Public Knowledge About Bill of Rights - Essay Example

Public Knowledge about the Bill of Rights
The Constitution of the United States of America was formally adopted in the year 1787 (Bruns 1982). Subsequently, it was amended twenty-seven times. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights. They were adopted at the insistence of opponents of the Constitution. These people apprehended that the government would abuse the powers given to it by the Constitution and violate the civil rights of the citizens. To provide immunity to individual citizens, twelve legislative articles were introduced in the First United States Congress in 1789, and after their ratification in 1791 came to be known as Constitutional Amendments. 
I. Freedom of religion, speech, or of the press; or peaceful assembly; right to seek redressal of grievances from government.
II. Freedom to keep and bear arms.
 III. No house should be occupied by a soldier except with the permission of the owner.
IV. People should be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures; warrants should be reasonable and issued upon probable cause and describe the person, place, papers, and effects being seized.
V. Indictment by grand jury, prohibition of double jeopardy; self-incrimination application for due process of law.
VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall have a speedy trial by jury; be confronted with the witnesses against him; should compel witnesses’ attendance, and have counsel to defend him.
VII. In suits of value exceeding twenty dollars, the trial shall be by jury.
 VIII. Restraints against excessive bail and fines.
 IX. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.


The Fifth Amendment provides for due process of law which means that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property at the whim of the government acting in an unreasonable manner. Secondly, it provides protection against self-incrimination. This means that no person will be made to testify about something which may offer evidence against himself in a criminal case. The rule has evolved into new concepts of law. One such, known as the Miranda (1966) warnings mandate that a person about to be arrested or during the course of inquiry if he is a suspect should be made aware that what he will speak after that point shall be used as evidence against him and that he has a right to remain silent. It further provides that the person should be informed that he is entitled to legal counsel before speaking. Any confessional statement obtained during the course of criminal proceedings without Miranda warnings would be inadmissible in evidence if used against the person.  In Kirby (1972) it was held that criminal proceedings include formal charge, preliminary hearing, indictment, or arraignment.
Confession, an admission of guilt by a person is covered under the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. Fifth prohibits self-incrimination and Sixth provides for legal counsel and applies after formal charges have been filed. In Fikes (1957) it was held that “in the totality of circumstances” the defendant did not exercise his “power of resistance” and the confession was held inadmissible. In Massiah (1964) it was held that statements made by the defendant to a co-accused in the absence of counsel could not be used against the defendant. 
The knowledge of the public regarding the Bill of Rights is very low. In general, there is much “ignorance of the content and meaning of the Bill of Rights” ( Patrick, 1988). 
The results of the survey reveal the above statement to be true. Though the population for the survey is small, the results match with bigger surveys. According to a survey, “Many more Americans remember that Michael Jackson sang "Beat It" than know that the Bill of Rights is part of the Constitution (N. D.). Another survey, however, revealed that the right to worship as you please is guaranteed by the First Amendment tops the awareness graph at 78 percent, while the right that the public has the lowest knowledge about is the protection against self-incrimination at 38 percent. 
The person having a background in the criminal justice system, a trial attorney knew the most about criminal procedure and rights arising out of the Bill of Rights, but he was unable to say what the provision related to a trial by jury i.e. he could not specifically explain what is meant by infamous crime. Read More