Essay Sample on Amendments and Constitutional Bill of Rights

The constitution gets described as a document entailing rules and laws aiming at governing the government of a state. In the United States government, the first ten amendments to the constitution get regarded as the constitutional bill of rights. Often the constitution undergoes an amendment where it undergoes formal alteration by the legislation to make it better. The Constitution got amended up to around twenty-seven times. With every amendment came an additional clause that turned the way the judicial system saw things. In this write-up, I will explain what amendment I consider the most important in the Criminal Justice System, followed by why I think it is the one.

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The amendment that I consider the most important in the criminal justice system is the fifth. It states; "No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." (Vile 2015).

This amendment is crucial because it protects the citizens from witnessing against themselves. This rule deals with a couple of parties. For the criminal defendant, they get the exemption not to testify. This means that it is rightfully up to them if they wish to take the stand or not. For witness, with this they can refuse to testify if their testimony will incriminate them to a crime unrelated to the one presented in court. This protects the witness before going to the court of law and even as they witness.

Also, it protects a person from getting deprived of life, freedom, and property without following the regular route of justice. With this, the courts ensure two main things. That for each case, the right procedure got followed and that it was a substantive due process. This implies that if a person got incriminated, their trial got fairly listened to by the relevant parties. Furthermore, they got a chance to prove their innocence. It also ensures people exercise their fundamental rights, such as the right to religion without prosecution from the government.

Besides, it protects the citizens of a country from being punished twice for the same crime. This protects the defendant from being tried again or prosecuted again for the same crime. It also gives a chance to the defendant to be granted a mistrial and appeal their conviction (Greenawalt 2015). This gives the defendant time to make their case and be listened to somewhat. With any chance that they may be an angle that would keep them imprisonment, these opportunities give them a fighting chance.

Finally, it grants the defendant right to a jury in case of a felony case. The jury gives an extra set of pairs of eyes in determining if there is enough evidence to charge the defendant of the crime. This gives the defendant a fair fighting chance. The jury consists typically of mere citizens selected randomly; hence their ruling is not biased. If a group of people not interconnected deliberately and think there is a need for the defendant to get charged, then it is only fair to charge them.

In conclusion, the fifth amendment is crucial in the criminal justice system for various reasons. It protects the rights of the defendant on many occasions. It ensures the defendant gets a free trial at all times. This gets achieved since they do not incriminate themselves, and they are offered a jury for a felony case. It also ensures that the right process gets followed before coming to a ruling. This amendment gives the court rules that they should follow to ensure fair rule to the people.

Works Cited

Vile, John R. A Companion to the United States Constitution and its amendments. ABC-CLIO, 2015.

Greenawalt, Kent. Interpreting the Constitution. Oxford University Press, 2015.