1. The U.S. Supreme Court has, through the due process clause of the 14th Amendment, incorporated many of the protections and prohibitions contained in the Bill of Rights. By doing so, the Supreme Court has required that state and local governments obey those portions of the Bill of Rights that have been incorporated. Consider the following:
- Which of the protections available to criminal offenders through the Bill of Rights do not currently apply to the states?
- What is the difference between procedural and substantive protections for criminal offenders in the Bill of Rights?
- Which of the protections available to criminal offenders in the Bill of Rights are procedural, and which are substantive?
Please provide APA citation and references where applicable.
2. The adversarial system of justice used throughout the United States is designed to pit the accuser against the accused through the experience, training, and talents of the attorneys. Although every criminal defendant who may face a jail sentence is entitled to the effective assistance of counsel and to a trial by jury, there are inherent inequalities in the ability of the poor and the rich to defend against the power and resources of a government prosecutor's office.
Identify advantages and disadvantages inherent within an adversarial system of justice that allow the powerful to be pitted against the weak, the experienced against the inexperienced, and the rich against the poor.