Rights of the Criminally Accused

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Everyone in the United States have specific rights when they are criminally accused. “I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.” This quote was from Thomas Jefferson. Trial by jury goes along with everyone having rights when they are accused, it is one of the basic things in the bill of rights, that when you are accused, you have the right to a trial by jury. There are many other rights as well. I had already known some things about this topic. Other stuff was new knowledge to me. Something that I already knew was that when you are being arrested, the officer arresting you has to read you your rights as an American. I also knew that you have the right to a speedy and public trial. This was about all that I knew about this topic before I decided to research it. I wanted to know what a lot of the rights of the criminally accused were. I did a lot of research for this paper. I found most of my articles on the Internet. I was able to find some things from my civics notes, which were very helpful in some of these things. I have found five different articles and I have learned certain facts from all of them that I did not know before. The main rights that the criminally accused have is a speedy and public trial by and impartial jury, to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, that if he/she can’t afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you (“Sixth Amendment”, np). Another right that the accused have is self-incrimination, which is testifying against oneself, and double jeopardy, which is being tried twice for the same crime if you are found not guilty. The Fifth Amendment secures both of these rights.... ... middle of paper ... ... of Rights." Fundamental Constitutional Rights as a Criminally Accused Person. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. . Hornberger, Jacob G.. "The Bill of Rights: The Rights of the Accused." The Future of Freedom Foundation. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. . Mott, Jonathan . "ThisNation.com--Rights of the Accused." ThisNation.com--Rights of the Accused. N.p., 1 Dec. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. . "Rights of the Accused." : Supreme Court Cases. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. . "Sixth Amendment." TheFreeDictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. .

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