The Importance Of The Sixth Amendment

Improved Essays
One factor America is known for is its fair court processes and great judicial process. The Sixth Amendment helps lay out and define the rules that Americans are guaranteed when they are tried for a crime. The Sixth Amendment of the Constitution is a vital part of the American judicial process, and it is necessary to ensure Americans legal and fair court procedures. The Sixth Amendment of the Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to counsel and the right to a jury of one’s peers.
The Sixth Amendment’s main goal is to give all Americans the right to a fair trial. The Sixth Amendment’s main points are best stated directly in the Sixth Amendment:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public
…show more content…
Zerbst ensured the Sixth Amendment right to counsel in all states for any type of court case- even if the defendant does not have a possibility of capital punishment. In another famous case, Miranda v. Arizona, Ernesto Miranda did not understand the Fifth and Sixth Amendments, so the Supreme Court created a law that would change the judicial process forever. In 1963 Ernesto Miranda was arrested for the abduction of an eighteen year old girl. He was placed in a police lineup and identified by her, after which he confessed to the crime and was sentenced to twenty to thirty years in prison. During the court case, Miranda stated that he was not informed of his Fifth Amendment right to stay silent during the police questioning. The court eventually ruled him guilty because of previous offenses where he knowingly ignored the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. Miranda was unhappy with the court’s decision, so he took the case to the United States Supreme Court, calling the case Miranda v. Arizona. The Supreme Court ruled, with a vote of five to four, that the police officers in America would now have to recite the citizens’ rights before questioning. These rights-from the Fifth and Sixth Amendments-include the right to stay silent during questioning and that the defendant may be appointed a state attorney if they cannot afford one. This law became known as the Miranda rights or the Miranda warning. The Miranda warning helps ensure that the American police officers do not go against the citizens’ Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights (Dodson 1-2). The Miranda warning forever changed the way that Americans understood the Sixth Amendment by forcing police to state it before arresting

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Miranda Rights help protect citizens fifth and sixth amendments. The fifth amendment protects citizens from being forced to be witness against himself, while the sixth amendment assures that those arrested have a right to a public and speedy trial (Doc E). Together, the fifth amendment protects against self-incrimination and the sixth amendment assures that those arrested can not be held in jail indefinitely. The Miranda Warning read by officers specifically states that after one is made aware of their Miranda Rights, any confession or statements can be used against oneself lawfully (Doc J). Consequently, the Miranda ruling assures that one is fully aware of their rights and are also aware of the consequences if they choose to self-incriminate after being read their…

    • 799 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The U.S. Constitution was established to give an understanding of the principles and the laws of the nation. The U.S. Constitution contains twenty-seven amendments. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights was created to protect rights of citizens of the United States and balance the power of the government. The four amendments of the Bill of Rights that deal with criminal procedure are the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments.…

    • 1229 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    These rights help people to save time by reducing non-evidence trials, people can participate in the trial, no unreasonable laws, and give fairness to the people in life, liberty, and property. The similarities between the Magna Carta and the English Bill of Rights is that they both limits the power of government, written out what the government can and cannot do to the people, took place in England, involved the British monarchy, and they encouraged the spread of democratic revolutions. The Constitution and the U.S Bill of Rights, the Constitution focuses on setting up the government while the U.S. Bill of Rights is more about the people rights, and how the government cannot abuse power to the citizens without reason. All of four of these…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    History Of Dual Federalism

    • 1288 Words
    • 5 Pages

    1. Chart the changes in federalism throughout American history. What was dual federalism? How was governmental power distributed under this system? How did the Great Depression lead to the decline in dual federalism?…

    • 1288 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The United States Constitution was established on September 17th, 1787. It currently stands as one of the most influential documents in American history. One of its most powerful aspects are the laws of the land that have been created to form structure and equality. These rules and commandments are what shape national government and give a basis for political hearings. If any of these amendments were to be taken out and/or replaced, then it would change the whole makeup of government and freedom.…

    • 1032 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    GIDEON v. WAINWRIGHT CITATION: 372 U.S. 335 (1963) FACTS: In the state court of Florida, Gideon was accused of breaking and entering. Gideon is so poor that he has no money to hire a lawyer. So he asked the justice to appoint a lawyer for him.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On 7th Amendment

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The rights granted by Constitution have a substantial impact on the lives of American citizens. Many of these rights such as the freedom of speech, to bear arms, and to decline to answering questions are very well known by the citizens and are used often everyday. However other rights granted by the Constitution are not as well understood yet still play a fundamental role in the liberties bestowed to Americans. Case in point, consider the 7th Amendment which issues the right to trial by jury and that no fact tried by a jury shall be re–examined. These rights granted by the 7th Amendment have a dramatic role within the predominate common law system of America and as such gives citizens privileges that are vital.…

    • 818 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The 7th amendment was introduced as part of the Bill of Right in September 5, 1789 to be put into the constitution. This amendment was ratified on December 15, 1791. This amendment was put into the constitution due to previous conditions. These previous conditions were terrible and brought on by King George the 3rd. During King Georges rule he got rid of trials by jury in the Colonies.…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Fifth Amendment

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Arizona, which ruled that the inculpatory and exculpatory evidence brought against a defendant at trial is only admissible if the defendant has been informed of his right against self-incrimination as well as his right to consult with an attorney. This Supreme Court decision was brought about by the conviction of Ernesto Miranda, who provided a confession to police without being informed of his right to counsel and his right to remain silent. The Arizona State Supreme Court upheld the conviction, but the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that because he had not been informed of his rights, his rights had not been properly upheld. The key to this decision is the distinction between an informed waiving of those rights, and an uninformed waiving of those rights. If a person is convicted based on self-incrimination, the prosecution must be able to prove that they were explicitly aware of and subsequently waived their rights.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The sixth amendment, which is the right to counsel is used to ensure fairness across the board. A right to counsel is needed to avoid unjust convictions as well as to protect the individual’s rights. Every defendant is entitled to counsel. Counsel is automatically provided to those who are facing the death penalty, are illiterate, or don’t have enough money to pay for one themselves. The sixth amendment guarantees the right to waive assistance of counsel and conduct one's own defense.…

    • 472 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Salem witch trials all started with Tituba who was a slave of Samuel Parris. Several other girls joined Tituba in the kitchen in early 1692. People thought that Tituba and her group had a black magic dance in the woods. The girls would fall to the floor and start screaming and this behavior started to spread all over Salem. Soon after the Puritans believed that the girls would never put themselves under such a spell.…

    • 1509 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The twenty six amendment say that the right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the united states or by any state an account of age . This amendment is Important because it gave 18 year olds and people older than 18 the right to vote because if they didn’t have the right there wouldn’t be enough people to vote in elections and other voting rights that would affect the way we live today. This amendment was made in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon the states ratified that amendment in July of that year. This amendment is still affecting the way we live today because without it the way we live would be different.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Patriot Act Pros And Cons

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages

    And finally, the sixth amendment says that as soon as a citizen is suspected of committing a crime, they are given the right to a speedy and public trial, have to be given a clear charge, and have the right to witnesses. On the other hand, the U.S. Patriot Act says that people may be put in jail without a clear charge or witnesses. While you could argue that this is for the safety of other citizens, it is a complete violation of numerous aspects of a person’s rights given to them centuries…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The major function of our criminal justice system is the crime control model. In the Bill of Right the Fourth and Fifth Amendment both guarantee citizens the due process of law. I learned in a prior class that the due process of law in defined in the Magna Carta as the law of the land. The basic definition of due process is that all legal proceedings will be fair and just.…

    • 71 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The People vs. Larry Flynt Americans value their freedom, most especially their freedom of speech and how their Constitution protects such freedom. Speeches like hate speech, speech plus, symbolic speech, seditious speech and the like are part of their freedom of speech. For the purposes of this paper, the film to be discussed is The People vs. Larry Flynt. This paper will also discuss the interrelationship between media, identities, and politics depicted in the said movie. Brief Summary of the Film…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays