Magruder’s American Government
1st Edition
ISBN: 9780133306996
Textbook solutions
All Solutions
Section 8-7: Rights of the Accused
Exercise 1
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The Constitution of the United States guarantees the right to defense to any person charged with a crime. If the accused person does not have the resources to hire a legal representative, the court is obliged to assign one free of charge.
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The first and fundamental protection of an individual who does not have money is that before he bears, and if he bears any consequence, the crime has to have a due law process before any conclusion; a **jury must indict the individual**.
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Another way the justice system protects individuals with no cost to it is with the double jeopardy rule. The **double jeopardy rule** prohibits the government from recharging individuals with the same crime if they are already proven innocent.
Exercise 2
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The United States Constitution establishes **a **grand jury**** and **a trial jury** to ensure a fair and just trial.
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Before a suspect in a serious crime (which can lead to imprisonment or the death penalty) is brought before a court, he must be formally charged. The prosecutor presents his evidence to a grand jury at a secret session without the presence of the suspect and the public. After the jury considers the evidence, it decides whether the trial is justified or not. The grand jury consists of 16 to 23 members, and decisions are made by a majority vote (at least 12). The grand jury institute protects the rights of individuals to be indicted if the prosecutor does not have sufficient evidence. Given the secrecy of the proceedings, suspects who will not be charged are protected the right to privacy. This institute is mandatory in federal cases, and is not mandatory in cases before the State courts so in most cases does not apply.
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If a suspect is charged with a criminal offense, he or she is guaranteed, among other rights, a trial by an impartial jury. A jury trial is mandatory in federal cases and in cases before State courts if the sentence for the accused is more than 6 months in prison. The jury usually consists of 12 members and makes decisions unanimously. Trial by jury and unanimous decision-making increases the chance of a correct court verdict because 12 people are more likely to be able to make a fairer verdict than one judge.
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To summarize, the grand jury decides whether the suspect will be indicted and tried, and if that happens, the accused has the right to a jury trial.
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A **grand jury** is involved in the starting process of the case to determine whether the suspect should be charged. The grand jury plays a vital role in the judicial process of criminal cases. Grand juries usually work with prosecutors to determine whether the suspect is going on a trial.
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This is the protection of rights on its own. Because a suspect is not assumed to be from the start and, therefore, charged but instead is evaluated. This protects someone’s rights, especially in cases when someone is innocent. There would not be a point for an innocent individual to go on trial. This is why a grand jury plays a key role.
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A **trial jury** handles the case when a suspect is already charged and in a trial. The goal of the trial jury is to evaluate and determine whether the suspect has committed the crime he is charged off.
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The right of the trial jury, where it is determined if someone is proven guilty or not guilty, is to protect individual rights from possible governmental oppression by evaluating whether he is guilty or not guilty.
Exercise 3
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The United States Constitution guarantees defendants that more serious crimes (punishable by more than six months in prison) are tried by a jury.
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The composition of the jury is extremely important for the outcome of the trial and for that reason it is necessary to reflect the community from which the accused comes. Also, no person can be excluded from the jury based solely on their race, color, religion, gender or origin. Given that there are numerous divisions among people based on the above stated attributes (and much more), it would not be fair for the accused to be tried by a jury that does not include members of any group to which the accused belongs.
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The Supreme Court upheld these views in several cases such as Strauder v. West Virginia, 1880; Hernandez v. Texas, 1954 and Taylor v. Louisiana, 1975.
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The **government is based on the principle that everyone has a fair chance and equality**. This means a fair trial but an appropriate consequence to a crime as well.
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The jury’s composition can include community members from the suspect’s background to understand the case better and provide an equal and just chance. Thus, the **racial make-up of the community** sets the trial to be as fair as it can be, whether it is good or negative.
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For example, if the racial make-up is mostly of negative nature feedback, it is significant because, let’s say, someone is a “psycho”. It is great to have people from the community noting their observations of him acting unstable and dangerous.
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On the other side, if someone is innocent and a good citizen but in a very unlucky position, it is good to have people from his community testify and share their experiences and encounters.
Exercise 4
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The United States Constitution guarantees the accused of a crime, among other rights, the right to a public trial. It is very important that the trial does not take place in secret in order not to violate any rights of the accused. In the case of public trials, any irregularity can be easily spotted, so public involvement mostly contributes to a fairer trial.
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Since the trials are public, they can be attended by the media. The presence of the media can contribute to a fairer trial because it allows more eyes fixed on the process itself. However, reckless and sensationalist reporting can do much more harm to the accused. Given that we live in a time of mass media, the desire for a “good story” that attracts more viewers, listeners, and readers can lead to biased and sensationalist reporting that can distort the public image of the accused and ongoing process.
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The media should cover the trials, but with respect to highly defined standards of the profession so that the public has a clear picture of the course of the trial, and so that all the rights of the accused are respected.
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The courtroom and trials are made to bring justice. A righteous trial and verdict should not be dependent on external output, sources, individuals, or the media.
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**News outlets and media** are not certified and factual pieces of information. They can show and portrait parts of the story they want the public to see or highlight the ones to make them more sensational for the public clout and attention. Media is, to a degree, not a dependable source of information. The only right (how it exactly is without blowing the proportions) and factual source of information is, for example, a final verdict from the Supreme Court.
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With that being said, the media is not of necessity in the courtrooms as the trial is not and should not be dependable on the media and be fair to the accused regardless. There was some positive that revolved from the media’s presence in the past. However, this is a politically opinionated question. The solution in both ways (with or without the media) would be making sure the trials are truthfully executed.
Exercise 5
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The Constitution of the United States guarantees certain rights to those accused of crimes, and among them is the right guaranteed by the 8th Amendment, which concerns **the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.**
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The Supreme Court ruled many times on cases concerning these allegations of the 8th Amendment, especially in cases involving **capital punishment – the death penalty**. The crucial question that arises is whether the death penalty is cruel and unusual and thus prohibited by the 8th Amendment.
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The Supreme Court upheld the death penalty in its decisions, but set certain rules and restrictions on it:
– The death penalty can not be mandatory for certain crimes and its application must be decided on a case-by-case basis.
– The decision on the death penalty shall be made in a separate process after the guilt of the accused has been established at trial
– The decision on the death penalty is made by the jury that convicted the defendant
– The death penalty may be carried out only in cases where the crime has resulted in the death of the victim
– The death penalty cannot be carried out on mentally challenged convicts
– The death penalty may not be imposed on persons who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime
– The death penalty cannot be carried out by certain methods which include torturing the convict, such as burning at the stake, crucifixion, strangulation, etc.
– Execution by lethal injection is considered constitutional
– The death penalty can not be mandatory for certain crimes and its application must be decided on a case-by-case basis.
– The decision on the death penalty shall be made in a separate process after the guilt of the accused has been established at trial
– The decision on the death penalty is made by the jury that convicted the defendant
– The death penalty may be carried out only in cases where the crime has resulted in the death of the victim
– The death penalty cannot be carried out on mentally challenged convicts
– The death penalty may not be imposed on persons who were under the age of 18 at the time of the crime
– The death penalty cannot be carried out by certain methods which include torturing the convict, such as burning at the stake, crucifixion, strangulation, etc.
– Execution by lethal injection is considered constitutional
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The **8th Amendment** notes a ban to the government on unusual and cruel punishment. However, the Supreme Court decided that the death penalty, if just, does not violate the 8th Amendment of the Bill of Rights.
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Regardless, the 8th Amendment proposes a serious process for the procedure that has to go through the conditions of concluding and using the death penalty. The process is necessary so the cruel punishment is not misinterpreted and the 8th Amendment violated.
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