Originally Posted By: Susan


Quote:
Fortunately, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights still works for us, nearly all the time


And it's an uphill battle all the way! We have a government that has been 'interpreting', re-interpreting, debating, twisting, choking, complicating, evading and circumventing the meaning of a very simple, very straightforeward document. I heard somewhere that Abraham Lincoln was one of the first to do this, and he was followed by a stampeding herd who thought it was a great idea.

Hikermor, I truly wish it was more like you see it. And I wish more people in law enforcement saw it the same way.

Sue


I can guarantee you that all this reinterpretation works very much to protect citizens - take Miranda warnings as an example. Police must be very careful in their actions during investigations and subsequent actions. The usual consequence of, say, an unlawful search, is exclusion from the prosecution of whatever evidence was obtained - to the great benefit of the defense. And case law working out the precise actions allowable under the Bill of Rights started well before Lincoln and will continue indefinitely. You might be referring to the Fourteenth Amendment, which extended the protections of the BOR more broadly.

We certainly aren't perfect, and our legal system isn't perfect - one obvious flaw is the necessity of large amounts of money to realistically have a chance at truly equal justice - but can you name another existing system which is better?
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Geezer in Chief