The Rights Of The Accused And Their History Essay

The Rights Of The Accused And Their History - Essay Example According to the 6th Amendment to the Constitution, everyone is entitled to a speedy trial and they have a right to counsel. However, there are circumstances that would seem that the person is not entitled to a trial because the crime they committed was so heinous that they do not deserve one. In these cases, the public has a tendency to want to fall back on the older laws where the individual should receive a judgment right away because they are guilty of the crime. In America, the individual is not guilty until they have been proven guilty by the jury. When thinking about the issues that were presented in this assignment, it would seem that the law of the land (that which most people would think was right) and the official law of the Constitution are in conflict. Some people would expect that in order to have justice, the individual who was found guilty by the public, would not stand trial, and would be taken quickly to a conviction. The challenge with this way of thinking is that just because a person was found to be guilty by the public, does not mean that they are the guilty party. If we were to adhere to this type of law, we would find that we were convicting some innocent people. This is the reason why a trial is important to anyone's life. If they are given a trial and there is enough evidence to convict the individual, it can then be said that the law withheld the judgment. When thinking about whether these laws can stand the test of time, we have to say that they can. They are there to protect not only the person accused, but also to protect the public. Although the crimes today seem to be larger and more outrageous than those in the 18th Century by our standards, they are still in need of an impartial jury. The problem is, that many people who sit on a jury are already biased by the crime that was committed.