Due Process Violation
Name
Institutional Affiliation
Due Process Violation
Court systems within the United States of America (USA) have been overburdened with criminal cases over recent years. Whether innocent or guilty, certain individual rights are universal, and thus, governments must respect by treating such rights with utmost priority. Due process refers to any type of legal action and procedures that ensure an individual’s trial within a court of law is without bias. This aspect helps to grant a defendant the right to a fair hearing before they can are imprisoned or have their property seized. However, there are occasions in which prosecutors and criminal defense lawyers deny the accused of their due process. A violation of due process occurs when a court system ignores any procedure that allows a defendant to exercise due process rights before conviction. The paper aims to analyze the validity of the right to due process by analyzing the court proceedings.
Due process provides defendants with the right to a notice of the charges issued against them before they are summoned to a courtroom. It provides them with enough time to take the necessary steps to prepare to defend themselves by providing a different side to the story. The state provides most defendants facing criminal charges with state law, especially if they cannot pay for the services of an attorney. Defense attorneys get cases dismissed in a law court by demonstrating to the prosecutor that they are not going to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. On some occasions, depending on the complexities of the case, a lawyer may manipulate their client to opt for pleading guilty to receive a good plea bargain. Plea bargaining involves negotiations to receive a sentence dismissal or a specific sentence. The defendant should waive their rights to remain silent, witness interrogation, and right to a jury trial to force the prosecutor to believe that the accused is guilty.
Usually, lawyers may use the close friends and family of the accused to sway the accused not to insist on their innocence as they may face overwhelming evidence. Many individuals serving sentences in correctional facilities are innocent and may have lacked enough knowledge of the court system. Therefore, they had to rely on their lawyers who are majorly interested in profiting from the payments issued to them in installments. The attorney becomes a double agent as he betrays his client by stirring unnecessary information and litigation procedures. This also violates the duty of being confidential, as attorneys should not use client information for their benefit unless the law required them to do so. Lawyers may use time served as a bargaining chip for a lesser sentence. Time served refers to the sentence where an accused is granted credit by a court for the period they spend in jail due to a pending trial or bond. The accused may choose to accept pleading guilty to avoid a higher cost in attorney expenses as plea cases average $500 to $1500 (Cole & Gertz, 1998). Numerous disadvantages come with taking a plea deal. The defendant always loses their right to appeal anything regarding the case except matters arising before the hearing and ruling of the case once they accept a plea deal.
Prosecutors are highly overworked within the justice system in the USA. There are over 2,300 prosecution offices in America, yet only a small number of district attorneys handle criminal cases. Prosecutors in larger nations oversee hundreds an even thousands of cases involving felonies annually. Surveys conducted by the department of justice in 1968 showed that prosecutors should handle 150 felonies annually (Cole & Gertz, 1998). Some prosecutors have specialized in cases where most of them oversee little to almost no cases. Managerial prosecutors like the elected district attorney only handle office day-to-day affairs. The inexperienced prosecutors are left with a bulk of criminal cases that they cannot prove. Prosecutors file charges on individuals believing they will prove the authenticity and factualness of the cases.
Prosecutorial misconduct is another way in which courts ignore due process. Some prosecutors may use their position to retaliate against whistleblowers and political rivals by bringing criminal charges in bad faith without realistic hope of winning a conviction. Any actions that violate professional ethics or law is misconduct. Actions such as discriminatory jury selection by gender, race, or religion, legitimately asking a defense witness suggestive or damaging questions and, using improper arguments towards the jury violate due process are tactics prosecutors use to sway the case to their favor. There are numerous negative effects associated with such misconduct. The defendant may end up incarcerated, paying a fine, submit to random inspections, working community service hours, and some even take special classes for education that may add on court and lawyer fees.
In conclusion, ignorance of the due process is a violation of America’s Bill of Rights. When transparency, fairness, and justice is violated, people tend to lose their perception of justice and trust the judicial system less. When a case is heard in a court of law, the jury and citizens need to know the truth. Poor and innocent individuals should not waive their rights or await trial in jail as punishment for crimes they did not commit. America should present the accused citizens with more experienced lawyers that may help provide legal aid to them. This aspect will enable them to have a fair chance to prove themselves within society.
References
Cole, G. F., & Gertz, M. G. (1998). The criminal justice system: Politics and policies. West/Wadsworth Publishing Company.