Should criminals get due process rights?

[Cinamiss]

Do you support due process rights for defendants in criminal cases, even if this means that some potentially guilty people go free? If so, why?

Here is my take on it. Although the specifics are often unclear, a basic minimum level of justice and fairness should be considered when it comes to due process rights. I agree with the principle that the government must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person. Defendant s in a criminal case should be treated as if they were innocent until proven guilty especially when facing capital punishment. If not, this would mean that both the guilty and innocent would be vulnerable to the same deprivations by the government. Think about it, if someone was wrongfully accused of rape and then it is found to be untrue, the condemning mental damage that he suffered cannot be reversed. It is unfair and unjust. So for the sake of the innocent, I support due process rights for defendant in criminal cases, even if it means guilty people go free. I would rather let a guilty person go free than let an innocent person suffer.

 

[QueEx]

Your point is already one of the cornerstones of American Jurisprudence. Ordinarily, I would find some fine point upon which to rest a counter argument for the sake of stimulating debate, but for some reason with your posts I'm less able to do that.

I think I might be suffering from Leg-N-Ass-Distraction.

Ya think?


QueEx