The Right to Assemble

The United States is a nation built on the foundation of rights—the right to freedom of speech, the right to due process, the right to privacy, the right to protection by your government, the right to protection from your government. Over the course of recent years, our nation has seen the assertion and challenging of many of these rights and others. Some of these contrasting points of view with regard to our rights have been said to be opposite sides of the same coin. For instance, advocates for the Patriot Act would argue that the laws contained within this act serve to ensure the rights and freedoms of American citizens by “providing for the common defense.” Those opposed to the act would argue that the actions allowed under these laws infringe upon the rights of those same citizens by allowing unconstitutional invasions of privacy. On one hand, we see the assurance of the right of one citizen to their security and defense. On the other, the assurance of this one right will infringe upon another’s right to privacy. With each right that we are afforded, we are tasked with the responsibility to not allow our assertion of that right to infringe upon the rights of another.
The introductory chapters of your textbook enumerate several rights afforded American citizens with regard to the criminal justice system and its processes. In this assignment, you will choose any right you wish that has direct implications to some aspect of the criminal justice system. You are to analyze this right and any responsibilities that are necessary to ensuring other rights are not infringed by the assertion of this right. In this essay, you must answer four questions.
What is this right and what does it afford the citizen?
Where is this right enumerated—US Constitution, SCOTUS Ruling, Federal act?
What rights might this right infringe upon?
How can the conflicting rights be balanced to ensure equal protection to all citizens? Note that some rights have already had this balance defined by the courts so be sure to address these.
This essay must be at least two pages in length but there is no maximum length. The essay must be typed in accordance with standards outlined in the course syllabus, to include all APA formatting guidelines. You should have at least three academic sources.

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