Amendment6W2

=__The Sixth Amendment__= == ==

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=**Essential Questions: What issues prompted the creation of your amendment? What impact did your amendment have on society at that time? **=

__//**By: Esther Hur & Daniel Ruiz**//__
__//**Essential Question 1;**//__ There were issues that prompted the creation of the 6th amendment. First, the convicts were not getting assistance from a counsel to defend them. So they were sent to prison after they were arrested and had to wait a significant amount of time for their trial. So Congress and the Founding Fathers decided to make an amendment that would let people who were convicted of crimes a speedy trial in front of an impartial jury.

__//**Essential Question 2:**//__ The 6th amendment had a big impact on society at the time. It allowed convicts to have a trial when faster than before. It gave the people convicted a lawyer or attorney to defend them. But before, the judge would decide and nobody would defend the convict, so the convicted most likely went to jail before the 6th amendment. People then noticed that Congress was giving them the right to state their mind and tell the jury and the judge they were innocent.

A: Criminals weren't getting lawyers and there were many issues with crime for citizens in judicial proceedings. People were having to wait a while to have a trial and the accused couldn't decide to have a public trial. Also, the accused weren't sure of what they were being charged for and so the government created the 6th amendment.
 * Q1: What was the major thing that happened that caused the 6th amendment to be created?**

A: The accused committed a crime of breaking into a store. The accused had to wait 1 year to have a trial. And when the time came, the accused weren't able to get a lawyer. He/She also couldn't decide to have a public trial. The trial wasn't held by an impartial jury and it wasn't fair for the accused. Also, when the accused asked what he/she had done wrong, they said, "You should already know," and didn't tell him.
 * Q2: What was an actual situation/problem happening before the 6th amendment?**

A: The amendment allowed the accused to have quick trial, not having to wait an entire year or more. Also, the accused were now allowed to get a lawyer, decide to have a public trial, and the trial was now always held by an impartial jury. It was much more fair to the accused and the accused now HAD to know what h e/she did wrong.
 * Q3: How did the amendment positively affect society?**

A: The 6th amendment was actually much more different than some other amendments. Other amendments had some of negative effects on society and not every state ratified them. The 6th amendment however, was fair and states liked it. Nevertheless, the 6th Amendment is different. It sets out a positive rights or the citizen; the rights in it are presicribe: "[|In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence]."
 * Q3: How did the amendment negatively affect society?**

The first method is for a bill to pass both houses of the legislature, by a two-thirds majority in each. Once the bill has passed both houses, it goes on to the states. This is the route taken by all current amendments.
 * Q4: What was the amendment process for the 6th amendment to become an amendment?**

A: The jury is picked randomly from vote registrations and driver licenses. A group of jurors stand is then assigned to a courtroom. The jurors are then randomly picked to stand in the jury box. At this stage they are questioned by the judge/attorneys. The jurors much be death qualified for death trials and other important things. The final jury selected have been ,"empaneled."
 * Q5: If you are on trial with the jury, who chooses the jury?**

A:
 * Q6: What rights did the 6th amendment give to people?**
 * The right to a speedy and a public trial
 * The right to trial by an impartial jury
 * The right to be informed of criminal charges
 * The right to confront witnesses
 * The right to compel witnesses to appear in court
 * The right to assistance to counsel

A: The 6th amendment applied to people living in America who have committed a crime and is in trial. The 6th amendment only applies to people in the US, not outside and to those who have done something wrong and must be found guilty or not guilty. The 6th amendment makes sure the people who are in trial have a fair part of it.
 * Q7: To whom did the 6th amendment apply to?**

A: The factors during a crime that would bring the case into federal court are being destructive, identity theft, and/or money stealing. If any one of these factors during a crime happen, the case is brought into federal court for a trial.
 * Q8: What factors that during a crime would bring the case into federal court?**

A: The 6th amendment guarantees speedy trial, public trial, trial by jury, right to counsel, rights of the accuses, and confrontation clause. In the end, the 6th amendment makes it fair for a person in a trial to have fair ways. It would not be fair if the person couldn't call a lawyer or have to wait 1 year to get his/her trial. The sixth amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial by jury in the district where the crime was committed and the opportunity to question witnesses. It's fundamental to modern justice. Click here for a cool video about the speedy trial & public trial including how an old court room looked like: http://content.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1026381361001_2080300,00.html
 * Q9: What does the 6th amendment guarantee?**

A: The Sixth Amendment guarantees a criminal defendant the right to be tried before an "impartial jury," representative of a cross-section of the community, which will consider the evidence against the defendant and decide whether to find him or her guilty of the crime(s) charged. In almost all states, 12 jurors must agree in order to find a defendant "guilty" or "not guilty." What the jury does is decided by the judge, who may declare a "mistrial," after which the case may be dismissed or the trial may start all over again.
 * Q10: What is the jury's role at trial?**

What issues prompted the creation of your amendment?
1. There are many issues that prompted the creation of amendment 6. One is that people had to wait a LONG time to have their trial. Another issue was that the people in trial couldn't decide on their own if they wanted a public trial. Also, people in trial had impartial juries, making the trial not fair. People in trial also couldn't get lawyers or witnesses.These issues led the United States government to create the 6th amendment, trying their best to make trials fair for the people who committed crimes. People thought that this was unfair including the government that waiting, not having the freedom to get witnesses, and lawyers. The founding fathers wanted the accused have their rights. The result was that the 6th amendment was born. As a result, there were many issues that prompted the creation of the amendment 6 (Esther/Young Hur).

What impact did you amendment have on society at that time?
2. The 6th amendment had a huge impact on society during the time. It gave people convicted of crimes to have a quick trial after they were convicted. It also gives convicts the right to a lawyer, even if the convict does not have enough money to afford the lawyer. It gave the people right to be informed of what they were charged with. It gave people an impartial jury as well. It also gave people less time in jail before their trial, because they would have a speedy and public trial. Before the amendment people were getting convicted and locked up in jail, and the convicts needed to wait a while for their trial. The society improved with the 6th amendment because it made it fair for criminals during their trial. Overall, this amendment had a huge impact on society and changed the justice system into a good direction(Daniel Ruiz).

Resources/Sites: http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-rights/right-to-a-speedy-jury-trial.html http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment6.html https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/sixth_amendment http://kids.laws.com/sixth-amendment http://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-vi http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Sixth+Amendment http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/amendment06/ http://www.usconstitution.net/constam.html

=**__Current Events__**=


 * Esther Hur-**

__A Jury Asked for Life, The Judge Chose Death: Alabama Prepares to Execute 65-Year-old Suffering from Dementia Tonight:__

( http://atlantablackstar.com/2016/05/12/a-jury-asked-for-life-the-judge-chose-death-alabama-prepares-to-execute-65-year-old-suffering-from-dementia-tonight/ )

//A Jury Asked for Life, The Judge Chose Death,// is an article about 65 year old, Vernon Madison, who suffers from dementia about to be executed. His crime was murdering a Mobile police officer. Attorneys argued that the execution would not be fair because he is mentally incompetent to stand trial. A jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death in trial court which was thrown out after an Alabama appeals court found that prosecutors had illegally discharged African-American jurors due to race. He was held in a second trial but still resulted in a death sentence. A jury then sentenced Madison to life without the possibility of parole in his final trial. Then something happened that was unconstitutional. A presiding Judge Ferrill McRae overrode that decision to sentence Madison to death for a 3rd time. Supreme Court Justice, Sonia Sotomayor criticized Alabama's legacy of judicial override and named McRae one of the biggest offenders. Sotomayor said he campaigned with several advertisements voicing his support for capital punishment. Sotomayor said Alabama judges appear to have succumbed to electoral pressures- the court ruled Florida's practice of judicial override unconstitutional in a 8-1 vote. Anyhow, Madison was executed and since this went against the 6th amendment, it was found unconstitutional. Nevertheless, this article's content was going against the 6th amendment.

The 6th amendment is still relevant today. This is because the 6th amendment guarantees the rights of criminal defendants, including the right to a public trial without unnecessary delay, the right to a lawyer, the right to an impartial jury, and the right to know who your accusers are and the nature of the charges and evidence held against you. Currently, in America, there are many times like the article above when police officers, juries, and judges go against the 6th amendment meaning not following the correct terms during a trial. For example, if a person committed a prime and is set on trial, and if they are not given the rights to a public trial, the right to a lawyer, or the right to an impartial jury, the government can say it is unconstitutional and give the criminal a second trial. Also, another example is if a judge over powers a jury saying the criminal deserves a death or life sentence with specific punishments/payments, the state government can declare this act unconstitutional like in the article//, A Jury Asked for Life, The Judge Chose Death.//The 6th amendment is still important today because without this amendment, there would be so many juries and judges, sentencing people to death when they committed not a big of a crime and marking them as guilty when they are actually not. For example, the article above where a jury asked for life and the judge chose death, would be going against the 6th amendment because the judges in Florida were overriding juries by a 8 to 1 vote. So in the end, the 6th amendment is need today because it keeps everything in order.

__//No Jury Trial for Drunken Drivers, N.J. Supreme Court Rules://__

[|( http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2016/05/no_jury_trial_for_drunken_drivers_nj_supreme_court.html )]

In the article, //No Jury Trial for Drunken Drivers,// it mentions how drunken drivers in New Jersey have no right to a jury trial, even when they face months in jail and huge fines for repeat offenses. The state Supreme Court said that the punishments for repeat offenders are not serious to trigger the constitutional right to a jury trial. This caused the court to issue a warning that the Legislature which has heaped additional fees on the drivers, has gone over the limit of such punishments for a non-criminal offense. In this article, James R. Denelsbeck was set as an example for he faced six months in jail and thousands of dollars in fines, fees, and other costs. He demanded a jury trial, outraged but a municipal judge denied his request and he was found guilty. He got a 10 year license suspensions with two years of required use of an ignition interlock device. He brought this case before the Supreme Court saying this violated his 6th amendment rights. Superior Court Judge Mary Cuff who was temporarily assigned to the Supreme Court wrote that the need for a jury trail is outweighed by New Jersey's interest in promoting efficiency through non-jury trails but that any additional penalties would cause this Court to reach a different conclusion. Although in the end, James was very disappointed still, it said in the article that they achieved an acceptable balance of increasing the consequences of repeated acts of drunk driving while avoiding the line that would be against the 6th amendment.

The 6th amendment is still relevant today. The 6th amendment is still very important today because it keeps people from unfair rights like being held against trial. For example, like the article above, if you got put in jail because of a crime like drunk driving, you can file a report to the court saying it is not fair to not be able to get a jury trial. In the end, it was decided that the repeated number of times drunk driving still resulted in bigger punishments but it wouldn't violate the 6th amendment. Another example is if you committed a crime of stealing then you have the right to a jury or public trial. If you do not get these rights then you can file a report. The 6th amendment is really important in these situations because it keeps everything in order and gives everyone the same rights. Without it, judges would be sending people off with thousands of additional fees on their shoulders without them being able to get a jury trial. The 6th amendment is a really important amendment in the United States government because it helps people get the basic rights they deserve. In the end, the 6th amendment is still very relevant and important today.


 * Daniel Ruiz-**

[|__http://fox13now.com/2016/01/01/state-facing-potential-lawsuit-over-alleged-violations-of-utahns-sixth-amendment-rights/__]

This article is about men/convicted criminals in Salt Lake City, who’s sixth amendment were violated. In the article, Utah is facing a potential lawsuit, because of rights being violated. The men did not get the right to an attorney, but a pair of evaluations by the ACLU. They found out that Utah P.D has failed to inform them about the sixth amendment. This violates their 6th amendment as they did not get the right to an attorney, and possibly not even a speedy trial. Unfortunately this is not the first time this has happened in many states, and is a problem we need to fix.

This amendment is still relevant today as many states do not enforce this amendment. This amendment is a very important one as it allows the suspect an attorney and a speedy trial. This amendment is very important in society today, as if less fortunate people get convicted, they would not have the money for an attorney. The speedy trial is also very important, as it allows the attorneys to prepare for the real trial. Finally, the violation of a sixth amendment should not be allowed, as it is very important for one's future.

[|__http://www.newyorklawjournal.com/id=1202754739116/Delayed-DNA-Match-Did-Not-Deny-Man-Speedy-Trial-Court-Rules__]

This article is about a man named Steven Byrd. He murdered Regina Haskins, who was found dead in her apartment with gunshot wounds to her head and legs. The first investigation failed to find any possible suspects, and later the Chief Medical Examiner found two sets of DNA. Regina Haskins, and an unknown suspect at the scene. He then uploaded it to the DNA database, but it did not go through because there was an error. Then Byrd’s DNA was tested, as he was convicted of an offensive in Virginia. But the error messed up the original DNA so there was no match found. Around 10 years after the DNA Index System changed, and following that the System notified the examiner that Byrd’s DNA and the murderer's DNA matched. He was arrested on Feburary 14, 2015, for second degree murder.

Even after this he was allowed a speedy trial and the right to an attorney. This shows that the Amendment was in place and allowed this man, who was convicted of second degree murder a speedy trial and a right to an attorney. This shows that the 6th amendment is still relevant today, as Byrd got the right to a speedy trial after decades of the murder, which is very good, as it shows that the system is still in place. In the end, these articles show that the 6th amendment is still relevant today.