He admitted to the crime and signed a written statement to the fact. He was convicted and later appealed.

Miranda Rights

• Supreme court overturned case because the 5th gives him protection against testifying against himself.

• Court then set guidelines of police questioning of suspects.

Miranda Rights

• You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law.

Miranda Rights

• You have a right to an attorney. If you can’t afford one, one will be provided for you.

Miranda Rights

• You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you understand?

• Anything you do say may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand?

• You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future. Do you understand?

Miranda Rights

• If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish. Do you understand?

• If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Do you understand?

• Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?

5th Amendment

• 4. Government can not deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.– The government must

follow proper constitutional procedures in a trial and in other actions it takes against individuals.

5th Amendment

• The government can not take away someone's life, freedom, or property without following a series of steps that give them a fair chance. This is called due process.

5th Amendment

• Due Process is the procedure which makes sure that everyone gets treated the same. No matter who someone is they should be treated fairly by the police, the courts, and the government. Many cases are dismissed because someone's due process rights are violated.

5th Amendment

• nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

• The government can not take away someone's property without paying them for it in some way. If the state wanted to build a road right through someone's yard they can't just do it, they have to pay the person for it, or compensate them in some way.

6th Amendment

• “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense. “

Speedy Trial

• In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial

• The accused has the right to a quick trial. This does not mean that their trial must be over in one week. This means that the state can not make them sit in jail for 6 years while they wait to have a trial. That would be unfair to anyone who is innocent

Right to a public and impartial trial

• The accused also has the right to a public trial. The state can not put them in a warehouse and question them about the crime. It must be available to the public so that it is fairer to the accused.

• By an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law

Bench Trial

• The accused can choose not to have a jury trial but be tried by the judge. This is called a bench trial.

Impartial and non prejudice trial

• The trial must be held by an impartial jury. The jurors can not be prejudiced against the accused or the crime that they've been accused of, or it would be unfair.

Location, Location, Location

• The trial must also be held in the area where the crime was committed, or else that could be unfair to the accused also.

Here or Change of Venue

• The courts can not change the location from case to case either. It is already decided where the trial will be. Except in some cases, where it is sometimes better to move the trial to a different area because the accused face has been all over the local news and it would be impossible to get an impartial jury in the town where he/she lives.

• The accused must be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation and to be confronted with the witnesses against him;

What did I do? What are you charging me with?

• The accused has the right to know what they are being charged with and why they're being held in jail.

• The accused also has the right to know who is saying that they've committed the crime, and the right to ask them questions.

• To have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Witness

• The accused has the right to force anyone to come to their trial that they believe can help their case. The court can force someone to come to court by issuing a summons -or subpoena and then the person has no choice, but to come to the trial.

7th Amendment

• “In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law. “

7th Amendment

• In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved,

• In the 1700s twenty dollars was a lot more money than it is today. Now,for any dispute involving less than$1500.00 small claims court will handle the case without a jury.

7th Amendment

• And no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law

• United States law forbids anyone from setting up their own court system. If someone goes to court, they will always go to a recognized court of the government, be it a national, state, county, or city court. A person will never have to defend themselves in Uncle Joey's Courthouse with Joey's cousins acting as jurors and lawyers

8th Amendment

• “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted”

No excessive bail

• Excessive bail money or property that the accused deposits with the court to gain release from jail until trial.

• The judge sets the amount that ensures the accused will appear for trial. When the trial ends, the money goes back. If they do not show up, the money is forfeited.

No excessive bail

• The courts can not assign the accused an excessive amount for bail. If they could, then a judge might look at someone and decide they look guilty and make the bail 10 million dollars

Money = charge

• Bail is a sum of money or property given to the court as a promise that the accused will return for their trial. If the accused fails to show up for their trial, they lose their bail.

• Bail is assigned on the type of crime committed and the likelihood that the accused will return for their trial. The greater the seriousness of the crime, the higher the bail.

• Bail allows time for the accused to prepare for their defense, which is hard to do while in jail.

nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted

• No cruel or unusual punishments are allowed according to this amendment

• The problem is...what exactly is cruel or unusual?

• At the time of the writing of this amendment guilty people were sometimes pulled into 4 pieces by horses, strangled, burned, branded, disemboweled (their guts cut out), or had their hands cut off or sat in stocks so that others could make fun of them and throw things at them.

Cruel and Unusual

• Today these seem cruel and unusual. So today states use the gas chamber, lethal injection, hanging, firing squad, or the electric chair. Do you believe that executing someone found guilty of terrible crimes is cruel or unusual?

Punishment must fit the Crime

• This amendment also prevents the government from punishing a criminal in some strange or unusual way. If someone is found guilty of stealing, the court can't cut off your hand or, make you sing in the nude on television

Constitutional

• Capital punishment or execution is still argued about today and probably always will be. Some argue that it helps stop others from committing crimes because they won't want to be executed. Others argue that no matter how terrible the crime, the state does not have the right to kill a human being. Each state decides whether or not to have executions.

Number of states using what method

• Firing Squad - 3 • Hanging - 4 • Lethal Gas - 7 • Electric Chair - 11 • Lethal Injection -

33

• The US ruled in 1976 that the death penalty is constitutional

9th Amendment

• The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people

9th Amendment

• The 9th amendment says that not all the rights that people have are listed in the Bill of Rights.

States Rights

• It assures people that there are rights that members of a free society are entitled to, although neither Madison nor any of the other founding fathers ever stated just what they thought these rights were. Some people believe that they include the so-called natural rights including life, liberty, and property, or the right to pursue happiness.

9th Amendment

• Few people know about the Ninth Amendment, which reaffirms in broad terms rights "retained by the people." Indeed, the Ninth flies so far under the radar that it has rarely been mentioned even by the Supreme Court

• The Ninth Amendment is key to understanding how the Founding Fathers thought about the liberties they expected Americans to enjoy under the Constitution. They did not believe that they were creating these liberties in the Bill of Rights. Instead, they were merely acknowledging some of the rights that no government could properly deny.

• The history of the Constitution reveals the purpose of the Ninth and the Founders' intent: to protect what constitutional lawyers call unenumerated rights -- those rights the Founder assumed and felt no need to specify in the Bill of Rights. Unenumerated rights include, for example, the right to privacy..

10th Amendment

• “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people”

10th Amendment

• The governmental powers not listed in the Constitution for the national government are powers that the states, or the people of those states, can have

• Examples: The states determine the rules for marriages, divorces, driving licenses, voting, state taxes, job and school requirements, rules for police and fire departments, and many more

10th Amendment

• Restates the Constitution’s principles of federalism by providing the power not granted to the national government nor prohibited to the states are reserved to states and the people.

• Intended to reaffirm the relationship between the national and state government.

• It confirms that the people and states have rights that the national government may not insure