The U.S. Constitution is strong and the Bill of Rights and other amendments that have been added have given the people of this country feel more comfortable with their rights. Many still complain that we don’t have enough and that the ones we do have are violated often. I believe the exact opposite. I think we have too many and that some rights added as amendments can give undeserving people too much freedom. Although I know our system is set up so everyone is equal and everything is fair, I think that criminals who break laws and take away other peoples’ rights are unworthy of the rights they are given.
The first example comes from the fourth amendment of search and seizure. The case of Mapp vs. Ohio starts with a suspected bombing fugitive being held in Mapp’s home. The police entered illegally without a legitimate warrant and found no signs of the suspect. They did however arrest Mapp for owning porn which is illegal in the state of Ohio. After going through the court system and reaching the U.S. Supreme Court, Mapp was acquitted of the charges. I understand that not only did the police enter the house unlawfully and found evidence that did not relate to what they were looking for but I still feel this is unfair. Mapp wasn’t holding a fugitive but still had illegal material within her home and should be accountable for that. Therefore I disagree with the decision in this case which allowed someone to go free for things that were proven with evidence.
The next case was Miranda vs. Arizona. A very popular case to this day because of the steps put in place to prevent this from happening again. Miranda was arrested for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a woman in his home where the police did not notify him about his 5th and 6th amendment rights. He later confessed to the crime with no knowledge of his right to counsel. When this case went to the Supreme Court they ruled that because he was not read his rights, the confession could not be used and he would be free to go. As citizens of this country I think we all should be held responsible for knowing our rights and we shouldn’t need them to be told to us to make a valid case. He confessed to an awful crime but got away with it because we aren’t expected to know our rights.
The final case to show why there are too many rights in our system is that of Antwan Maxey. Maxey was arrested for a murder eight months after it happened. He asked for a trial as soon as he was arrested but didn’t have one before a 120 day period. According to the Illinois court system, if a trial for any crime is not done within this time period their right to a speedy trial would be considered violated. This shows how a technicality can erase charges for even the most serious of crimes.
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