Page 237 - Beers With Our Founding Fathers

A Patriot’s view of the history and direction of our Country

Magna Carta to England’s Bill of Rights, it is unfound. Religious

persecutions and the various Inquisitions of Europe spanned from as
early as 1184 to as late at 1860, with the Roman Catholic Inquisition,

of which most colonist were subjected to or their predecessors had
fled being from 1542 into the 1860’s. Inquisitions were the

investigations, trials and punishments for heresies against the
churches and their laws. Torture was permitted and the practice of

forced questioning until a confession would continue in the colonies.
Self-incrimination does not apply to torture, but to any coercion or

attempt to unduly influence a person to make incriminating
statements. This right of protection from self-incrimination is part

and parcel of judicial due process.
High crimes, or felonies, involve life, liberty and property – an

individual may lose their rights as a consequence of conviction.
Much more so than lesser offenses, individual rights, such as to vote

and firearm possession can be lost. For this reason, due process is
paramount to our judicial system. The basic rights exist whether the

charges are of lesser or higher crimes. Differences may include the
right to a jury (and the size of the jury), right to a pre-trial hearing –

such as evidentiary and probable cause, etc.
Due process is the series of processes from the person being

contacted as a suspect, to arrest, legal proceedings, trial, and
sentencing upon any conviction. The due process also provides the

level of proof – beginning with innocent until proven guilty or guilty

only beyond a reasonable doubt. This may include double jeopardy
(being tried twice for the same crime and with the same evidence).
This double jeopardy does not apply to cases crossing jurisdictions.

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