Procedural Rights In The Criminal Justice System

The criminal justice system has a set of rules it follows when arresting, interrogating, and placing the accused on trial. These rules are known as procedural rights. Procedural rights are the rights of the accused/defendant, when going through the criminal justice system. They are the first ten amendments of the United States Constitution (Bohm, 2018). Also, known as the Bill of Rights. Four of the ten amendments are found in criminal justice proceedings. These are the fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth amendments (Bohm, 2018). The fourth amendment protects the accused from unlawful search and seizure (Bohm, 2018). This amendment requires probable cause for a person to be arrested, searched, or their home to be searched (Bohm, 2018).

It gives the accused the right to have an attorney present while being questioned. This amendment also allows for an attorney to be appointed for those who cannot afford one. Under this amendment, the accused must know the charges against them and the exact place the trial will be held. In my opinion, the right to counsel is the most important part of this amendment. Miranda’s rights is an example of how the fifth and sixth amendments changed criminal law. These rights, read at every arrest, were developed due to a case known as Miranda vs. Arizona (Taylor, 2015). This case was heard by the Supreme Court in 1966 (Taylor, 2015). The Supreme Court proposed prior to anyone being questioned, he/she had the right to remain silent, anything said will be used against them in the court of law, and they have the right to an attorney, if an individual cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed. There were other cases heard by the Supreme Court leading up to this

Arizona are Brown vs. Mississippi—1936, Ashcraft vs. Tennessee—1944, and Escobedo vs. Illinois—1964 (Taylor, 2015). The case of Brown and Ashcraft were heard due to cruel interrogation tactics. The case of Escobedo was heard due to the denial of his request for the presence of his attorney (Taylor, 2015). Ed Brown was a black farm tenant accused of murdering the white owner of the farm where he resided. A white sheriff’s deputy and others tied Brown to a tree and beat him to get a confession (Taylor, 2015). E. E. Ashcraft was accused of murdering his wife and was interrogated for thirty-six hours straight (Taylor, 2015). Today, the denial of an attorney and cruel interrogation tactics are prohibited by