Amendment XIV: Due Process (Constitutional Amendments)

166 Pages·2009·3.47 MB·English

by  Carrie Fredericks

Amendment XIV
Due Process
Other Books of Related Interest
Opposing Viewpoints Series
Civil Liberties
Feminism
Race Relations
Work
Working Women
Current Controversies Series
Civil Liberties
Extremist Groups
Feminism
Human Rights
Amendment XIV
Due Process
Carrie Fredericks, Book Editor
ChristineNasso,Publisher
ElizabethDesChenes,ManagingEditor
©2009GreenhavenPress,apartofGale,CengageLearning.
GaleandGreenhavenPressareregisteredtrademarksusedhereinunderlicense.
Formoreinformation,contact:
GreenhavenPress
27500DrakeRd.
FarmingtonHills,MI48331-3535
OryoucanvisitourInternetsiteatgale.cengage.com
ALLRIGHTSRESERVED.
Nopartofthisworkcoveredbythecopyrighthereinmaybereproduced,transmitted,
stored,orusedinanyformorbyanymeansgraphic,electronic,ormechanical,including
butnotlimitedtophotocopying,recording,scanning,digitizing,taping,Webdistribution,
informationnetworks,orinformationstorageandretrievalsystems,exceptaspermitted
underSection107or108ofthe1976UnitedStatesCopyrightAct,withoutthepriorwritten
permissionofthepublisher.
Forproductinformationandtechnologyassistance,contactusat
GaleCustomerSupport,1-800-877-4253
Forpermissiontousematerialfromthistextorproduct,submitallrequestsonlineat
www.cengage.com/permissions
[e-mail]
ArticlesinGreenhavenPressanthologiesareofteneditedforlengthtomeetpagerequire-
ments.Inaddition,originaltitlesoftheseworksarechangedtoclearlypresentthemain
thesisandtoexplicitlyindicatetheauthor’sopinion.Everyeffortismadetoensurethat
GreenhavenPressaccuratelyreflectstheoriginalintentoftheauthors.Everyefforthas
beenmadetotracetheownersofcopyrightedmaterial.
Coverphotograph©TomGrill/Corbis.
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
AmendmentXIV:dueprocess/CarrieFredericks,bookeditor.
p.cm.--(Constitutionalamendments:beyondtheBillofRights)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-0-7377-4125-4(hardcover)
1. Due process of law--United States--History. 2. United States. Constitution.
14thAmendment--History.3.UnitedStates.Constitution.12thAmendment--
History--Juvenileliterature.4.Dueprocessoflaw--UnitedStates.I.I.Fredericks,
Carrie. II. II. Title: Amendment 14. III. III. Title: Amendment fourteen. IV. IV.
Title:Dueprocess.
KF4765.A9542009
347.73’5--dc22
2008045077
Printed in the United States ofAmerica
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 13 12 11 10 09
Contents
Foreword 9
Amendment Text and Explanation 12
Introduction 16
Chronology 22
Chapter 1: Historical Background on
the Fourteenth Amendment
A History of Due Process 28
Morris D. Forkosch
Throughout the world, early records of due process re-
veal the beginnings of the concept, dating to ancient
times. In the United States due process was first dis-
cussed at the Constitutional Convention in 1787.
A Presidential Message 40
Andrew Johnson
President Andrew Johnson sent this message to the Sen-
ate and the House of Representatives to propose an addi-
tional amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Passage of the Fourteenth Amendment 47
Eric Foner
The Fourteenth Amendment was part of a three-
amendment Reconstruction package that occurred after
the Civil War. This amendment allows citizens to defend
themselves against governmental wrongdoing at national,
state, and local levels.
The “Second Constitution” 52
Garrett Epps
The Fourteenth Amendment has been called the “second
Constitution” because of the dramatic changes that were
effected with its passage. The Constitution continues to
be a fluid document, depending on how the Supreme
Court chooses to interpret it.
Chapter 2: Testing the Due Process Clause
of the Fourteenth Amendment
The Due Process Clause Guarantees the Fourth 58
Amendment Right to Privacy
Tom C. Clark
In Mapp v. Ohio, the Supreme Court declares that the
right to privacy in the Fourth Amendment is guaranteed
by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
This case covered the use of illegally obtained evidence
against an individual.
The Due Process Clause Guarantees the Right 72
to a Fair Trial
Colin Evans
The Supreme Court rules that even though an individual
may not be able to pay for legal services, the poor have a
right to a lawyer,a right guaranteed by the Sixth Amend-
ment. The due process clause extends this right to any
person charged with a felony in any state.
Truancy Leads to Due Process for Students 77
Abe Fortas
In this landmark 1966 case, the Supreme Court extends
Fourteenth Amendment due process rights to youths as
well as adults.
Double Jeopardy and the Due Process Clause 89
Elder Witt
In 1969 the double jeopardy clause for prosecuting indi-
viduals was extended to the states as well as to federal
courts. The Supreme Court established the double jeop-
ardy rules in the 1922 case United States v. Lanza.
Due Process Protects a Woman’s Right to 95
Choose Abortion
Harry Blackmun
The Supreme Court rules that the right to abortion is a
matter of personal privacy and as such is protected by
the due process clause.
Due Process Should Not Protect a Woman’s 112
Right to Choose Abortion
William H. Rehnquist
This dissenting opinion states that the Fourteenth
Amendment’s due process clause should not apply in the
case of Roe v. Wade.
Student Suspension 117
Byron White
In 1975 the Supreme Court ruled that, based on the
Fourteenth Amendment’s due process clause, students
suspended for disciplinary reasons had the right to a
hearing regarding their punishment.
Chapter 3: Current Due Process Issues
Due Process and Detainees of the War 128
on Terrorism
Barbara Olshansky
With the war on terrorism passing the five-year mark,
the question is asked about due process: Who is entitled
to this protection? A human rights professor contends
that, even in light of the government’s efforts to combat
terrorism,all persons are entitled to the right to due pro-
cess, regardless of their citizenship status.
Music Piracy and the Right to Due Process 134
Anita Ramasastry
A federal district court rules that anyone who is subpoe-
naed through an Internet service provider for pirating
music from the Internet must be informed of what is
happening and how to contest any charges that are filed.
Due Process May Be Threatened by DNA Databases 139
Marcelo Ballvé
With the advent of DNA databases and DNA sampling of
individuals accused of crimes, due process rights are
called into question.
Immigration Reform Could Threaten Due 144
Process Rights
American Civil Liberties Union
Proposed reforms to immigration laws would require all
workers to obtain federal permission to work regardless
of citizenship status, would compromise individual pri-
vacy, and would threaten the right to due process.
Appendices
A. The Amendments to the U.S. Constitution 150
B. Court Cases Relevant to the 152
Fourteenth Amendment
For Further Research 157
Index 160
Due Process
“Today’s Constitution is a realistic docu-
ment of freedom only because of several
corrective amendments. Those amend-
ments speak to a sense of decency and
fairness.”
Thurgood Marshall
While the U.S. Constitution forms the backbone of
American democracy, the amendments make the Con-
stitution a living, ever-evolving document. Interpretation and
analysis of the Constitution inform lively debate in every
branch of government, as well as among students, scholars,
and all other citizens, and views on various articles of the
Constitution have changed over the generations. Formally al-
tering the Constitution, however, can happen only through
the amendment process. The Greenhaven Press series The Bill
of Rights examines the first ten amendments to the Constitu-
tion. Constitutional Amendments: Beyond the Bill of Rights
continues the exploration, addressing key amendments ratified
since 1791.
The process of amending the Constitution is painstaking.
While other options are available, the method used for nearly
every amendment begins with a congressional bill that must
pass both the Senate and the House of Representatives by a
two-thirds majority. Then the amendment must be ratified by
three-quarters of the states. Many amendments have been
proposed since the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791, but
only seventeen have been ratified.
It may be difficult to imagine a United States where women
and African Americans are prohibited from voting, where the
federal government allows one human being to enslave an-
9