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Lesson 32: How Do the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments Protect Rights within the Judicial System?

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Lesson Purpose

Four of the first eight amendments in the Bill of Rights address the rights of criminal defendants. The previous lesson examined how the Fourth and Fifth Amendments protect accused persons from unreasonable law enforcement practices. This lesson explores how the Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments protect the rights of accused criminals before and during trial and the rights of those who have been convicted of crimes.

When you have finished this lesson, you should be able to explain the Fifth and Sixth Amendment guarantees regarding indictments, double jeopardy, and due process of law. You should be able to identify the rights protected by the Sixth Amendment, particularly the right to counsel. You should be able to describe the Eighth Amendment provisions about bail and punishment. Finally, you should be able to evaluate, take, and defend positions on the death penalty.

Lesson Objectives

When you have finished this lesson, you should  be able to
  • explain the Fifth and Sixth Amendment guarantees regarding indictments, double jeopardy, and due process of law,
  • identify the rights protected by the Sixth Amendment, particularly the right to counsel, 
  • describe the Eighth Amendment provisions about bail and punishment, and
  • evaluate, take, and defend positions on the death penalty.

Lesson Terms

bail
Money or other security given to obtain an arrested person's release from legal custody, which is forfeited if the individual subsequently fails to appear before the court for trial.
capital punishment
cruel and unusual punishment
double jeopardy
grand jury
indictment
plea agreement
right to counsel

Lesson Biographies

Montesquieu (1689-1755 CE)

Lesson Court Cases

Strauder v. West Virginia (1880)
Hurtado v. California (1884)
Powell v. Alabama (1932)
Hernandez v. Texas (1954)
Trop v. Dulles (1958)
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)
In re Gault (1967)
United States v. Wade (1967)
Duncan v. Louisiana (1968)
Williams v. Florida (1970)
McKeiver v. Pennsylvania (1971)
Apodaca v. Oregon (1972)
Furman v. Georgia (1972)
Argersinger v. Hamlin (1972)
Goss v. Lopez (1975)
Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
Coker v. Georgia (1977)
Burch v. Louisiana (1979)
Batson v. Kentucky (1986)
J.E.B v. Alabama
United States v. Morrison (2000)
Cooper Industries v. Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. (2001)
Rasul v. Bush (2004)
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004)
Rumsfeld v. Padilla (2004)
Roper v. Simmons (2005)
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006)
Boumediene v. Bush (2008)

Lesson Primary Sources

Bill of Rights, as submitted for ratification

The Bill of Rights as it was submitted to the states for ratification. It included a preamble and ten proposed amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Access the Material

Jefferson to Edmund Pendleton 1776
Montesquieu--The Spirit of Laws, 1748
Habeas Corpus Act 1679
English Bill of Rights 1689
Magna Carta
Massachusetts Body of Liberties, 1641
Petition of Right
United States Bill of Rights
United States Constitution
Federalist No. 80
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