rumitoid wrote:
I thought it was obvious. Patriotic Americans support, not bemoan, Constitutional law "technicalities." GOP gerrymandering violates civil liberties guaranteed by the Constitution; not the act of a patriot.
Gerrymandering is not in the Constitution. Nor is most of the soft on crime laws. The Miranda rights were BASED on the V Amendment, but are not part of our constitution. Nor are rehabilitation priorities over safely keeping a dangerous predator away from society, part of our constitution.
But as to what protections a criminal has in the U S Constitution, they are:
*Constitutional Amendment IV β The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
*Constitutional Amendment VI β In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. The prosecutor who brings a case against a criminal cannot file extension requests to just keep the criminal in prison for an extended time.
*Constitutional Amendment VII β In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
*Constitutional Amendment VIII β Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
You can be in favor of being tough on crime yet find all of the above reasonable based on our core belief that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. You shouldn't look at these rights as criminal rights but as citizen rights. If someone is falsely charged or there is a mistaken identity, without certain rights you would have no recourse to being automatically guilty.
This does not mean I blindly accept every amendment. The XVIII Amendment (Prohibition) was widely acknowledged to be a bad amendment for instance. But The Articles and Bill of Rights, which were ratified together, should be untouchable in my opinion. All of the amendments I listed are in the Bill of Rights. Our founders didn't want our government to ever be allowed do some of the despicable things to the citizens that England had done to it's colonial citizens. Hence these amendments.