Section 1Due Process of Law

Due Process of Law

• 2 due process guarantees: Procedural & Substantive Due Process

• Definitions are vague.

Procedural & Substantive Due Process

• Procedural-the “how” (procedures/ methods) of government

• Substantive- the “what” (policies/ laws) of government action

Rochin v. California, 1952 Rochin- suspected drugs dealer Deputy sheriffs forced their way into

his home and noticed 2 capsules on a nightstand

Rochin popped the capsules Sheriffs had his stomach pumped at

the hospital

Rochin was convicted of violating state narcotics laws

Supreme Court- violation of 14th Amendments guarantee of procedural due process

How? “This is conduct that shocks the conscience.

Illegally breading into the privacy of the petitioner, the struggle to open his mouth and remove what was there, the forcible extraction of his stomach’s contents-this course of proceeding by agents of government to obtain evidence is bound to offend even hardened sensibilities. They are methods too close to the rack and the screw….”

Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 1925 Compulsory school

attendance law required all persons between the ages of 8 and 16 to attend public schools.

The law was purposely drawn to destroy private/parochial schools

Roman Catholic religious order challenged the law’s constitutionality

Supreme Court- violates 14th Amendments Due Process Clause- substantive due process

How? The state did not enforce the law

unfairly. The law itself was unconstitutional

Police Power

• A problem of balance • To balance the needs of

society for law, order, & protection w/ the rights of individuals to due process!

Schmerber v. California 1966

• Schmerber was forced to take a blood test to determine if he was DWI

• The blood test was given by a doctor on police orders but without a search warrant

• Legal or Illegal?

Legal – the officer had reasonable suspicion, a doctor performed the test, and had time been taken to obtain a search warrant the alcohol would have left Schmerber’s system!

Right to Privacy

• Can a state outlaw birth-control counseling & the sale of birth-control devices?

• NO!

Right to Privacy & Due Process

• Due process creates a right to privacy!

• “The right to be free, from unwanted governmental intrusions into one’s privacy.”

Roe v. Wade 1973• Can a State limit a

women’s right to an abortion? Roe case the Court held the 14th Amendments “due process” & “right to privacy” applied to abortion rights!

Roe v. Wade 1973 continued:

• 1. During the first trimester (first 3 months) of pregnancy a State must recognize a woman’s right to choose an abortion

Roe v. Wade 1973 continued:

• 2nd trimester- state can regulate abortions.

• 3rd trimester- state (acting on behalf of child) can prohibit abortions.

Further Interpretations on Roe

– Doctors and clinics must keep detailed records of all abortions they perform.

A state may not require a women to tell her husband of her plans to have an abortion.