6th Amendment: Law dealing with the rights of the Accused

The 6th amendment to the U.S constitution was made with the intent of protecting the rights of criminal prosecution and for fair justice. It is one of the parts of the Bill Of Rights and was ratified on 15th December 1971.

Explanation of Content of the 6th Amendment: The content of the 6th amendment in simple terms can be explained as follows:

• In the criminal proceedings, the accused will have the right to a speedy and public trial, thus it will reduce the number of days spent in jail, the speedy trial also focused on the point that sooner the trials will happen less will be the possibility of proofs being destroyed.

• The trial will be done by an impartial jury of the state and district where the crime had been done, this was done so that there may not be any biases in the decision.

• The accused shall be informed of the nature, charge, and cause of the accusation, 

• The accused will have the right to confront the witness against him and ask any question, it also focuses on giving a more fair trial.

• The accused will have the right to call for the witness in his favor;

• The accused will have the right to have the assistance of counsel that is a lawyer for his defense.

So the 6th amendment rights include important clauses and rights like Speedy and public trial clause, impartial jury clause, right to be informed, right to confront the witness, right to call a witness, right to have legal assistance.

Examples of the Supreme Court Cases that involved the 6th Amendment:

• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963):

• Case: In 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon was arrested in Florida for breaking into a Panama City pool hall to steal money from the vending machine, this was a Felony in Florida Law. Then Gideon appeared in the court without an attorney and requested the court to hire an attorney for him. But the district court denied his request  (as the Florida law appointed the attorney for only capital offenses) and then Gideon had no choice but to defend himself at trial. He was found guilty and was punished for imprisonment of five years. 

Gideon then submitted a hand-written petition to the Florida Supreme Court and stated that his constitutional rights were violated when at trial the judge refused to appoint an attorney on his behalf.

• Supreme Court Decision: The supreme court agreed with the statement of Gideon that he has not been given a chance of fair trial. The court overturned Gideon’s conviction and ruled that the right to counsel was a fundamental right under the 6th amendment.

• Carey v. Musladin (2006)

• Case: Mathew Musladin was convicted for the murder of Tom Strudder in California. During the trial, the family members of the Strudder family wore buttons having the picture of Studder on them and they were sitting in the area that was reserved for the public, the picture on the button was visible to the judge, jury, lawyers, and the defendant. Musladin’s attorney asked to remove the button but the trial court refused the order to remove the buttons justifying that it does not affect the court’s decision.

Musladin then appealed his conviction to the state appellate court which affirmed the trial court and held that the buttons were not prejudicial and he had not been denied a fair trial.

Then Musladin filed a habeas corpus petition in the federal court that was denied by the court. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the petition, reversed the appellate court and the state court’s decision. The state court then appealed in the Supreme Court of the U.S.

• Supreme Court Decision: In a unanimous decision was written by Justice Clarence Thomas, the decision of the Ninth Circuit was reversed and the court ruled that the state court did not apply the federal law when the conviction and upheld that the decision of the state court was not unreasonable.