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Our Right to Legal Counsel
The cornerstones of our right to effective legal counsel:
The Declaration of Independence:
Where it all began...
The
Constitution: The foundation created to rebuild
from scratch the British governing structures eliminated by the
Declaration of Independence...
The Bill of Rights:
The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution and the fountainhead
of individual rights. The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth
Amendments deal directly with our rights in dealing with law
enforcement agencies. Note that the "Articles" of the
original document and the "Amendments" (into which
Articles were transformed only after ratification by the states)
are not the same; the first two "Articles" were: (a)
ratified much later (Article
2) or (b) not at all (Article
1). Therefore, for example, the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth
Amendments translate to the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth original
Articles, respectively.
Some milestones along the road to individual rights as currently
recognized in the U.S.:
Gideon v. Wainwright
(U.S. Supreme Court Decision): Gideon
held that that anyone facing the potential for significant incarceration
if convicted of a criminal charge has the right to a free lawyer
should they not be able to hire one themselves.
Miranda
v. Arizona (U.S. Supreme Court Decision): Miranda
held that arresting officers had a duty to advise people who
are suspected and involuntarily detained that they need not respond
to questions designed to incriminate them.
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