Advantages & Disadvantages of Public Order & Individual Rights Essay Example

order. Individual rights allow a person the liberty to live as he or she desires. The very essence of how this country was established also affords us the freedom of choice. In addition, the Bill of Rights safeguards the individual rights of American citizens against the power of the government.

The judicial process would be highly unfavorable without this protection.As a result, the right of “due process” is a crucial element within the criminal justice system. The Fifth Amendment requires that the government is fair and orderly throughout the judicial process. This is an individual right that not only protects American citizens but, protects non-citizens as well. A federal judge ruled in favor of an Egyptian immigrant who was fighting deportation since his arrest in 1998. He was represented by an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that claimed he escaped Egypt to avoid religious persecution and torture.

According to Nissley (2008), “A human being does not forfeit the right to be free from torture because he is ineligible for admission into this country," Judge [Thomas I. Vanaskie] wrote. "Freedom from torture is a 'fundamental right,' surely protected by the Fifth Amendment, regardless of a person's immigration status. ”… The government cannot return someone to a country without a procedure that satisfies due process. " The individual rights of American citizens are not only protected by due process but, through several aspects of civil and criminal law.

Unlawful search and seizures, legal counsel, speedy trail, and cruel and unusual punishment are common violations that have occurred in the judicial process. As a result, lawsuits were filed on behalf of the accused and in addition, advocates

of individual rights have opted to form organizations designed to support the fundamental rights of all humanity. Over the past few decades, mainly after the civil rights era, these various organizations began to protest openly about basic human rights.Women’s right (pro-choice activist), gay and lesbian rights, animal rights, and environmental rights are the most common that may affect American citizens in some way. However, these groups are equally important to protecting and preserving the individual rights for all humanity.

As much as we can appreciate the advantages of individual rights, there are also the disadvantages to be specified. After a long and bloody war the United States of America was granted independence. During which time a wise man by the name of Thomas Jefferson was well aware that history can have a way of repeating itself.Therefore, in December of 1878 he wrote a letter to James Madison stating that they needed to come forth with a bill of right in order to protect the people from the government. Thus, the people of the United States have individual rights, known as the Bill of Rights or the 10 Amendments.

The Bill of Rights consists of 10 Amendments that give civilians protection against the government. Even though these rights are to help and to protect the people of the United States at the same there are some disadvantages to them.One of the disadvantages to these rights is that they can be taken away. As soon as the government thinks that a person is involved in any criminal or terrorist act especially like the September 11th terrorist act. After September 11th, the government passed a bill called the

Patriot Act which violates the fourth amendment; search and seizure.

With this act, law enforcement can go into an individual’s house to do a search without the person’s permission. They also have the right to wire-tap telephone calls without the person knowing about it.In the article US Constitution and the Bill of Rights (2006) states in the sixth amendment, that a person, when being prosecuted for a criminal act, that individual has the right to a speedy and public trial. The disadvantage to this right is that the trial is public and sometimes the public can get the wrong information and prosecute an innocent person. For example, when a trial becomes famous, the media gives it a great deal of publicity that the jury may have already received facts from them and, this can intervene with the trial and with the real facts and evidence presented by the prosecutors and defense teams.

The second amendment states “the right of the people to bear arms” (2006) meaning that the individual has the right to own a weapon. The drawback to this amendment is that anyone can own a weapon. This amendment was written for the people to have a weapon to protect oneself from harm but, some take it farther and they use that weapon to do harm to others. The individual rights that are allowed today vary and, every individual has their own understanding of the disadvantages and advantages but it is important that they are examined thoroughly. Public order also exists, and has advantages within it as well.

Some people don’t realize exactly how much public order advocates have to do with everyday life. As stated

in Public Advocates (2008) “Public Advocates challenge the systemic causes of poverty and discrimination by defending and expanding civil rights through advocacy, litigation, and partnership with low-income communities, people of color, and immigrants. ” The main advantage of public order is that when people face a problem or prejudice for any means, people do not have to fight for his/her rights by themselves and no matter what the problem may be, individuals will have people fighting beside them.Some examples of what public order helps with are; “Equal Access Advocates Sue City of Oakland for Failing Non-English Speaking Residents,” Public Advocates' Testimony on Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity on Suburban Housing Discrimination,” and “State Report Reveals Dramatic Increase in Identification of Teachers Improperly Assigned,” Public order does not judge on race, color, culture or gender. Laws that consider and favor individual rights tend to create public disorder and high fear of crime.

If people would concentrate more on public order it would decrease the crime rate, fear of crime, and terrorism in the United States (Lots of Essays, 2008). Many people believe that at least one of the 9/11 attacks could have been prevented if individual rights were not so big. One man was out on the “terrorist watch” list after being seen speaking with an Al-Qaida member and yet no one gave him problems for fear of racism and violation of “his rights. ” There are many advantages of public order and the most important ones are listed above.

Public order makes sure that the public has information given to them and the correct information.They help assemblies of people come together orderly and provide help and

support for individuals while considering their rights. While the advantages of public order are strong and important, it is necessary to examine the disadvantages. The disadvantage of public order is that it does not focus on a person’s individual rights but on crime control within the society (Schmalleger, 2007). This is a disadvantage because public order advocates believe that you are guilty and the good of the community is important before the good of an individual.

Another disadvantage of public order is that it can violate ones civil right if necessary for the better good. This is to say that if your arrested you should not have any rights whereas the constitution states that all people have rights, even the criminal. Public Order sometimes violates the written rights of the Constitution especially the first ten amendments (Cain & Enrique 2003). They do not believe that an individual who commits crimes should have any rights; this is a problem especially when it comes to sentencing.Advocates believe in harsher, longer, and quick punishment. If arrested they believe you should receive longer jail times or the death penalty.

The use of the death penalty can be a quandary because sometimes innocent people are punished. “The Public order advocacy does not protect and guarantee the rights of the individual which means, that they do not in the due process of individual rights. ” (Retrieved October 9, 2008 from hawaii. hawaii.

edu/aj/101lec1/AJ-101-Individual-Rights-vs-Public-Order. html - 2k).Public Oder Advocacy can get in the way of individual rights because the interest is that of the society (Schmalleger, 2007). Public order advocates make issues public and there is no privacy when it comes to issues.

The issues become a platform for a cause that advocates are trying to promote.

Public order is more about the issue of crime than about the greater good that could be involved. This can cause a problem because when you don’t have public order you can experience a higher crime rate. Another disadvantage of public order is that they do not listen to the opinion of all individuals.They take the opinion of what they believe and view as the most important and run with that idea. The most important aspect of all is that, public order advocacy believes when it comes to terrorist they have a right to violate the rights of individuals for the best interest of society.

This idea would give the government the right to violate ones civil rights to privacy by tapping into peoples’ conversations to see who they are socializing with and, digging into an individuals’ personal business such as medical records, financial records, etc. or the good of society. In conclusion it is determined that there are advantages and disadvantages involved in individual rights and public order. We have advantages of individual rights that consisted of two main things as the Bill of Rights, that are there to safeguard the individual rights of American citizens against the power of the government and, the Fifth Amendment which implements the government as fair and orderly throughout the judicial process.This is extremely beneficial to Americans today especially when it is an advantage and protection for those who are citizens as well as non-citizens.

The disadvantage of a person being able to bear arms and also to have the right to fair and

speedy trial can be crucial to some individuals. Some things may sound good but can be hurtful to an individual at the same time depending on the circumstances. When reviewing the dvantages and disadvantages of public order the advantage that seems most beneficial to any individual is that when you have a problem no matter what it may be there are organizations that will fight behind you. On the other hand the disadvantage that seems most unkind is that public order advocacy believes in the harsher and or longer punishments whether it is time in jail or the death penalty. After what has been reviewed there is truly a distinct difference between what is seen and portrayed between the individual rights and the public order advocacy rights.