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14th Amendment Pros And Cons

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The Bill of Rights was introduced into America's system of government along with the Constitution in order to appease Anti-Federalists that wanted to ensure the protection of their rights. The 14th Amendment was later added to guarantee due process and equal protection rights. The Bill of Rights and 14th Amendment are extremely effective in protecting the rights of all citizens and are most clearly shown in the 1st, 5th, and 6th Amendments. The full expanse of the 1st Amendment and the freedoms it provides have been debated since its implementation, but its involvement in Texas v. Johnson was a key step in setting the proper precedent for its use. In 1984, a man named Gregory Lee Johnson was charged with burning an American flag during a protest …show more content…

Wainwright. Clarence Earl Gideon was accused of breaking into a bar in Panama city Florida. He couldn’t afford a lawyer and requested for one to be appointed, but the judge refused and insisted that they move on with the trial. Even though the 6th Amendment right to an attorney was stated in the Constitution, apparently it didn’t apply if one did not have enough money. Without proper defense, there was no way Gideon would win; unfortunately he was convicted and sent to prison. To everybody’s shock, Gideon ended up appealing to the Supreme Court from jail, insisting that his 5th Amendment due process rights and 6th amendment attorney rights had been violated. The Supreme Court took his case and agreed with him, with Attorney General Robert Kennedy in Document 3 going as far as to say that the “whole course of legal history has been changed.” Gideon was able to have his conviction overturned and have a retrial, this time with a lawyer, and was found not guilty. This case shows how important it is to provide convicts with protection in court. They are innocent until proven guilty, and they cannot be tried properly without an attorney. This reevaluation of the 6th Amendment assures that all citizens will be given equal protection in court regardless of their social class, and the 14th Amendment further drives this

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