200 words minimum, APA.

Responses:

Dario:

Good evening Professor and classmates,

There
are two things that all Americans as entitled to, they are fairness and
equal justice. When someone comes into contact with the criminal
justice system, they are entitled to fundamental fairness. The right to
have an impartial court that provides guarantees to a fair due process
is fundamental fairness. For example, in the landmark case, Powell v.
Alabama, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Alabama had denied the
defendants fairness in the due process because the judge that ruled in
the conviction, had appointed an out of state attorney who was
unfamiliar with Alabama court proceedings, and thus unable to properly
defend the defendants (Generally: The Principle of Fundamental Fiarness,
n.d.).

The various components of due process in the criminal
procedure are those are protections enshrined in the United States Bill
of Rights which constitute the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Eighth, and
Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. If a subject/accused is
denied any of the above-named Amendments, they are denied due process
and fundamental fairness. Procedural protections that are afforded to
individuals in a criminal case commence the instant an agent of the
state contacts them. For example, if an individual is suspected of a
crime, the officer must advise the suspect against self-incrimination
provided under Miranda Rights. Also, if the officer notices any items of
evidentiary value, the officer must have probable cause and obtain
warrants to seize any items as directed by the Fourth Amendment.

The
court balances individual rights against government interests by
placing checks and balances in the criminal process. For example, in the
Konigsberg V. State Bar of California (1961), Konigsberg argued that
his first amendment rights were violated when he refused to answer
questions in the California State bar application that pertained to
Communist affiliation. The Supreme Court did not agree with Konigsberg’s
argument because free speech and association were not “absolutes” and
it was in the interest of the government’s interest far outweigh
individual interest because such questions were supposed to filter
dangerous applicants (Vile, n.d.).

Dario

References

Generally: The Principle of Fundamental Fiarness. (n.d.). Retrieved Jan 06, 2020, from law.cornell.edu: https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution-conan/ame…

Vile, J. R. (n.d.). Konigsberg v. State Bar (1961). Retrieved Jan 06, 2020, from Mtsu.edu: https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/88/ko…

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Carlos:

When
learning about fundamental fairness it was important for me to
understand what due process meant as those two phrases go hand in hand.
Reading the lesson for the week I learned due process is the legal
requirement of the government to respect a person’s legal rights and not
take a person’s life, liberty, and or property without due process of
law (Generally: The Principle of Fundamental Fairness).

And then
fundamental fairness comes into play, fundamental fairness is basically
the balance to keep all court processing’s “fair”, meaning these
proceedings are done without judgment. The courts are required to follow
this standard during due process. There’s also several bill of rights
to ensure people are being treated fairly in the case they are suspected
of a crime and are being charged, those amendments are fourth, fifth,
sixth, eighth, and the fourteenth (RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS).

The last
question about balance and individual rights was the one that made me
think the most, I think of it often, but I am never able to properly
articulate what I am thinking. A simple way I can comprehend what this
really means is by taking the right of freedom of speech. This is an
individual right we all have but there must be balance for this right. I
can shout at the top of my lungs at 1am because its my right, right?
But I shouldn’t because my neighborhood has a quiet time rule and for
that reason, I can get in trouble for practicing my right. While this
example seems simple to me it was an easy way to understand balance. Now
the court has set up the right to refuse a search without a search
warrant, again balance.

References

(n.d.). Retrieved January 7th, 2020, from RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS: http://www.lincoln.edu/criminaljustice/hr/Dueproce…

Generally: The Principle of Fundamental Fairness. (n.d.). Justia Us Law. Retrieved from https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/amendment-1…