Free Essays on Due Process

Due process is best defined in one word-fairness. Throughout the history of the United States, its constitutions, statues and case law have provided standards for fair treatment of citizens by federal, state and local governments. These standards are known as due process. Due process of law is administered through courts of justice in accordance with established and sanctioned legal principles and procedures, and the safeguards for the protection of individual rights. When or if at anytime a person is treated unfairly by the government, the criminal justice system (to include the courts), that person is said to have been deprived of or denied his/her due process. it is often referred to in such terms as the "law of the land" and "legal judgement of his peers." The first time these expressions were used in the sense of due process was in the great charter of English liberty, the Magna Carter. In the United States, the phrase due process first appears in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified December 15, 1791. the amendment refers specifically to federal and not state actions, therefore another amendment was necessary to include the states. this was accomplished by the 14th Amendment, ratified July 9, 1868. As a result of the ratification, it was established at both federal and state levels that no person "shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." Recently, the United States Supreme Court has placed emphasis on procedural safeguards in the administration of criminal justice in federal and state cours. As determined by custom and law, due process has become a guarantee of civil as well as criminal rights. Through interpretation of the law, due process has grown to include, among other things, provision for ensuring an accused person a fair and public trial before a competent tribunal, the right to be present at the trial, and the right ot be heard in his/her own defe... Free Essays on Due Process Free Essays on Due Process The phrase ''due process of law'' does not necessarily imply a proceeding in a court or a plenary suit and trial by jury in every case where personal or property rights are involved. 25 ''In all cases, that kind of procedure is due process of law which is suitable and proper to the nature of the case, and sanctioned by the established customs and usages of the courts.'' 26 What is unfair in one situation may be fair in another. 27 ''The precise nature of the interest that has been adversely affected, the manner in which this was done, the reasons for doing it, the available alternatives to the procedure that was followed, the protection implicit in the office of the functionary whose conduct is challenged, the balance of hurt complained of and good accomplishedthese are some of the considerations that must enter into the judicial judgment.'' 28 n. a fundamental principle of fairness in all legal matters, both civil and criminal, especially in the courts. All legal procedures set by statute and court practice, including notice of rights, must be followed for each individual so that no prejudicial or unequal treatment will result. While somewhat indefinite, the term can be gauged by its aim to safeguard both private and public rights against unfairness. The universal guarantee of due process is in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides "No person shall†¦be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law," and is applied to all states by the 14th Amendment. From this basic principle flows many legal decisions determining both procedural and substantive rights.... Free Essays on Due Process Due process is best defined in one word-fairness. Throughout the history of the United States, its constitutions, statues and case law have provided standards for fair treatment of citizens by federal, state and local governments. These standards are known as due process. Due process of law is administered through courts of justice in accordance with established and sanctioned legal principles and procedures, and the safeguards for the protection of individual rights. When or if at anytime a person is treated unfairly by the government, the criminal justice system (to include the courts), that person is said to have been deprived of or denied his/her due process. it is often referred to in such terms as the "law of the land" and "legal judgement of his peers." The first time these expressions were used in the sense of due process was in the great charter of English liberty, the Magna Carter. In the United States, the phrase due process first appears in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified December 15, 1791. the amendment refers specifically to federal and not state actions, therefore another amendment was necessary to include the states. this was accomplished by the 14th Amendment, ratified July 9, 1868. As a result of the ratification, it was established at both federal and state levels that no person "shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." Recently, the United States Supreme Court has placed emphasis on procedural safeguards in the administration of criminal justice in federal and state cours. As determined by custom and law, due process has become a guarantee of civil as well as criminal rights. Through interpretation of the law, due process has grown to include, among other things, provision for ensuring an accused person a fair and public trial before a competent tribunal, the right to be present at the trial, and the right ot be heard in his/her own defe...

Island of Stability - Discovering Superheavy Elements

Island of Stability - Discovering Superheavy Elements The island of stability is that wondrous place where heavy isotopes of elements stick around long enough to be studied and used. The island is located within a sea of radioisotopes that decay into daughter nuclei so quickly its difficult for scientists to prove the element existed, much less use the isotope for a practical application. Key Takeaways: Island of Stability The island of stability refers to a region of the periodic table consisting of super-heavy radioactive elements that have at least one isotope with a relatively long half-life.The nuclear shell model is used to predict the location of the islands, based on maximizing the binding energy between protons and neutrons.Isotopes on the island are believed to have magic numbers of protons and neutrons that allow them to maintain some stability.Element 126, should it ever be produced, is believed to have an isotope with a long enough half-life that it can be studied and potentially used. History of the Island Glenn T. Seaborg coined the phrase island of stability in the late 1960s. Using the nuclear shell model, he proposed filling the energy levels of a given shell with the optimal number of protons and neutrons would maximize binding energy per nucleon, permitting that particular isotope to have a longer half-life than other isotopes, which did not have filled shells. Isotopes that fill nuclear shells possess what are called magic numbers of protons and neutrons. Finding the Island of Stability The location of the island of stability is predicted based on known isotope half-lives and predicted half-lives for elements that have not been observed, based on calculations relying on the elements behaving like those above them on the periodic table (congeners) and obeying equations that account for relativistic effects. The proof that the island of stability concept is sound came when physicists were synthesizing element 117. Although the isotope of 117 decayed very quickly, one of the products of its decay chain was an isotope of lawrencium that had never been observed before. This isotope, lawrencium-266, displayed a half-life of 11 hours, which is extraordinarily long for an atom of such a heavy element. Previously known isotopes of lawrencium had fewer neutrons and were much less stable. Lawrencium-266 has 103 protons and 163 neutrons, hinting at as-yet-undiscovered magic numbers that may be used to form new elements. Which configurations might possess magic numbers? The answer depends who you ask, because its a matter of calculation and theres not standard set of equations. Some scientists suggest there might be an island of stability around 108, 110, or 114 protons and 184 neutrons. Others suggest a spherical nucleus with 184 neutrons, but 114, 120, or 126 protons might work best. Unbihexium-310 (element 126) is doubly magic because its proton number (126) and neutron number (184) are both magic number. However you roll the magic dice, data obtained from the synthesis of elements 116, 117, and 118 point toward increasing half-life as the neutron number approached 184. Some researchers believe the best island of stability might exists at much larger atomic numbers, like around element number 164 (164 protons). Theorists are investigating the region where Z 106 to 108 and N is around 160-164, which appears sufficiently stable with respect to beta decay and fission. Making New Elements from the Island of Stability Although scientists might be able to form new stable isotopes of known elements, we dont have the technology to go much past 120 (work which is currently underway). Its likely a new particle accelerator will need to be constructed that would be capable of focusing onto a target with greater energy. Well also need to learn to make larger amounts of known heavy nuclides to serve as targets for making these new elements. New Atomic Nucleus Shapes The usual atomic nucleus resembles a solid ball of protons and neutrons, but atoms of elements on the island of stability may take new shapes. One possibility would be a bubble-shaped or hollow nucleus, with the protons and neutrons forming a sort of shell. Its hard to even imagine how such a configuration might affect the properties of the isotope. One thing is certain, though... there are new elements yet to be discovered, so the periodic table of the future will look very different from the one we use today.