Notes- 12/11

14th Amendment- Due process clause
-holds states to provisions of the bill of rights
-says "no state shall make or enforce any law which abridges the privileges or immunities of citizens nor depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law"
-most freedoms in the bill of rights function as limitations on the states

The Fundamental Freedoms
-Palko v. Connecticut (1937)

• found that only certain provisions of the bill of rights were absorbed into due process and made applicable to states
• Palko died in a Connecticut gas chamber
• Next 30 years saw slow but perceptible change in standard for determining whether a bill of rights guarantee was fundamental
• by 1969, when Palko was finally overturned, the court had found most of the bill of rights applicable to states

Criminal Procedures: Meaning of Constitutional Guarantees
-safeguards- embodied in the 4th-8th amendments specify how government must behave in criminal proceedings
-right to a jury trial guaranteed by the 6th amendment. In Duncan v. Louisiana (1968), the supreme court made this obligatory for the states. But, the court left it to the states to decide:

• how many jurors required
• what it takes to reach a verdict

-the right to an attorney is also guaranteed by the 6th amendment. In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) the SC made this obligatory for all states.
-the right not to incriminate oneself is guaranteed by the 5th amendment. In Miranda v. Arizona (1966) the SC made it obligatory for states to inform an accused of the full measure of their constitutional rights before interrogating them.
-the right to be secure against unreasonable searches is contained in the 4th amendment. In Wolf v. Colorado (1949) the court made this obligatory on the states, but the court didn't specify how to handle evidence gathered in an illegal search.
-the Federal courts have followed the exclusionary rule in search and seizure case. The exclusionary rule holds that evidence obtained from an illegal search and seizure can't be used in a trial.
-In Mapp v. Ohio, the SC required all levels of government to operate according to the provisions of the 4th amendment. Failure to do so could result in dismissal of criminal charges against guilty defendants.
-In US v. Leon (1984) the SC established good faith exception to the exclusionary rule. This meant that a state can introduce at trial evidence seized on the basis of a mistakenly issued search warrant.
-In California v. Greenwood (1988) the court said that evidence collected when police search through garbage bags and other containers that people leave outside their houses could be used in court.

The Right to Privacy
-In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) the court struck down a Connecticut law that made use of birth control devices a crime. It said that a zone of privacy is created by guarantees found in the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th amendments. Griswold established the principle that the bill of rights as a whole creates a right to make certain intimate, personal choices.
-In Roe v. Wade (1973) the SC struck down a Texas law making it a crime to have an abortion except for the purpose of saving the woman's life. The court based its decision on the right to privacy protected by the due process clause of the 14th amendment.
-In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services the SC upheld the constitutionality of a Missouri law that denied the use of public employees or publicly funded facilities in the performance of an abortion prohibited except when the mother's life is in danger. This was the first time the SC upheld significant government restrictions on abortion.
-In 1990 the SC split on 2 state parental notification laws:

• court struck down a state law requiring unwed minors to notify both parents before an abortion
• court upheld law that a physician notify one parent of a pregnant minor of her intent to have an abortion

-In 1992 in Planned Parenthood v. Casey the court reaffirmed Roe v. Wade but allowed additional restrictions on abortions
-In Steinburg v. Carhart (200) court struck down a Nebraska law taht had banned the partial-birth abortion
-In Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) the court held that the constitution doesn't protect homosexual relationships
-In Lawrence v. Texas (2003) SC reversed Bowers and struck down a Texas law banning sex between a homosexual couple
-the Defense of Marriage Act signed into law in 1996. Defines marriage as a union between a heterosexual couple and declares states aren't obligated to recognize gay marriages performed elsewhere.