This Essay should be written using APA Style (but no cover page, no Abstract and single-spaced please). The word limit for the Final Essay is not less than 1600 but not more than 1900 words. Up to 30 points are available for this essay. The limit on the number of words for this essay requires that it be written succinctly essay on the subject of “Due Process” generally and as it and in a clearly organized manner. The essay must have a “References” page listing the sources used in the essay; the material in the References is not counted toward the Word Limit
Specific Final Essay Question:
Discuss the meaning, history and importance of the constitutional concept of “Due Process” as contained in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Include in this essay a brief discussion analyzing the conflicting positions of Justice Hugo Black and Justice Felix Frankfurter with respect to the incorporation of American citizens’ rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and how these Justices’ positions helped develop the concept of Due Process.
Your essay should demonstrate your understanding of the idea of Due Process and how it has influenced the development of American law and specifically the influence it has on criminal law and procedure. You are welcome to ask questions about it on the Discussion Board. You must use U.S. Supreme Court cases to support your positions and the points you make about Due Process in the essay – DO NOT WRITE ABOUT decisions made by any Court other than the U.S. Supreme Court.
While the roots of the idea of Due Process are found in British history, the uniquely American concept of Due Process was developed by specific members of the U.S. Supreme Court. You will find that the meaning of Due Process is entwined with the history of Due Process and that the history of Due Process is best understood by reference to a line of Supreme Court cases. Due Process is a complex topic so it is important that you organize your essay in a way that demonstrates your understanding of Due Process rather than generalities and platitudes. Also Note: this essay should NOT discuss or even mention the “Due Process Model or the “Crime Control Model” developed by Hubert Packer. Those models are different topics from the concept and development of Due Process in America.
There is no provision in the U.S. Constitution that is more powerful or more “revolutionary” than Due Process in the 5th and 14th Amendments. In essence, Due Process is based on the idea that the CITIZENS of a country have inalienable rights; in criminal l law and procedure, these rights are generally opposed to the power of Kings or Governments. This constitutional ideal has been used in many ways by the U.S. Supreme Court. Some authors and some of the Justices on the Supreme Court have suggested that when the Court wants something (for example, “the right to privacy”) to be in the Constitution, but it is not actually there, the Court uses Due Process to manufacture it. The development of Due Process in criminal law and procedure is a part of the Supreme Court’s overall development of the concept but should be the focus of your Final Essay for “Current Trends in Criminal Law.” The Supreme Court develops Due Process, like every other constitutional provision, by the decisions it issues. “Case law” should be basis for your Essay but the Essay should be more than a series of case descriptions. As indicated previously, the Essay should demonstrate an understanding of how the Court’s application of Due Process has developed criminal law and procedure; this topic cannot be separated from the general development of Due Process but criminal law and procedure should be the focus of the Essay.
Using Supreme Court cases, the Final Essay should specifically touch on at least the following topics: the Meaning of Due Process, the History of Due Process, Due Process in the 5th Amendment, Due Process in the 14th Amendment, the Incorporation of Due Process and the “Warren Court’s Due Process Revolution.”, The Importance of Due Process involves the “criminal rights” that the Supreme Court has created and developed in specific cases.
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