Rewrite final 2009
- 1. Running head: The United States Constitution<br />The United States Constitution influence on the Criminal Justice System<br />Patricia Pryor<br />Kaplan University<br />CJ 105<br />Abstract<br />The Constitution of the United States of America greatly influences our criminal justice system. The structure and procedures in place in this system as it is today, as well as the system's adaptations through history, are based in great part on legal interpretations of the Constitution. There is no doubt that our Constitution will continue to be a major influence on our justice system in the future. In the absence of the freedoms and rights agreed upon in the Constitution, many freedoms and right that are currently in place in our Criminal Justice system might never have been signed into law. This essay is written to note three particular influences on the system that the Constitution has directly guided the creation of. <br />The United States Constitution influence on the Criminal Justice System<br />Criminal justice system was not designed at one time; it was built layer by layer. The entire purpose of the criminal justice system is based on the ideas that a person may be punished but only if they have been proven to be guilty by an entire process. The entire criminal justice process is based on ideas created by the beliefs in the middle ages. Through those ideas our founding fathers created the United States Constitution, which further developed the rights and belief of every American. These rights, freedom, and liberties are not the same guarantees in other parts of the world. The United States Constitution helped simplify and influence the way criminal justice is done in the United States. The principals created went above and beyond in the developed of the document that is still used today. Those ideas and thoughts are what influence and define our American criminal justice system even today. Even the basic ideas and foundations are used every day in every part of the system in every state and city throughout this massive country. Three great examples that will show the influences on the criminal justice system will be describe in this rewritten final essay once again. <br />No one is above the law this is the first a major influence that will be noted in this thousand word essay or close to it, or if I am lucky maybe a little bit over. The greatest example of this would be to mention President Bill Clinton who back when he was president was found to have committed perjury in the infamous Monica Lewinsky case, he was tried but acquitted at a Senate trial. What does this show? It proves that regardless of who you are President of the United States or President of one the bank that used to collect great bonus checks; you may still be charged and tried just like the rest of the United States Citizens. America was developed to be free from corruption that would hold anyone above the law regardless of how much power and wealth someone might have. Although many would say the O.J. Simpson case was a great example of someone being held above the law because he was well known. No one can ever really be sure and he was found not guilty through a fair and lengthy trial.<br />Moving on the second influence that the United States Constitution had was best stated through a statement given by President Woodrow Wilson ¡°The Constitution is not a mere lawyer¡¯s document: it is, as I have more than once said, the vehicle of a nation¡¯s life.¡± (Wilson, 1907). This statement explains, that as American grows and changes the Constitution will be able to follow and change flex and adapt to help incorporate new ideas and beliefs. Basically the Constitution is the backbone and as times change and people change and society change so of the beliefs and ideas may be modified but they will always someone be tied to the original document created years and years ago. An example of this would be a momentous case involving the civil rights of black Americans at two separate times in history. In the case of Plessy v. Ferguson (163 US 537, 1896), the established legislated laws in the state of Louisiana allowed for the segregation of black Americans from white Americans on the basis of the accommodations being separate, but equal. The Supreme Court of the time, agreed with this interpretation as acceptable under the Constitution. This was done because of the belief that overall the United States population was in favor of this and that led legislation to be unequipped and powerless to change the situation and to do so would result in unfavorable response from the public. Less than hundred years later, the case of Brown v. Board of Education (347 U.S. 483, 1954) the standing interpretation was reviewed by the Supreme Court, and it was found to be no longer valid, particularly stating that separate but equal accommodations are inherently unconstitutional by reason of violation of equal protection under the law, as defined in the Fourteenth Amendment and that, ¡°¡the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group.¡± (US Supreme Court, 1954). <br />The final part of this essay will be to describe the rights of the people. Innocent until proven guilty commonly heard throughout the United States while many take this right for granted since other countries do not have this belief it is still a legal right that an accused must be proven to be guilty by burden of proof which lies on the prosecution. The prosecution must prove with actual evidence and testimony to prove someone guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Many countries have some sort of Bill of rights as does the United States since the United States was founded by England many of the rights stated in the United States Constitution and the Bill of rights come from the famous Magna Carta document created in 1215 in England. Many ideas were used from England and they were transforms and molded into what is known today as the United States Constitution. Without the founding fathers and the brave men and women would stand strong in the fight for freedom every United States Citizen has these rights and freedoms granted to them today. <br />These facts will continue to guide our criminal justice system throughout the future. Today, the laws that govern issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage may very well change with new and different interpretations of the United States Constitution. This cycle will continue for as long as our system remains based on the 1787 document, emphasizing the great importance that the Constitution of the United States has on the criminal justice system.<br />References<br />Constitutional Convention (1787) United States Constitution, Preamble, text acquired from the United States National Archives & Records Administration website, http://www.archives.gov/nationalarchives¡Wilson, Woodrow (1907). Constitutional Government in the United States, p 157. Columbia University Press, New YorkUnited States Supreme Court (1896) Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 137, p 151, text acquired from the Cornell University Law School electronic database website, http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/hi¡<br />