Sixth Amendment Pros And Cons

The Sixth Amendment The Sixth Amendment is a platform for equality: The rights it guarantees seek to prevent discrimination and injustice towards the accused in criminal prosecutions. Since its advent, the Sixth Amendment has been interpreted in various ways depending on the situation, traditions or beliefs of the time, and the people involved. Rights guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment have been the subject of countless debates and continue to be submerged in a sea of controversy.
The Sixth Amendment, written by James Madison, is part of the Bill of Rights, a set of rules in the Constitution that was established after the United States gained independence in order to protect the rights of its citizens so that those with power would not oppress
An example is the case of Adrian Jackson v. State of Indiana, in which the defendant requested a retrial after being found guilty because, he argued, his decision to represent himself in court was not made “knowingly, voluntarily and intelligently” (Odendahl). The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court that the trial court had warned Jackson of the negative aspects of self-representation and had provided him with enough advice (Odendahl). Another recent case is the case of Marq Hall v. State of Indiana. Hall, following his trial and being found guilty of child molestation, argued that his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him was violated when he was not allowed to compel his accuser, the victim’s mother, to “answer a deposition question about an incident in the victim’s past” (Hall v. State). However, while the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the trial court and remanded a new trial for Hall, further investigation showed that even if Hall’s Sixth Amendment right was violated, it was harmless and would not make any difference to the outcome of the trial (Hall v.