Due Process
Chandra Walker
Axia Online-UOP
In this paper we will be discussing how due process operates in the criminal justice system. This paper will take an in depth look into how the due process effects the criminal justice system. But in order for anyone to understand due process in the criminal justice, you must first know the meaning of due process. The most commonly used form of sentencing is probation, meaning the suspect is set free but under supervision of a probation officer.
Due Process According to Black’s Law Dictionary: "Due Process of law implies the right of the person affected thereby to be present before the tribunal which pronounces judgment upon the question of life, liberty, or property, in its most comprehensive sense; to be heard, by testimony or otherwise, and to have the right of controverting, by proof, every material fact which bears on the question of right in the matter involved. If any question of fact or liability be conclusively presumed against him, this is not due process of law." Black’s Law Dictionary, 6th Edition, page 500. Due process is a very complex subject to try to explain and define to where it is understood. In all its complexity due process just simply means that it holds the government subservient to the land of the law. Due process originated from the Magna Carta (1215), which were the Great Charter of English liberties where the nobles limited the King’s authority. The phrase “law of the land” then transformed over time to what is now known as “due process of law (Sargentich, 2009).” The phrase the “law of the land” was part of a Massachusetts statute in 1692. The fifth amendment of the Constitution mandates that no one is to be deprived of their life, liberty, or property by the government without due process of the law. The adversarial system is the legal system used that is followed in the US. In the adversarial system the parties involved in the case are given the
References: Adversarial system law & legal definition.(2011) Retrieved from http://definitions.uslegal.com/a/adversarial-system . Definition of Due Process. (2011). Black 's law dictionary. Retrieved July 18, 2011, from www.blackslawdictionary.com. Ellis, Jackson. (2003-2011). What are the rights of the accused? Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-the-rights-of-the-accused.htm on July 18, 2011. Sargentich, Thomas O. (2009). Due process. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/due-process. The criminal justice process. (2011). Retrieved from http://criminal.lawyers.com/Criminal-Law-Basics/The-Criminal-Justice-Process.html?page=2 on July 20, 2011.