Rights to Life, Liberty, Property
• The framers of the Constitution attached
great importance to “life, liberty, and
property.”
• Found in the Fifth Amendment, extending due
process protection to individuals relative to the
national government.
• Also found in the Fourteenth Amendment,
applying due process to the states.
• These protections are extended to both citizens
and aliens, including legal and undocumented
immigrants.
Due Process Rights
Established rules and regulations that restrain
people in government who exercise power.
•Procedural Due Process – Constitutional
requirement that government proceed by
proper methods; places limits on how
governmental power may be exercised.
•Substantive Due Process - Constitutional
requirement that government act reasonably
and that the substance of the laws
themselves be fair and reasonable; places
limits on what a government may do.
The fifth and fourteenth
Amendments provide that no
individual shall be deprived of ____,
_________, and _____without due
process of law.
a. health, wealth, or education
b. life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness
c. life, liberty, or property
d. life, limb, or freedom
The provision against being tried
twice for the same offense is found in
which Amendment?
a. One
b. Four
c. Five
d. Eight
_______ gives defendants access to
federal courts to argue that their
rights have been violated in state
courts.
a. Double jeopardy
b. Habeas corpus
c. An ex post facto law
d. The standard of reasonableness
Established rules and regulations
that restrain those who exercise
governmental power are termed
a. civil rights
b. civil liberties
c. due process
d. law
Procedural due process refers to the
a. appropriate procedures for writing
laws.
b. methods by which a law is enforced.
c. limitations on what a government may
do.
d. idea that unreasonable laws are
unconstitutional.
Substantive due process refers to the
a. appropriate procedures for writing
laws.
b. methods by which a law is enforced.
c. limitations on what a government may
do.
d. idea that unreasonable laws are
unconstitutional.
Rights of Persons Accused of Crimes
Freedom from Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
•Fourth Amendment
• Exceptions:
•Search warrants
Terry v. Ohio (1968)
•Probable cause
Border searches
•The Exclusionary Rule
USA PATRIOT Act (2001)
•The Right to Remain
Silent
•The Miranda Warning
Fair Trial Procedures
•Grand jury
•The Right to Counsel
• Indictment
• Plea bargain
• Petit jury
Rights of Persons Accused of Crimes
• Impartial jury
• Peremptory
challenges
• Appeals
• Double jeopardy
•Sentencing and Punishment
•Three Strikes and You’re Out
•Appeals and Double Jeopardy
•The Death Penalty
1960s-1970s: Ten-year moratorium
Reinstated 1976
Growing concerns
•Torture
The state that leads the nation in the
number of executions in recent years
is
a. Texas
b. Florida
c. Virginia
d. Massachusetts
The U.S. Supreme Court has
a. eliminated the death penalty.
b. mandated that every state have the
death penalty.
c. required that states that apply the
death penalty consider aggravating and
mitigating circumstances.
d. significantly increased the
opportunities to appeal to the Supreme
Court in such cases.
The Death Penalty on Trial
Death Row Inmates
Methods of Execution
The Death Penalty on Trial
Executions in the U.S.
How Just Is Our System of Justice?
•Too Many Loopholes?
•Too Discriminatory?
•Too Unreliable?
•Unfair to Minorities?
Previous narrowing of the Fourth
Amendment is exemplified by which of the
following
a. sobriety checkpoints
b. drug testing
c. a relaxation in the definition of a “speedy
trial”
d. both a and b
The Supreme Court and Civil Liberties
The Supreme Court continues to play a
prominent role in developing public
policy
• to protect the rights of the accused
• to guarantee that the public is
protected against those who break the
laws
Second Amendment
 Protects right to bear arms.
 Written to protect state militias.
 Few Supreme Court decisions have discussed issues.
 Congressional regulation more frequent.
 Citizens’ right reaffirmed in D.C. v. Heller (2008).
Fourth Amendment
 First of the due process rights.
 Protects against unfair searches and seizures.
 Probable cause required to issue a warrant.
 May search person, plain view, anything in control.
 No warrant needed with reasonable suspicion.
 New issues include cars, borders, and drug tests.
Fourth Amendment
 Searches and Seizures
 Exclusionary Rule
 Warrant Requirement
 Automobile Searches – Carroll v. United States (1925)
 Mass Transportation Searches
 Electronic Eavesdropping
 Aerial Searches & Thermal Imaging
Exclusionary Rule
 Derived from Fourth and Fifth Amendments.
 Bars use of illegally seized evidence at trial.
 Established largely in Mapp v. Ohio (1961).
 Growing number of “good faith exceptions.”
Fifth Amendment
 Police Interrogations
 Prevents self-incrimination and double jeopardy.
 Miranda v. Arizona (1966) is landmark case.
 Miranda rights inform suspects of right
to silence.
Sixth Amendment
 Protects right to counsel and jury trial in criminal cases.
 Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) sets precedent for counsel.
 Trial should be speedy and impartial.
 Jury selection has been subject of much debate.
 In past, African Americans and women were excluded.
Eighth Amendment
 Protects against cruel and unusual punishment.
 Most common application is the death penalty.
 Briefly unconstitutional for a period in 1970s.
 Used at varying rates and forms in different states.
 Minors and mentally retarded are excluded.
 Growth of innocence projects and DNA evidence.
 2008 case upholds constitutionality of lethal injection.