Running head: THE BILL OF RIGHTS 1.

The Bill of Rights: The Key Elements of the Rights Guaranteed By the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth

Amendments and Their Impact on Criminal Procedure

Student's Name

Institutional Affiliation

 
THE BILL OF RIGHTS 2.

Introduction

           The Bill of Rights constitutes various amendments that protect citizens' rights, including

the accused, even all through their prosecution. They include the Fourth Amendment, the Fifth

Amendment, the Sixth Amendment, and the Fourteenth Amendment. Per the highlighted

amendments, citizens should be well handled by the police and the Court to ensure that their

constitutional rights are not violated. Per the Bill of Rights, states acting against these

amendments are subject to punishment, mostly, by reducing their powers in the congress.

Nonetheless, despite all the advantages that the amendments offered to citizens as law-abiding

people, it impedes Criminal Procedure; thus, imposing negative impacts.   

The Key Elements of the Rights Guaranteed By the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments

and Their Impact on Criminal Procedure

The Fourth Amendment

The fourth amendment offers citizens in US protection from warrantless irrational

searches and seizures. It covers searches on the property, people, and their abodes and items

taken by police or any other officials without valid warrants (Garrett & Stoughton, 2017).

Consequently, the law is expected to obtain legal contracts upon suspecting any criminal

activities on a citizen or their property before arrests or searches and seizures. The warrant's

issuance has to be done by a judge for the police to conduct any investigations. According to

Renan (2016), the fourth amendment impacts the law both positively and negatively. First, it

optimistically protects citizens' privacy rights and bars the police from unlawfully probing onto

private property. The enforcement of a law perspective can be negatively affected because the

amendment provides convenient opportunities for criminals to destroy or eliminate

evidence/witnesses before warrant acquisition. The fourth amendment's ultimate objective is to

THE BILL OF RIGHTS 2.

safeguard persons' privacy, freedoms, and rights from unreasonable impositions. In contrast, the

amendment does not pledge protection from all seizures and searches; however, only those

deemed unreasonable or done by the government under the law. The Court had long needed the

complainant to show that he was the victim of an infringement of privacy to have legal standing

to assert rights under the Fourth Amendment to claim the Fourth Amendment's breach to

withhold the evidence available. 

The Fifth Amendment

The Fifth Amendment protects an accused individual from facing prosecution absent the

due process. This follows an individual's constitutional rights, which involves consensual legal

prosecution that comes with notice and the accused's right to present their defense to the Court.

Further, the amendment is beneficial to the accused in the sense that any criminal procedures on

their case are conducted justly, thereby protecting them from being forcefully summoned from

their abodes and chastised minus trial. Moreover, the amendment guarantees the accused a right

to remain silent as they are not susceptible to self-incrimination. Upon conviction, while reading

their Miranda incrimination or Miranda Rights, the Fifth Amendment offers protection to the

accused from self-incrimination (Feerick, 2017). Feerick (2017) further asserts that the Fifth

Amendment prohibits the jury from charging the person for a similar offense if a respondent is

convicted and proven innocent in a civil case. However, lawbreakers might find an alleyway to

justifying their wrong, for instance, by finding fake witnesses or eliminating and altering proof to

jeopardize criminal procedure. 

The Sixth Amendment

The sixth amendment in the current court system, which is a right to trial. A perpetrator is

entitled to a trial, which is decided by a jury of their peers. The individual has the right to dictate
THE BILL OF RIGHTS 2.

the allegations' essence throughout that trial, provide legal counsel, and face any prosecution

(Mulroy, 2017). This way, criminal prosecutions are handled in a more accurate, just, and

legitimate manner. Additionally, the amendment allows the accused to hire a private lawyer to

represent them in Court under the bargain that they are incapable of defending themselves in

Court. However, suppose an individual cannot afford a lawyer. In that case, the government is

obligated to assign them a public lawyer who shall competently work and advise the defendant at

their convenience on the prosecution's consequences. However, this amendment has brought

about complexities in cases, prolonging procedures, and justice in service ultimately. Despite the

delays, criminal methods often prove successful in the end following the findings reported at the

end of the investigation carried out a period before trial.    

How the Bill of Rights Applies to the States via the Fourteenth Amendment

The Bill of Rights through the Fourteenth Amendment is not only against unlawful acts

by the Federal Government, but also the entire States in the United States. Subjecting State

Governments under the influence of the Fourteenth Amendment, however, transpired in the latter

times. The first instance was when Barron v. Baltimore case, the right of unprejudiced

reimbursement, in Chicago 1897, the Court declared that state governments should justly

compensate for the police's private property for public use (Ely Jr & Bond, 2014). At this point,

however, most of the court members were intrigued to describe the Bill of Rights. In the latter

times, the clause remains applicable to all states across the nation and the federal government or

the grounds that it emanates from the Fourteenth Amendments. Similarly, all other amendments

in the Bill of Rights apply to all states without compromise and are significant because they

originate from the Bill of Rights (Ely Jr & Bond, 2014). The Bill of Rights, in that regard, offers

protection to all citizens in the United States of America.  

THE BILL OF RIGHTS 2.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it is apparent that accused persons deserve constitutional

rights to property, liberty, and life, which the government cannot be deprived of. Furthermore,

people are entitled to a right of due process, which means that an individual's lawful rights have

to be adhered to when indicted for a crime. The amendments defend the civil rights of all citizens

of America.  

 
THE BILL OF RIGHTS 2.

References

 Ely Jr, J. W., & Bond, B. G. (Eds.). (2014). The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture:

Volume 10: Law and Politics (Vol. 10). UNC Press Books.

Feerick, J. D. (2017). The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: A Personal Remembrance. Fordham L.

Rev., 86, 1075.

Garrett, B., & Stoughton, S. (2017). A Tactical Fourth Amendment. Virginia Law Review, 211-

307.

Mulroy, S. J. (2017). The Bright Line's Dark Side: Pre-Charge Attachment of the Sixth

Amendment Right to Counsel. Wash. L. Rev., 92, 213.

Renan, D. (2016). The Fourth Amendment as Administrative Governance. Stan. L. Rev., 68,

1039.