The topic of
discussion for this Constitution Monday comes from the Fourteenth Amendment to
the Constitution of the United States:
“…nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law….” Every
person living within the United States – citizen and non-citizen – has the
right to the protection of their life, liberty, and property and to know that
none of them can be taken away without due process of law.
W. Cleon Skousen explained, “One
again, this provision is simply a repletion of what was already guaranteed in
the Fifth Amendment: `No person shall be
… deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.’
“`Due process’ means a full
hearing as provided by law. Due process
does not necessarily require a jury unless that is the established process for
the type of problem involved. Nor is a
formal trial necessary for due process, if there is a full and fair hearing and
an opportunity for the determination of the merits of the case.” (See The
Making of America – The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p. 273.)
James W. Ely, Jr. of The
Heritage Foundation explained, “Both the Fifth Amendment and the Fourteenth
Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibit governmental deprivations
of `life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.’ The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment serves three distinct functions in modern constitutional doctrine: `First, it incorporates [against the States]
specific protections defined in the Bill of Rights …. Second, it contains a
substantive component, sometimes referred to as `substantive due process.’ …
Daniels v. Williams (1986) (Stevens,
J., concurring)
“Modern law interprets the Fifth
and Fourteenth Amendments to impose the same substantive due process and
procedural due process requirements on the federal and state
governments….” (See The Heritage Guide to the Constitution, p. 394.)
No comments:
Post a Comment