G. Due Process

As we noted near the beginning of this lesson, one of the most profound concepts in American jurisprudence is due process. Your right of due process entitles you to all the steps or rights that the law allows (you are "due" all the "process" of the law). The constitutional right of due process ensures that you are given all your other constitutional rights. For that reason, it may be the most important language in the U.S. Constitution.

There are two due process clauses in the U.S. Constitution. The Fifth Amendment states, in relevant part: "no person shall . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." This entitles you to due process protection whenever you are dealing with federal law. The Fourteenth Amendment states, in relevant part: "nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." This entitles you to due process protection under state law.

Due process has been defined in many ways. Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law has defined it as "a course of formal proceedings (as judicial proceedings) carried out regularly, fairly, and in accordance with established rules and principles (called also procedural due process) [and] a requirement that laws and regulations must be related to a legitimate government interest (as crime prevention) and may not contain provisions that result in the unfair or arbitrary treatment of an individual (called also substantive due process) (emphasis in the original);" and further, "[t]he boundaries of due process are not fixed and are the subject of endless judicial interpretation and decision-making. Fundamental to procedural due process is adequate notice prior to the government's deprivation of one's life, liberty, or property, and an opportunity to be heard and defend one's rights to life, liberty, or property. Substantive due process is a limit on the government's power to enact laws or regulations that affect one's life, liberty, or property rights. It is a safeguard from governmental action that is not related to any legitimate government interest or that is unfair, irrational, or arbitrary in its furtherance of a government interest (emphasis omitted)."

So, the U.S. Constitution not only sets out our governmental structure, but it also grants express and implied rights, it provides a mechanism for ensuring those rights are applied, and creates a standard by which the law-making mechanisms are held true.