A person can write quite a lengthy critically thought-out paper on this topic. How are "Due Process", "Rule of Law", and "Presumption of Innocence" related? Why should we as citizens of the United States be so Concerned with these concepts and ideals?

TheRule of Law, The Right of Due Process,andPresumption of Innocenceseem to be straight forward concepts,but are they?

These ideals can be traced back to the Magna Carta (Great Charter), England 1215 AD. The Magna Carta recognized that a person's fate should not be in the hands of a single individual, in this case, the king. It demanded that a judgment against a person be made in accordance with the law. The Magna Carta planted the seeds for the concept of due process.

So, what is Due Process?

"If men were angels, no government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." James Madison, Federalist Paper No. 51 (1788). A government of law is ultimately "administered by men over men."

So, What is The Rule of Law?

Is there a distinction between law and justice? If a law is uniformly applied doesn't that guarantee that a just result will occur, or does it?

Martin Luther King was a man who understood this: "I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust,and whowillinglyaccepts the penaltyof imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law." Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail" (1963).

So, how doesPresumption of Innocence play into all of this? Read the text on Presumptions and my short lecture on Presumption of Innocence (found in the Week 1 Module).

Thoroughly discuss these 3 important moral and legal concepts of our Criminal Justice System. How are they related to one another and what purpose(s) do they accomplish in our society and our Criminal Justice System? Are they what justice and fairness are built on? If any of them are missing, would true justice, fairness, mercy, and impartiality be possible?