understand the civil and criminal systems, it is important to understand the aspects of both civil and criminal
laws. The scope, consequences, and treatments of each vary.
Constitutional Rights
It is important to understand the Constitution, which is the basis of all law. States are allowed to create and
categorize crimes and punishment, as long as they do not violate rights protected by the U.S. Constitution. For
example, in a fairly recent United States Supreme Court case, Lawrence v. Texas, the defendants asserted the
unconstitutionality of a Texas law (enacted by the Texas legislature) regarding a particular act. When the
United States Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional, Texas could no longer enforce it.
Frequent issues litigated in the courts are:
•
Whether evidence must be suppressed (not allowed to be introduced at trial) because it was obtained
pursuant to an unreasonable search and seizure (violating the Fourth Amendment). This category might
involve a sub-issue about whether officers had sufficient probable cause to conduct a warrantless search.
Without a warrant, and without the suspect’s consent, officers generally may only conduct searches if
they have “probable cause” to do so; any evidence obtained without consent or probable cause can be
objected to, and ultimately ruled inadmissible by the court in trial, if illegally obtained.
•
Whether evidence must be suppressed because it was obtained while the suspect was “in custody”
without advising a suspect of his rights to remain silent, to speak to an attorney, and to the appointment
of an attorney if he cannot afford one (Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and Sixth
Amendment right to counsel), as required by the Supreme Court in the famous Miranda v. Arizona case.
The term often used to describe these rights is “Mirandizing,” which is named after the case.
•
Whether a state law or constitutional provision provides more protection than the U.S. Constitution.
Figure 5.4
Both civil and criminal convictions are based on precedent. (Credit: PactoVisual/ pixabay/ License:
CC0)
58
Chapter 5 Criminal Liability
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