Double Jeopardy Research Paper

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16. Analyze the rights of the criminally accused. Many Americans continue to debate over the denomination of the Bill of Rights to any individual related to a crime (whether the witness, suspect, or the accused). The main concept of this debate is due process of the law, which encompasses amendments four through six, and eight. These amendments outline government action towards the criminally accused, and as a result, due process helps to free defendants, while protecting the idea of “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

17. Describe a brief overview of the Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment is crucial to the Bill of Rights, because it states that a person cannot testify against themselves, also no person can be prosecuted for the same offense
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The grand juries must decide if cases (mostly federal criminal cases) are valid. Also, the provision of a grand jury was one of few civil liberty provisions not included in the Fourteenth Amendment. Since grand juries are not applied to state criminal prosecutions, the power of a grand jury is delegated to the prosecuting attorney. He or she must register a “bill of information”, which validates a trial. The judge must also be presented with any evidence in a criminal case by the prosecuting attorney, to affirm that the evidence displays probable cause.

19. What is double jeopardy? Double jeopardy is an important right provided by the Constitution. Basically, a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime. For example, in the 1937 Palko case, instituted the principles of double jeopardy and selective incorporation. The Supreme Court ruled that the ban on double jeopardy, implemented by the Fifth Amendment, had no affect on the states. Another case, by the name of Benton v. Maryland, the Supreme Court decided that double jeopardy did apply to the states. After these cases, the right of double jeopardy became included as an incorporated right in the Fourteenth
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Wade Supreme court ruling, states were banned form making abortions a criminal act, thus causing many states to lower their abortion restrictions. Groups, such as the National Right to Life Committee, argued against the newfound liberal practices. Finally in 1989, Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, the Court carefully sustained the constitutionality of limits on the service of public medical resources for abortion.

27. Review the impact of homosexuality laws. In the 1980s, a man named Hardwick confronted Georgia’s lower courts with their unconstitutional laws against homosexuality. Hardwick won in the lower courts, although lost in the Bowers v. Hardwick court case, when the higher court (during an appeal) reversed the lower court’s decision. Later in 2003, Lawrence v. Texas upheld the idea that (according to constitutional due process), all homosexuals are entitled to “respect for their private lives”. Thus, these court decisions expanded the “right to privacy”.

28. What is the right to

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