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  ·      "Rights at the Bar of Justice,

         - originally these were about political rights.

·      -Today they are mostly about criminal suspect’s rights.

·      - Actually, begins with the body of the Constitution - NOTE: the writ of habeas corpus:

·      -Which directs public officials who are holding a person in custody to bring the prisoner into court and explain the reasons for confinement.

·      -The Bill of Rights protects suspects at every stage of the criminal justice system.

·      - Prosecution involves certain stages: generally speaking a crime is followed by an arrest, followed by a prosecution, followed by a trial, verdict, and sentence.

  ·      - The 4th Amendment - governs the way that police can get evidence. 

  ·      -Forbids unreasonable searches and seizures.

  ·      To prevent abuse of police powers, the Constitution requires that no court may issue a search warrant unless probable cause exists to believe that a crime has been committed or is about to occur.

  ·        The search warrant must specify what they believe is likely to be found.

  ·        -Mapp v. Ohio (1961) - extended the 4^th amendment protection to the states.

  ·      -In Cleveland a woman named Dollree Mapp was under suspicion for having illegal gambling devices. When police broke into her home they found pornographic materials instead of the suspected gambling devices.

  ·      -She was convicted of possessing them, appealed, and the Supreme Court ruled that the evidence had been seized illegally and reversed her conviction.

  ·      -Problems: Probable Cause = "good reason" - define good reason;  "reasonable expectation of privacy" – again define reasonable

  ·      - Plus, probable cause has begun to be very loosely defined, for example, a "partially corroborated anonymous informant's tip" qualifies as a probable cause.

  ·      - Exclusionary Rule: - prevents illegally seized evidence from being introduced in court.

  ·      - Good-faith exception: modified the use of the exclusionary rule: for example, cops get a search warrant they think is valid, acting in good faith, and the judge signs the wrong form –evidence is not thrown out as being illegally seized.

  ·       -Miranda v. Arizona (1966): Ernesto Miranda was convicted of rape and kidnapping in Arizona. The police questioned him for two hours, did not tell him of his right to a lawyer or      his right against self-incrimination. He signed a confession. He was retired and acquitted.

  ·       The Supreme Court reversed his conviction, stating that his conviction was involuntary and laid down the following guidelines for questioning suspects:

  1.    Suspects must be told that they have a constitutional right to remain silent and may stop answering questions at any time.

2.    They must be warned that what they say can be used against them in a trial.

3.    They must be told that they have a right to have an attorney present during questioning and that a public attorney will be appointed for indigent defendants.

 -6^th Amendment. –Right to counsel: guarantees a right to an attorney in a federal court. Extended to states in 1963.

 Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): Clarence Earl Gideon had been jailed I Florida state prison for breaking into a vending machine of a pool hall. He was too poor to hire a lawyer. He was acquitted but court ruled that indigenous defendants should be provided legal counsel.

 -7^th amendment:  A trial by jury: fact is that 90% of cases begin & end with a guilty plea & are settled through the plea bargaining process.

 - Plea bargaining - the defendant agrees to plead guilty and waives the right to a jury trial in ex-change for concessions made by the prosecutor, perhaps the dropping of more serious charges or a lesser sentence or fine.

  8th amendment - forbids cruel and unusual punishment and excessive bail:

  -        This is where we get the idea that individuals are innocent until proven guilty

-        Release on bail and amount of bail depends on the seriousness of the crime, trustworthiness of defendant, safety of the community.

-        cruel and unusual punishment is not defined, most debate centers on the use of the death penalty.

  -        other debate centers on the severity of sentence.

  -        the death penalty is often applied unequally - a large proportion of those executed have been poor, uneducated,  and nonwhite.

  -        Furthermore, since the death penalty was reinstated, there have been 40+ posthumous pardons.

  -        Currently, the American Bar Association is petitioning for a moratorium on death penalty because of these same arguments.

  -        Furman v. Georgia (1972) - the Court ruled that capital punishment, as then imposed, violated the—8^th and 14^th amendment’s prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment and due process of law.

  -         The way it was currently imposed was racially discriminatory.

  -        The death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

  -        Gregg v. Georgia divides the trial into the verdict and sentencing stages. Then, the State Supreme Court must review every death sentence in order to determine whether it was capricious or not (meaning does it have to do with race, and is it disproportionate to penalties    in similar cases).

  -        In 1987 (McCleskey v. Kemp) the court ruled that apparent disparities in sentencing are an inevitable part of our criminal justice system-in response to findings that there is statistical evidence of racial disparity in the imposition of the death penalty.

  -         Questions being addressed now have to do with the appeals process. Currently, appeals are being limited (although death is a very permanent solution).

  -        2^nd Amendment - the right to bear arms: The wording is "a well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

  -        Which interpretation? Is it an individual constitutional right or does it simply forbid Congress from allowing - the states to organize their own military units.

  -        The Militia Act of 1792 required "every free white - male citizen of the respective states, resident therein, who is or shall be of the age of 18 and under the age of 45 years" shall be enrolled in the militia and equipped with weapons and ammunition.

  -        The Right to privacy: Nowhere in the Bill of Rights does it guarantee a right to privacy.

  -        However, rights to freedom of expression imply that one has a right to private beliefs; rights to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures imply that one has the right to privacy in one’s own home.

  -        in addition, the 9th Amendment states that rights not spelled out in the Bill of Rights are retained by the people.

  -         The Supreme Court first articulated such a right in 1965 case –Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) involving an old law forbidding contraceptives.

  -        The constitution never mentioned a right to birth control, but the Supreme court finally      decided that various portions of the Bill of Rights contain -----

  -        Penumbras- unstated liberties or rights protecting a right to privacy.

  -        Roe v. Wade (1973) - decision legalizing abortion - was probably most famous & infamous decision based on right to privacy & unstated rights/liberties arguments.

  -         The Court majority noted that "the Constitution does not explicitly mention any right of privacy ... but the Court    has recognized that a right of personal privacy does exist under the Constitution."

  -        The court ruled that during the first trimester of pregnancy the decision to choose an abortion was a private matter between a woman and her physician.

  -        In the second trimester, states could impose restrictions to protect the mother’s health;

  -        In the third trimester, states could ban abortions altogether in recognition of the status of the developing fetus.

  -        That’s why the law that has been tossed around Congress banning abortions in the third trimester, except when the mother’s life is threatened is a meaningless ploy toward getting pro-life votes.

-        Challenges:

  -        Hyde amendments: abortions. Prohibits the use of federal funds for most abortions

  -        Adolescent Family Life Act: prohibits federal funding of organization involved with abortions

  -        Gag rule: agencies receiving family planning funds cannot      provide counseling concerning the use of abortion or referral to abortion services

  -         Parental consent laws

-        Webster v. Reproductive health services 1912). -Restricted Roe by prohibiting the use of public facilities for abortions or the use of public funds for abortion counseling, tests for viability were mandated.

  -         Currently many questions facing supreme court are strongly tied to ethical issues, not just policy issues: birth (drugs    users/alcoholics/smokers, murder of pregnant women double    murder, & death life support, right to die, living wills),

  -        *Abe and Mary Ayala conceived & gave birth to a baby for the sole purpose of providing a life-saving bone marrow transplant to their 14-year-old daughter. Nearly half of all Americans agreed in June of 1991 that it is amorally acceptable for parents to conceive a child in order to obtain an organ or tissue to save the life of another one of their children." 

 

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