Due process limits how government may act against people. It requires respect for individual rights and fair procedures before the government deprives someone of life, liberty, or property.
Due process is the legal requirement that government respect the rights of the accused and follow fair procedures when taking action against them. The idea has a long history: the Magna Carta limited the ability to deprive a person of liberty or property without a hearing before peers. Modern human-rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, also recognize protections connected to due process and fair hearings.
All flashcards
What is due process?
A legal requirement that government respect individual rights and use fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property.
What is procedural due process?
The fair steps government must take before depriving someone of a protected interest, including notice, an opportunity to be heard, and an impartial tribunal.
What is substantive due process?
A way of evaluating whether government action itself treats people fairly and respects constitutional protections for individual rights.
Which governments are covered by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment due process clauses?
The Fifth Amendment clause applies to the federal government; the Fourteenth Amendment clause applies to state governments.
What is judicial independence?
The ability of courts to decide cases without improper control or pressure from institutions or powerful individuals.
Quiz questions
What authority does original jurisdiction give a trial court?Answer: Authority to hear a case first and determine its facts and applicable law.
What is the role of attorneys' opening statements in a U.S. trial?Answer: They outline what the attorneys expect the evidence to show.
After a criminal acquittal, what does double jeopardy generally prevent within the same jurisdiction?Answer: A second prosecution for the same offense.
What does it mean when an appellate court remands a case?Answer: It sends the case back to a lower court, often with instructions.
How does the U.S. Supreme Court generally choose which cases to review?Answer: It selects cases at its discretion through a process associated with a writ of certiorari.
Based on Introduction to Political Science by Mark Carl Rom, Masaki Hidaka, Rachel Bzostek Walker (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.