Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Prologue: Bush v. Gore
- Introduction: The Dynamic Constitution
- Part I Individual Rights Under the Constitution
- 1 Freedom of Speech
- 2 Freedom of Religion
- 3 Protection of Economic Liberties
- 4 Rights to Fair Procedures
- 5 Equal Protection of the Laws
- 6 Fundamental Rights
- Part II The Constitutional Separation of Powers
- Part III Further Issues of Constitutional Structure and Individual Rights
- Appendix: The Constitution of the United States
- Notes
- Index
4 - Rights to Fair Procedures
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 July 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Prologue: Bush v. Gore
- Introduction: The Dynamic Constitution
- Part I Individual Rights Under the Constitution
- 1 Freedom of Speech
- 2 Freedom of Religion
- 3 Protection of Economic Liberties
- 4 Rights to Fair Procedures
- 5 Equal Protection of the Laws
- 6 Fundamental Rights
- Part II The Constitutional Separation of Powers
- Part III Further Issues of Constitutional Structure and Individual Rights
- Appendix: The Constitution of the United States
- Notes
- Index
Summary
No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
– The Due Process Clause of the Fifth AmendmentNo State shall … deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
– The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth AmendmentThe constitution guarantees various rights to fair procedures for those who are accused of crimes, involved in lawsuits, or subject to other threats of adverse governmental action – for example, being fired from certain government jobs or suspended from public schools. Perhaps the most important and basic procedural rights come from the Due Process Clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, which forbid governmental actions that deprive any person “of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”
Constitutional guarantees of fair procedures serve at least two functions. One is to promote accurate decision-making. The police may believe that they know who committed a crime and that a trial would be a waste of time and money, but the police may be wrong. The Constitution therefore guarantees the defendant a trial, with the right to hear and confront adverse witnesses. Similarly, a school principal may think, based on a teacher's report, that a child deserves to be suspended. Again, however, the story may have another side. The Due Process Clause guarantees the child at least an informal hearing, to make sure that the decision-maker has all relevant facts.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Dynamic ConstitutionAn Introduction to American Constitutional Law, pp. 91 - 105Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2004