This paper will focus on studying the first ten amendments to the American Constitution commonly referred to as the Bill of Rights. It will pay specific attention to the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments that apply to criminal defendants. The paper will center on the influence the Fourth Amendment has on procedures implemented in correctional facilities, law enforcement system, and the courts. The emphasis will be made on the reasons for such embodiment and the outcomes. Finally, the paper will provide the examples that support the author’s standpoint on the Bill of Right and its indoctrination in the law enforcement system.
Being an investigator in the U.S. Defenders Office is a great honor. However, it can be a stress for a newly hired person, especially when the United States Attorney asks to complete a theoretical task. This time, it was required to reflect on the Bills of Rights and its influence on the law enforcement system.
The initial version of the United States Constitution included the provisions that granted authority to the three independent branches of government: the legislative, the judicial, and the executive. However, there were no dispositions that would limit the federal government in its actions. It is what motivated the need for introducing the ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution that are usually referred to as the Bill of Rights. They are called so because they define certain restriction for the activities of the branches of government granting rights to the citizen (Fagin, 2007). The Bill of Right manages all three branches of government. For example, the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments are applicable to the law enforcement system. That said, the Fourth Amendment guarantees the right of people to security “in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” (McElreath et al., 2013, p. 372). The Fifth Amendment implies the guarantee of the due judiciary process. The Sixth Amendment centers on the requirements for criminal trials. Finally, the Eighth Amendment is the prohibition of the “excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments” (Hess & Orthmann, 2012, p. 70).
The Fourth Amendment guaranteeing the right against groundless searches and seizures has greatly affected the law enforcement system. Their primary area of operation is restricting the action of the police officer with the aim of guaranteeing the citizen’s right to security and being free from intrusion into their property, businesses, homes, and persons. This right extends to being stopped by the police officer in the street or safe against arrest in their homes and business or searching them unreasonably (“Search and seizure” and the Fourth Amendment, n.d.). In addition to it, the Fourth Amendment guarantees the right to safety of any personal belongings and, again, protects them against groundless search. The effect it had on the system is imposing barriers on officers but granting more rights to the citizens.
I do not absolutely agree with the way this provision was implemented into the functioning of the law enforcement system. The motivation for my standpoint is simple – in the cases if a citizen was not provided a warrant while conducting an arrest or a search, then it means that it was illegal and can be terminated (What does the Fourth Amendment mean? n.d.). It has a significant limitation – all warrants should be issued by a neutral judge or magistrate (Neubauer & Fradell, 2016). This provision may make it inefficient in the case if there are suspicions of the criminal activities of a citizen, but there was no time for getting a warrant. Moreover, one cannot ignore the fact of possible corruption in the judicial branch of authority, so that there is no opportunity to receive the warrant. In such cases, there is a risk of missing a criminal. These imperfections of the system might entail a significant reduction in the effectiveness of the law enforcement system and the decrease in the rate of solved crimes.
References
Fagin, J. A. (2007). Criminal justice. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Hess, K. M., & Orthmann, C. H. (2012). Introduction to law enforcement and criminal justice. (10th ed.). Clifton Park, NY: Delmar.
McElreath, D. H., Doss, D. A., Jensen, C. J., Wigginton, W., Kennedy, R., Winter, K. R., … L. Michelle Estis-Sumerel. (2013). Introduction to law enforcement. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Neubauer, D. W., & Fradell, H. W. (2016). America’s courts and the criminal justice system. (12th ed.). Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
“Search and seizure” and the Fourth Amendment. (n.d.). Web.
What does the Fourth Amendment mean? (n.d.). Web.