In which ways did the The U.S. Constitution influenced the American criminal justice system?
Answers:
The Bill of Rights guarantees civil liberties such as habeas corpus to the accused.
the justice system has to adhere to the constitution
Besides Habeus Corpus, one has the right to plead the fifth amendment, the right to a speedy trial, and the right to face his/her accuser(s).
There are three important parts of the constitution that have impacted the criminal justice system.
The FOURTH amendment protects all people against unreasonable search and seizure. This means that the police cannot just arrest everyone in an area (dragnet) and hope to find the guilty party. It protects everyone against searches in their homes and private places unless there is probable cause, usually with a warrant (or consent).
The FIFTH amendment prohibits forced confessions. See, as an example, the French system (inquisitoriall system) where the defendant may be forced to testify and answer questions.
The SIXTH amendment provides all people with the right to a jury trial and, most important, the right to an attorney.
These rights are applied to the states (formerly only applied to the US Government) by the 13th Amendment.
Now, ALL of these rights make it more likely that a guilty person is not found, or is aquitted. For example, if police could search anyone they want, they could find more guilty people. Of course, they would need to search many innocent people too.
If the police could force confessions, it sure would be easier to convict the guilty (unless there was a false confession). They could also use ... aggressive interrogation techniques, for coerced confessions would be legal.
And, of course, without a lawyer, it sure would be easier to convict people -- innocent or guilty.
On the other hand, until the Supreme Court ruled that violation of the constitution would result in exclusion of evidence obtained illegally, and a new trial for violation of the right to effective assistance of counsel, the rights were hollow indeed.
In our system, we would rather have guilty people set free, than to have even one innocent person convicted.
Of course, in reality, the innocent are still convicted; and the guilty are sometimes exonerated. Most of the rights
are waived (most suspects confess, hoping to get better treatment, most people plead guilty rather than face a trial, even before a jury; the police still search without a warrant due to the myriad of "exceptions" that have been found to exist to the requirement of a warrant to search).
Nonetheless, the Bill of Rights forms the basis for the freedoms that the founders believed are the foundation of our country -- rights that the government should NEVER be able to take away.
These rights are not mere "technicalities." When a confession is thrown out, or evidence is suppressed, it is because the government has violated the very principals upon which our country was founded, principals that apply to the guilty and, more importantly, that protect the innocent. Such violations are not mere technicalities, but threaten the very freedoms for which we fought over 200 years ago.
The United States Constitution influenced our criminal justice system in numerous ways. The Bill of Rights, or first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, probably had as much of an impact on American criminal justice as the Magna Carta had on the English criminal justice system. Every aspect of criminal justice, from the development of courts to the specifics of search and seizure, is covered in the U.S. Constitution and its first ten amendments. Possibly the most influential Amendments to the Constitution, as far as criminal justice goes, are Amendments IV, VI, and VIII. These three amendments set the standard for criminal justice procedures involving search and seizure, due process, and cruel and unusual punishment.
Influenced it.? It defined it.
The Constitution created the framework within which the entire criminal justice system operates. The 5th and 6th Amendments defined due process, the protections against coercive interrogation, and all the requirements of trial practice.
The answers post by the user, for information only, FreeLawAnswer.com does not guarantee the right.
Answer question:
More Law Questions and Answers: