Why did the framers of the Bill of rights come up with the 6th amendment, also what are it pros and cons ?

Question

I am writing a paper on the bill of rights and the 6th amendment is the hardest part to talk about, can anyone explain it to me ?

Answer 1

The framers of The Bill of Rights were mostly British who escaped religious persecution in Great Britain and came to America. Therefore, they felt the need to have legal protections in the court system to avoid being victimized by an oppressive authority. The 6th Amendment guarantee the right to jury, speedy trial, counsel, among other things.

The pros :

1.suspected criminals should be imprisoned for long time without trial, they can have lawyer to represent them even if they can't afford it.

2. a jury (usually 12 people) will decide the fate of the suspect, not a single judge.

The cons:

1. Money spend on criminals for lawyer fees etc. are paid by tax payers.

2. an actual criminal can be let go if only ONE member of the jury (out of 12) found him/her not guilty. (its not majority rule)

Answer 2

It's pretty straight forward. The accused has the right to a speedy (not long delayed) trial, to be able to compel witnesses, confront his accusers, have legal counsel, be informed of the charges, and to have the trial in the court system where the crime occired.

Try this link, it should help.

Answer 3

I've inserted comments:

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 where in the crime shall have been committed,

The above means a person accused of a crime cannot be held indefinitely--the state must either put them on trial or drop the charges.  You cannot have secret trials. We do make certain exceptions when national security requires that some information disclosed at a trial s**t be kept secret.  But the laws governing that are very restrictive. For instance, teh trial itself can't be secret, and only the sensitive portions can be secret. The last part  is the guarantee of trial by jury--and mandates safeguards to try to make sure the jury is fair.

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 witnesses against him;

The accused has to be told what he's accused of--and has the right to face--and (usually through his lawyer) question any witnesses. No anonymous witnesses are allowed.

to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

This means the accused has the right to a lawyer--at public expense if he can't afford one. It also means that if the defense needs to call witnesses, the court has to issue supoenas requiring those people to show up and testify.

Hope this ehlps. For more, go to house.gov and click on education. You'll find commentaries on all of the Constitution.