In theory, a grand jury is still available as a check on the government’s power of prosecution The text of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, well known for declaring a right against self-incrimination, begins by addressing another issue. “No person,” it reads, “shall be held to answer for a […]

States created public defender departments, which routinely represent criminal defendants Does an indigent criminal defendant have a right to an appointed, government-paid lawyer? Most Americans today, inured to watching police procedural television programs, would probably say yes. But it was not always so. The Sixth Amendment to the Constitution provides […]

The framers feared a government that would subject citizens to criminal prosecutions in distant locales with juries unknowledgeable and unsympathetic to defendants’ local mores The Framers of the Bill of Rights were didactically specific when it came to the right to trial by jury. They seemed determined to root this […]