EDITOR'S NOTE: Law Day is observed annually on May 1 to recognize the importance of the legal system in the United States. This year also marks the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta, one of the foundational documents of the legal system. As part of the observance, The Sentinel-Record is featuring a series of guest columns by members of the Garland County Bar Association. Today's installment is by Deputy City Attorney Terry Askew.
The Magna Carta was signed by the king of England in 1215. The first 10 amendments of the U.S. Constitution -- the Bill of Rights -- became law in 1791. Despite the 576-year span between these two documents, both decree that persons accused of crimes possess certain fundamental rights -- rights that are still protecting citizens today.
Rights that affect persons accused of crimes include due process, swift justice, an impartial jury, and to be free from excessive punishment. The right of due process of the law, embodied in Section 39 of the Magna Carta and in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, is the entitlement of an accused person to fair treatment through the judicial process. This right cannot be altered or removed at the whim of the government.
Persons accused of crimes have the right to have the charges against them expeditiously handled by the justice system. The Sixth Amendment states that "the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial" while, according to Section 40 of the Magna Carta, "to no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or delay right or justice." While it may appear that the "millstones of justice" turn exceedingly slow, all crimes in Arkansas -- except murder and some sexual offenses -- have statutes of limitations that limit the length of time during which charges can be brought against a person suspected of committing those crimes.
Section 29 of the Magna Carta declares that "no free man shall be taken or imprisoned ... or exiled or in any way destroyed ... except by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land." The Sixth Amendment states that in criminal prosecutions, the accused has the right to "an impartial jury," which has been interpreted to mean a jury that is made up of peers, is impartial, and consists of citizens living in the same state and district where the crime was committed.
The Magna Carta Section 20 restrained the king of England from inflicting punishment on citizens that was not in proportion to the severity of the crime for which they had been convicted. The Eighth Amendment states that "excessive bail shall not be required, nor fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted." On several occasions, the United States courts have addressed the meaning of "cruel and unusual punishment" and the courts' interpretation of that term has changed over time. A current Eighth Amendment courtroom debate concerns the use of lethal drugs to carry out capital punishment.
The rights granted by the Magna Carta to citizens and the restraints it placed on government reverberate even to this day. In a case decided in March of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the English jurist Edward Coke's assessment on the significance of the Magna Carta: "no subject would be deprived of ... a right of life, liberty, or property, except in accordance with the law of the land."
Editorial on 04/30/2015