Bill of Rights Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Bill of Rights - Coursework Example There is also the danger that individual rights of speech and assembly and redressal of grievances can be used by canny citizens to trouble others, for example, the encouragement of an intrusive media, and unnecessary litigation in courts of law. While such a clause may have been necessary for the security of the individual in pioneering days (this is also debatable, as these arms were often trained on the original inhabitants-the Red Indians-who have today been unjustly herded into settlements, in their own land) now, it has led to lawlessness: shooting sprees in malls and schools, for instance. Fourth: This amendment was enacted to ensure privacy as well as protection against unlawful or malicious action against citizens by the agents of the state, which may also be seen as the benefit accruing to a citizen from it. There are circumstances when exceptions to the amendment become justified for the sake of the security of the state and citizenry. These exceptions are, for example, detainment and search of a person who behaves in a suspicious manner, or searching of persons in sensitive areas like airports/ border areas. As a matter of fact, the 9/11 incident possibly happened because of adhering strictly to the spirit of this amendment, whereby travellers at airports were not checked thoroughly. The advantage to the citizen was that it was fair to him. ... Fifth: This amendment was enacted to ensure fair treatment of the individual who is charged with a crime. The advantage to the citizen was that it was fair to him. Even a citizen charged for a crime has a right to be fairly treated, especially in the event that he is wrongly charged. The disadvantage is that a canny lawyer could use the amendment to subvert the justice system. Eg, in the OJ Simpson case, the criminal case against Simpson absolved him of the murder of his wife, Nicole, while civil proceedings held him culpable! Sixth: The amendment like the fifth was enacted to prevent arbitrary treatment of an accused, and to ensure justice for all. This is an excellent provision governing the justice system, to safeguard a citizen's rights, and to ensure speedy disposal of cases. Any negative feature of this could come about not because of the amendment per se, but because of the way the system could be perverted by those seeking to take advantage of it. (eg perverting the law by canny lawyers to adhere to the letter of it minus the spirit.) Seventh: England had courts of common law, which gave legal (monetary) relief, and courts for equity which decided non-monetarily (an injunction, for instance) This amendment sought to combine both the jurisdictions. The advantage or disadvantage of the amendment depends totally on the complications involved in a case-especially where both equity and common law elements are involved. Complexity in the actual application of the amendment is inevitable, not because of anything contained within it, but because judicial disaputes are essentially complicated. Eighth: This amendment was enacted to ensure humane treatment of a crimininal, and herein lay its strong point. But a habitual