The Importance Of Due Process Clause

The court decision on Roe Vs Wade violated the due process clause of 14th amendment. The 14th Amendment says that no states are allowed to take away the privacy rights of its citizens. The court said that the taxes law violated the due process clause of the 14th amendment.

The Due Process Clause was interpreted differently by various Justices in the Court who were using different theories for understanding the Constitution. There are three major theories for Constitutional interpretation. The first is textualism, which is the theory that the “ordinary meaning” of a law should be used for its interpretation, rather than the reason it was written or the problem it was meant to solve. The second is originalism, which says that the interpretation of a law should be decided based on the original meaning or purpose the law had when it was written. The third is literalism, which is rather self explanatory and, as the name implies, means interpeting the text of a law as literally as possible. I

Due Process of law can be defined as a right guaranteed in the 5th and 14th amendments of the U.S.

Due process is when all criminal suspects are guaranteed that they will have the ability to question the evidence against them in an open format. This is where they are entitled to the same protections and procedures as everyone else during a criminal proceeding. As a result, anything that is denying them of these safeguards is violation of their basic rights. (Sundahl, 2011)

Due process was also stated in the fifth amendment, however the difference with the fourteenth amendment was that it was not the state’s job to not “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

The due process of law is a constitutional guarantee which was originally written in the constitution by the founding fathers in the fifth amendment, ratified in 1791 and was added to the fourteenth amendment, adopted in 1868, section 1, states: All people born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. This reconstructed amendment means that the law is for everybody and most important, it represent a constitutional guarantee is that nobody can be deprived of life, liberty o property without a fair legal

Because of this language, the Fourteenth Amendment appears to be — and to some extent is — simply the application of the Fifth Amendment, and through selective incorporation, the rest of the Bill of Rights. To that end, the Fourteenth Amendment possesses a fortuitous expansion to the simple due process right: the right to equal protection of the laws. Laws that appear to violate the Equal Protection Clause thusly receive the same kind of scrutiny that other fundamental rights are given.

My favorite case we went over in constitutional law this year is Lochner v. New York because of the display of power by the justices joined in the majority and the fervent dissent countering their reasoning. I have described Lochner above in the context of the Commerce clause above but my focus for this question is the case in context of the Substantive due process section of the class. The substantive due process clause deals with the law itself and not the process, substantive rights are protected under the Due Process Clause. This clause has come to encompass more and more rights, such as abortion, the right to die, and many other. “No state shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law” (U.S. Const.

The due process clause allowed the Court to interpret the Fourteenth amendment to apply the Bill of Rights to the states. This clause prohibits the government from depriving individuals of life, liberty, and/or property. Because this clause grants American citizens these liberties and forms of protection, the court decided the state and local governments must abide by them.

Due process makes it so that the government has to follow a certain process in order to enforce the laws that have been made, especially when it comes to taking away life, liberty, or someone’s property. It made it so that all types of government officials, officials like police officers and someone like the president, were accountable for their actions and could be held to the same standards of those of your average citizen. Limited government is a political system which legalized force is restrained through delegated and enumerated powers. In more simple terms the government has limited power under the provisions of the constitution. So due process is related to the principles of limited government in the way that the government has to follow a set process when enforcing laws. Equal protection clauses is a part of the fourteenth amendment and took effect in 1868. It says that no state shall deny any person equal protection of the laws. So basically it made it so that no matter what sex, race, national origin, religion, political view, or how much money you have you would be treated the same as the person next to you. In addition to that the government must also allow people to have equal opportunities. It meant that laws could not unfairly give an advantage or disadvantage to people seeking a variety of social goods, whether it be education, employment, housing, political rights. The equal protection clauses relates to limited government because it A) makes sure that the government treats all people as equals and not show any favoritism to a single person or group, and B) makes it so that all people have equal opportunities under the law that has been

A landmark case that shifted the attention to due process was Miranda vs. Arizona. In this historical landmark case the Miranda Rights got there famous name from this man Ernesto Miranda. The attention shifted to due process because of the fact that Miranda pled his rights were not read to him, therefore he did not know he could not self-incriminate himself. He claimed she was coerced to giving his confession (Miranda v. Arizona). From then on the criminal justice system new they had to do something about criminals trying to flee from the law by saying their rights were not read to them. Police departments everywhere new something had to be done. Therefore the Miranda rights were born all criminals were being arrested had to be read their Miranda Rights, therefore they could not plead that their rights were not read to them that is why the Miranda Rights is an important part of the due process. It is not fair to the suspect to arrest him and not to let them know why they are being detained, or

Some of these rights are the right to be assumed innocent until proven guilty, the right against arrest without probable cause, the right against self-incrimination, the right to an attorney, and the right to fair questioning by the police. All of this is part of the Due Process Model but one thing the Due Process Model calls into question is, do the rights of the individual outweigh the rights of the many? (Perron)

For centuries, the success of a democratic society has been measured by its commitment to equality, a resounding principle central to our nation’s founding. The Enlightenment-inspired language of the Declaration of Independence, namely the age-old axiom that “all men are created equal,” pervades our perception of the American creed. However, nearly a century passed before the Lockean principles espoused in the Declaration of Independence began to bear the force of law. Entitling American citizens to due process and equal protection of the law, the Fourteenth Amendment, perhaps the most transformative Amendment of all, has inspired the steady progression of American society. Nonetheless, while the Amendment serves as the chief legal force behind the democratic goal of equality, questions regarding its achievement of that goal

The two types of due process is the procedural due process and the substantive due process. Procedural due process is that government officials must follow procedures and not act without a reason when making laws. It requires the government to act in particular ways before regulating or taking away the life, liberty, or property of someone. The proceedings must be clear by stating the charges that the person have done and fair where they have a jury and the right to bring witnesses. Substantive due process is the Constitution prohibits some laws, no matter how popular those laws may be with legislatures, executives, or the people. It is based on the idea that some rights are important to the point that the government must have a reason to change

As we can see, due process has changed our justice system from hastily-prosecution to time consuming investigation of all the facts. We should stop pre-judging the accused person until all of the facts are made known unto us. Due process has given all accused citizens an equal opportunity to tell their story, and the right to question the evidence that was brought against them. Even though due process has guaranteed the accused person his or her right to be heard