How the Courts Address or Respect Our Rights as Citizens – Outline

How the Courts Address or Respect Our Rights as Citizens – Outline

Maryland v. King

The case involved King, who law enforcement officers arrested following a violent altercation. Maryland State laws allow law enforcement officers to take DNA samples from suspects involved in violent felonies, and the Maryland police did exactly that. Subsequently, the suspect’s DNA sample was tested in Wicomico County. Upon testing, the suspect’s DNA sample was linked to a 2003 rape case, leading to his arraignment (Justia, n.d.). However, King moved to the Maryland appeals court, which reversed the suspect’s conviction, arguing that DNA testing for a felony violated the state’s laws on DNA testing for suspects. However, the Supreme Court reversed the Appeals Court judgment by averring that identifying a perpetrator of a heinous crime has similar statutory effects as freeing a wrongfully imprisoned person (Justia, n.d.). Besides, the Supreme Court justices ruled that the DNA test did not violate the suspect’s privacy since it did not reveal his genetic traits or private medical information.

Case Outline

Title of the Case: Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435 (2013)

Facts of the Case

In Maryland vs. King, Alonzo King got arrested for second and third-degree assault in Wicomico County, Maryland. Law enforcers took his DNA sample during his booking in alignment with the Maryland DNA Collection Act. The DNA results linked King to a 2003 rape charge; hence the charges were pressed. Although King challenged DNA evidence, the Circuit Court ruled that the evidence was constitutional. He was subsequently convicted. Upon appeal, the Maryland Appeals Court ruled that collecting DNA samples from arrestees was unconstitutional, hence overturning his conviction. The U.S. Supreme Court would later uphold the circuit court’s ruling.

History of the Case

Maryland DNA Collection Act grants law enforcers the right to collect DNA samples during booking as long as they are quick, painless, and non-intrusive. This is meant to help the police gain insight into an arrestee’s background to ensure their safety. Besides, this action is meant to protect other inmates if an arrestee is moved to custody (Noronha, 2014).

Legal Questions

Did the DNA testing on Alonzo King violate the Fourth Amendment?

Are law enforcers permitted to process and identify persons to be held in custody?

Decision or Holding

The U.S. Supreme Court held that when the police are arresting someone supported by probable cause for a serious offense, DNA testing is a normal booking procedure reasonable under the Fourth Amendment (Greenberg & Page, 2019). DNA testing is particularly important if the arrestee will be held in police custody.

Verdict and Opinion (judgment)

The Supreme Court ruling was 5-4. The majority of justices reasoned that DNA testing significantly improves the criminal justice system by providing an accurate identification of individuals involved in crime. In their decision, the judges likened DNA testing to fingerprinting and photographing, both of which are standard practices in the booking process. Besides, the judges reasoned that a cheek swab is not intrusive. In their dissenting opinion, four judges averred that the police violated the Fourth Amendment that forbids law enforcers from searching for evidence from an individual unless there is a basis to believe that the person has violated the law.

Conclusion

The ruling emphasized the limits of the Fourth Amendment, which forbids unreasonable searches and seizures. I believe that this is a good decision because it will go a long way to solving cases that may have gone cold for years. Since most offenders are likely to re-offend, it is critical for the police to always remain on the lookout for people who appear suspicious.

References

Greenberg, E. S., & Page, B. I. (2019). Struggle for democracy: 2018 elections and updates edition. Pearson.

Justia. (n.d.). Maryland v. King, 569 U.S. 435 (2013). Justia Law. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/569/435/

Noronha, S. B. (2014). Maryland V. King: Sacrificing the Fourth Amendment to build up the DNA database. Maryland Law Review, 73(2), 7. http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mlr/vol73/iss2/7

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How the Courts Address or Respect Our Rights as Citizens – Outline

Instructions
This assignment is comprised of 2 parts, the first of which is due this week. Part II will be due in Week 7.

In Part I this week, choose a Federal Supreme Court case that originated in your state that involves civil rights or civil liberties that was heard by the United States Supreme Court, and a decision was rendered. If your state does not have a case that was decided by the United States Supreme Court, choose a civil rights case from another state for which the United States Supreme Court issued a decision.

How the Courts Address or Respect Our Rights as Citizens – Outline

Here is a brief description of civil rights and civil liberties: Civil rights refers to equal social opportunities under the law. It gives you these freedoms, such as the right to vote, the right to public education, or a fair trial, among other things, regardless of your wealth or race. Civil liberties mean freedom of religion, equal treatment and due process under the law, and the right to privacy.

You should be able to go online and look up your state and famous cases decided by the Supreme Court. For example, Brown v Board of Education (1951) started in Topeka, Kansas, and ended up in the Supreme Court of the United States. Another example would be Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v Steve Sisolak, Governor of Nevada (2020), which started in Nevada and ended up in the United States Supreme Court. A good source of information about cases decided by the United States Supreme Court is www.scotusblog.com, www.justia.com, or www.oyez.org.

Some other examples of cases include Lau v Nichols, Tinker v Des Moines Independent Community School District, Terry v Ohio, Regents of California v Bakke, Schenck v United States, Plessy v Ferguson, Shelley v Kraemer, Texas v Johnson, Ysleta del Sur Pueblo v Texas, Korematsu v United States, Obergefell v Hodges, Laird v Tatum and Loving v Virginia.

Other sources can be researched online using search terms for “civil rights cases decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.” Be sure to use a case actually decided by the United States Supreme Court, and not a case decided by your state’s supreme court or a different court. A case that is still pending before the United States Supreme Court should not be used. If you are unsure, please contact your Professor BEFORE you pick your case and submit the assignment as this is a significant part of your overall grade.

Research your court case and write an outline of the case that you will be using to prepare a presentation, which will either be a narrated PowerPoint, a Kaltura Video, or some other format as approved by your instructor. If you are unsure, then verify the presentation format with your instructor before starting work on this assignment.

This week’s assignment should include (a) summary of the case; (b) a case outline; and a summary.

Summary of the Case

In one or two paragraphs, provide a general overview of the case that serves as a snapshot of what the case is about and how it ended up in your state high court. A summary is using your words to write a brief history of the case. Do not give your opinion or your interpretation but stick to the facts only.

Case Outline

Your court case outline should include:

Title: Name of the case

Facts of the case: Provide key facts involving the case.

History of the case: What legal action was taken based on what your state laws say about this case?

Legal questions: What were the legal issues the court had to decide?

Decision or holdings: Did the court decide for the plaintiff or the defendant? Explain the reason behind the decision?

Verdict and opinion (judgement): What were the concurring and dissenting opinions? How many judges decided for the defendant and how many justices decided against the defendant? What was the final verdict from the judge or the jury, if it was a jury trial?

Conclusion:

What was the resulting impact of the ruling? How did the citizens of your state benefit from it? Was this a good decision?