Protecting Liberty
Individual rights
Bill of Rights defines the protections afforded individual citizens under the Constitution against excessive government intrusions into private lives and arbitrary prosecutions. These rights are contained in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Since these Amendments were first adopted by the ratifying states the courts have interpreted the intent of each and created rules that attempt to keep the government from running roughshod over these rights. In 1944, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures were generated by the Supreme Court and Congress turned them into law (LII, 2010).
One of the most important rights is to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment (LII, 2010). A warrant issued by a magistrate or judge is typically required before a police officer can enter a private citizen's residence or other property and conduct a search. In addition, the focus of the search has to be limited to specific items and the search must be based on probable cause. To establish probable cause the police officer must present the reasoning behind the request under oath. To enforce the Fourth Amendment privacy protections, the court can prevent evidence obtained without a warrant from being presented during trial. This practice is called the "Fruit of the Poisonous Tree" Doctrine or the Exclusionary Rule (Bilz, 2012).
The Fifth Amendment requires law enforcement officers to inform anyone arrested for a criminal offense of their right to remain silent and that any statements can and will be used to prosecute them for the alleged crime (LII, 2010)....
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