Fourth Amendment

This is the amendment that prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures.  It instructs that a warrant shall be issued when there is probable cause to suspect a crime.  The request for a warrant must be supported by an oath or affirmation which describes the place to be searched and the person or things to be seized.  There are many exceptions to the warrant requirement:  exigent circumstances (an emergency), consent, and search and seizure incident to an arrest.  For some brief detentions, when a person is "seized" may be based on an articulable suspicion of criminal conduct.

Fifth Amendment

"The Fifth" protects one against self-incrimination (you can’t be forced to testify against yourself).  The prohibition against double jeopardy (being tried twice for the same offense) is found in the Fifth Amendment.  "The Fifth" also contains the important due process clause:  The state is prohibited from any deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Sixth Amendment

This amendment provides any criminal defendant the right to an attorney; the right to be informed of the law and any possible punishment faced for violation of the law; the right to compel witnesses to appear and testify; the right to confront witnesses; and the right to a speedy and public trial by an unbiased jury.

Eighth Amendment

This amendment bars the state from excessive bail or excessive fines.  The Eighth Amendment also prohibits cruel and unusual punishments.

Fourteenth Amendment

Here is found the important privileges and immunities clause.  This amendment bars the state from enacting or trying to enforce any law which violates the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States.  The Fourteenth Amendment also has its own due process of law clause and the important equal protection clause.  The equal protection clause requires that no state may selectively enforce certain of its laws and selectively deny citizens within its borders the protections of United States citizenship.

The right to remain silent

Found in "The Fifth" described above.  This right is so important, it deserves more than a cursory discussion.  This right provides that a criminal defendant cannot be called as a witness at his own trial.  Nor can a criminal defendant be made to testify, or even answer questions if it may incriminate him.  Even at grand jury proceedings, the witness may refuse to answer any questions that suggest the possibility that he will incriminate himself.  That means that if a person's answer to a question would require them to admit some action that constitutes a crime, and would subject them to criminal prosecution, he can refuse to answer.  To compel answers in this context, prosecutors may give the witness immunity from prosecution to force them to testify despite their Fifth Amendment rights.

Miranda rights

These rights derive from a famous U.S. Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona, in which the Court held that suspects in the custody of the police must be informed of their constitutional rights before they are questioned. This rule ensures that someone in police custody does not unknowingly waive his constitutional right to remain silent or to have an attorney present.  Miranda rights stem from the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent and the Sixth Amendment right to an attorney.  On TV, they sound something like:

"You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.  You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, an attorney will be appointed for you."        

The right to an attorney

This right also stems from the Sixth Amendment and guarantees the right to legal counsel at all important stages of the criminal process.  The right to legal counsel is so important that a parallel right is given to persons who are unable to pay for legal counsel: The government will pay to have an attorney appointed. Both the federal and the state systems have procedures for the appointment of attorneys for indigent defendants.  The right to an attorney has been expanded to cover the interrogation phases of an investigation, the trial, sentencing proceedings and an initial appeal of any conviction.

The right to a jury trial

This right is basic to American jurisprudence.  Remember the Spanish Inquisition or the Star Chamber?  The people who founded the United States remembered, and that’s why trials in this country must be open and public.  In the old common-law system, a criminal defendant was entitled to a public trial by jury in cases of felonies and misdemeanors where the term of imprisonment exceeded one year.  Under modern constitutional law, a jury trial is required where the term of imprisonment may exceed six months.