Lesson 32, 4th/5th/6th/8th Amendment rights
- The 4th amendment specified the importance of the protections of unreasonable search and seizure by the federal government to the people. This protection was rooted from the fears of the colonists from the unexpected searches that British officers conducted during colonial times. If the colonists were found to have smuggled goods, they would be confiscated, along with whatever the soldiers deemed worthy of confiscating. The 4th also specifies the use of a warrant in order to obtain legal evidence to be used in court for a hearing. The 4th amendment was incorporated to the states during the legal cases of Wolf v. Colorado, Mapp v. Ohio, and Aguilar v. Texas.
- The 5th amendment of the Constitution was the first to explain the parts of the judiciary system, specifically the due process clause and the right to avoid self-incrimination, the infamous "I plead the 5th". The 5th amendment was not completely applied to the states until selective incorporation began, The cases of Hurtado v. California, Benton v. Maryland, Griffin v. California, Miranda v. Arizona, and Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Co. v. City of Chicago gave people the protections of the 5th amendment from the states, not only the federal government.
- The 6th amendment brought about the right to a speedy trail, along with the right to counsel. the right to an impartial jury, and the right to know those who are accusing you of a crime. The 6th amendment helped expand how federal court hearings will work for federal crimes, and the cases of Klopfler v. North Carolina, In Re Oliver, Duncan v. Louisiana, Parker v. Gladden, Pointer v. Texas, Washington v. Texas, Powell v. Alabama, Williams v. Florida, and finally, McKeiver v. Pennsylvania effectively brought the freedoms of the 6th amendment to the states.
- The 8th Amendment has not been completely incorporated to the states, the right to protection against excessive fines has yet to be incorporated, but the right to protection against excessive bail, in Schilb v. Kuebel and Murphy v. Hunt, and the right to protection against cruel and unusual punishment, in Robinson v. California, have been incorporated to apply to the states.
- It is crucial to know of the primary sources that can help in this lesson, specifically the Bill of Rights, both the one in the Constitution and the English Bill of Rights, along with Federalist No. 80, the Magna Carta, and the Virginia Declaration of Rights. They each play a part in the protections of these amendments, especially the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which was the basis of the Constitution's Bill of Rights.