SIXTH AMENDMENT 6
Further Reading
“The Bill of Rights: A Transcription.” National Archives and Rec­ords Administration. http://­
www​.­archives​.­gov​/­exhibits​/­charters​/­bill​_­of​_­rights​_­transcript​.­html#6.
Dershowitz, Alan M. Is ­There a Right to Remain ­Silent? Coercive Interrogation and the Fifth
Amendment ­ after 9/11. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Levy, Leonard W. Origins of the Fifth Amendment: The Right Against Self-­Incrimination. Lan-
ham, MD: Ivan R Dee, 1999.
Salky, Steven M., and Paul B. Hynes, Jr. The Privilege of Silence: Fifth Amendment Protections
Against Self-­Incrimination. Washington, DC: American Bar Association, 2015.
“What Are Your Miranda Rights?” MirandaWarning​.­org. http://­www​.­mirandawarning​.­org​
/­whatareyourmirandarights​.­html.
SIXTH AMENDMENT
The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ensures several impor­tant rights for
defendants facing criminal charges, especially that they ­ will receive a fair trial. Its pro-
tections extend to the investigative phase of the pre-­trial pro­cess, and they continue
through any appeals filed. ­ These protections include guarantees that a defendant ­
doesn’t have to wait too long for his or her day in court, that a defendant has a right
to trial by jury for serious offenses, and that a defendant has a right to an attorney
once he or she has been charged with a crime. The Sixth Amendment also influences
the trial pro­cess by providing rights such as the right to have notice of the charges
filed, to confront one’s accusers, and to be able to compel witnesses to testify.
The text of the amendment says the following:
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused ­shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public
trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime ­ shall have been
committed, which district ­ shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the wit-
nesses against him; to have compulsory pro­cess for obtaining witnesses in his ­ favor,
and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense. (National Archives)
The first guarantee is the right to a speedy and public trial. This right is consid-
ered impor­tant ­ because ­ people accused of crimes may end up waiting in jail for
their trial date to come, particularly if they cannot post bail. Even with ­ these guar-
antees, trial dates can be pushed back for a number of reasons, and exceptional
cases can occur, such as that of Kalief Browder, who was held at Rikers Island for
three years before charges ­were dropped in 2013 (Gonnerman 2014).
At the same time, the right to a public trial is less absolute than other parts of
the Sixth Amendment ­because ­ there are times for which publicity can be harmful
to a defendant’s rights or contrary to national security. ­ Either side may petition the
court for a closed trial, although the court is required to make sure that a non-­public
trial ­will still be fair to the defendant.
The second guarantee of the Sixth Amendment is the right to be heard by an
impartial jury of one’s peers. The “peers” in this case means that jurors are drawn
from the general population living in the judicial district where the crime occurred;
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