YOU THINK YOU HAVE BEEN ARRESTED AND BEING HELD IN JAIL UNFAIRLY

Suppose you think that the police have arrested you without a good reason for doing so, that they are keeping you in jail unfairly, or that they have denied you one of your other basic rights to due process. What can you do?

Article I, Section 9 of the Constitution guarantees you the right to have a judge hear your story and decide if you are being treated unfairly.

This part of the Constitution guarantees you the protection of the writ of habeas corpus (a written order for someone to appear in court so that the court can decide whether they should stay in prison) or the ?Great Writ of Liberty.? This protection, included in the Magna Carta, has its origins in the English common law and is considered one of the most important safeguards of freedom in the British and American governmental systems. It means that if you are being held in jail, you or someone acting for you, may get an order from a court requiring the police to take you to court so you can argue before a judge that you have been unfairly arrested and should be set free. If the judge agreed with you, you should be set free.

The purpose of the right to habeas corpus (the right of someone in prison?) is to protect you from being held in jail for a long period of time without being tried and convicted. Today the writ has also been interpreted to protect you if you have been convicted and can argue that your conviction had been unfairly obtained. It gives you the right to have a judge review your case to see if you have been treated unfairly.

You are brought to trial. What are your rights in court?

Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution, and the Sixth Amendment guarantee you the right to a trial by an impartial jury.

In England, the jury was traditionally made up of twelve persons selected from the community at large; they were not members of the government. The purpose of a jury trial is to provide an unprejudiced group to determine the fact and to provide fair judgments about guilt or innocence. Requiring a jury trial is a way of making sure that the criminal justice system is democratic and involves citizens of the community.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees you the right to be confronted with the witnesses against you.

Suppose a secret informer tells law-enforcement (the act of causing a rule or law to be obeyed or carried out effectively) officers that you have committed a crime, but that person is not required to face you in court. You have no chance to challenge the accusation. The purpose of this protection is to make sure that you and your lawyer have the chance to face and question anyone who has given evidence against you which may be used to convict you.

The Sixth Amendment guarantees you the right to compel witnesses in your favour to testify for you.

Suppose you know someone who knows something that might help you with your case, but the person won?t testify for you for one reason or another. This right says that in such situations, the government must do everything it can to bring witnesses who may be in your favour.

You have been tried and found innocent. What rights do you have?

The Fifth Amendment guarantees you the right to be free from being tried again for the same crime.

The protection against ?double jeopardy? (the action of making a person face a trial twice for the same offence) is the oldest of the protections that were included in the Constitution. The protection against double jeopardy also protects you, if you have been found guilty, from being punished more than once for the same crime.

/From the book We The People, pages 106-107/

Set Work

Date: 2016-06-12; view: 93