The US Circuit Appeal Court - Essay Example

The report is about an investigation of the death of six firefighters which led to a subsequent trial and conviction of the defendants to life imprisonment. The defendants sought an appeal in the U.S Circuit Court of Appeal in the case named, U.S. v. Edwards F.3 d 117 C. A.8 (mo)1998 (McGraw 2011, para 2). The U.S Circuit Appeal Court upholds the conviction and finds that the District Court did not error in finding the accused guilty. I agree with the innocence project comments because the process of the Court of Appeal errors in stating the facts.

The court of appeal misstates that the defendants were the first prosecutors' suspects while the defendants got arrested after eight (8) years. Secondly, the Court admits evidence of past theft from the Construction Company while there is evidence that nothing got stolen from the site. I agree with the opinion of J O’Connor in the case of Virginia v. Black, 538 U.S 343 (2003) (Find Law, 3012, par. 4) that Virginia cross-burning statute is unconstitutional.
I disagree with the dissent that the Virginia Statute is Constitutional.

The First Amendment of the U.S.A constitution prohibits the making of any law that impedes freedom of religion and infringes the freedom of the press. Freedom is not absolute States can ban expressions amounting to threats and unlawful expressions such as pornography. The Virginia statute generalizes burning a cross on others' property to be evidence of intimidation hence violating the room for political expression. Therefore, for the statute to declare every burning of a cross unlawful and by placing the burden to proof on the defendant remains misplaced and unconstitutional. Read More