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Why Are Constitutional Rights Important

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Why Are Constitutional Rights Important
Constitutional Rights are very important to ensure that the public is protected from government and the possibility that the government will overstep its power. When it comes down to it there is one Constitutional Right that sticks out the most when it comes to a person being charged with a crime. This Constitutional Right comes from the 5th Amendment to protect people charged with a crime. When it comes people rights being violated there is one Constitutional Right that has a tendency to be violated. This Constitutional right is the 6th Amendment. When it comes to false confession and violation of Constitutional Rights law enforcement and investigators need to follow the same procedure to help prevent issues like these from happening. If that …show more content…
The nature of the Constitutional Right that it gives to people provides a great deal of protection. The Constitutional Rights granted to people includes protection from being tried twice for the same crime by the government, this is known as double jeopardy. So once the person is found not guilty in a court of law they can no longer be charged for that incident again. During any time of a criminal investigation, a person doesn’t have to be a witness or testify against one's self. This is very important because it allows the person to not incriminate him or herself in a crime. A good example of this coming into effect is when a person is given the Miranda Warning when they are being arrested or interrogated. In the Miranda Warning, it says, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. The Miranda Warning comes directly from the 5th Amendment. This rule stems from the Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona were the issue with this case was in a direct relationship to this amendment and caused the current rules of investigations so people can understand their rights that are granted to them by the government, so other government agents can legally deprive you of them (Law.Cornell.edu, 2010(A)) (“Facts and Case Summary - Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, …show more content…
False confession from innocent people comes from a place where people believe that they are innocent and if they get a lawyer they look guilty. The idea of getting a lawyer is there to protect you regardless if you are innocent or guilty. The idea of having a lawyer is a constitutional right there to protect you and ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty, it's not guilty until proven innocent. When people are innocent and the police are interrogating them for hours they feel like if they say, “Yes, I did it. Here is how I did it.” Then, they will be able to go home. Which is not the case they end up being charged, locked up, and then prosecuted. A great example of this is the case of the Norfolk Four. Four different men all confessed to the killing of a woman even though all of them had nothing to do with it. None of them had a lawyer with them. One of the men did ask for one, but never got one. When they did get lawyers it was too late. The confessions then became the main piece of evidence against them (“Norfolk Four,” n.d.). This brings the whole idea full circle and unless you have been in that situation you cant understand it, from the outside side people have the notion if someone confessed their guilty, innocent people don’t confess. But they do to make what is essentially torture stop. That is why when it comes to false

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