Constitutional Separation Of Powers: The Constitution Of The United States

Constitutional Separation of Powers The Constitution of the United States vests the power of the government in three coequal branches -- the executive, legislative, and judicial branches -- and establishes a system of checks and balances so that no one branch can become too powerful. This separation of powers helps to allow each of the three branches the ability to work together to protect the individual rights of both free citizens and offenders while also preventing a single branch from taking unilateral action. The constitutional separation of powers can be seen effectively protecting the rights of citizens and offenders through the guarantee of due process. The executive branch is expected to enforce the laws created by the legislative branch; however, the guarantee of due process means that the executive branch does not have the right to immediately punish an individual. An individual must be brought to justice through the judicial system. This is due
The executive branch must gain approval from the judicial branch before being granted a search warrant. This provides a check on the executive branch preventing it from conducting unreasonable searches without probable cause. This is also due process. The laws which establish the criteria for gaining a search warrant are initially written by the legislative branch, which helps to create another check and balance to the system.
Strictly speaking in terms of prisoners, the constitution dictates how the legislature must provide certain policies for carrying out due process in the corrections environment. The legislature also writes rules for how prisoners are to be treated. The executive branch, or the correctional system, must carry out these laws through various procedures. The judicial branch then holds the power of review to ensure that procedures enacted by the legislature and carried out by the executive branch are in line with the