OPINION: We're all entitled to due process

Many people agree that one of the reasons for the second amendment to the United States Constitution, the right to bear arms, is to protect citizens from the government itself. An unarmed populace would be at the mercy of a government that wanted to establish a king rather than a president. The patriots who fought for our freedom from an oppressive English king could not have done so without their weapons. 

Those same patriots knew the rights they fought for needed to be stated in the Constitution. In 1791, the Constitution was amended to state those rights, all of which are included in the concept that a “person” cannot be deprived of liberty or property without “due process of law.”  

 What is due process? At a minimum, the Constitution spells it out: 

• The government must have warrants for searches and for arrests; 

• You can’t be compelled to testify against yourself; 

• You have a right to know the charges against you; 

• In most cases, you are entitled to a jury trial; 

• To have reasonable bail while your case is pending; 

• To confront the witnesses against you; 

• To be able to subpoena witnesses in your defense; 

• and to have an attorney to help you. 

These rights apply equally to every “person.” These rights set us apart from most other countries in the world. 

Why is this important? For example, our elected government has decided that too many people are in the country illegally, so those people must be deported. But if we deport people without due process that is guaranteed to every person, we have violated our Constitution, plain and simple. And this guarantee includes everyone — from those who are in the country illegally, to people accused of assassination — all are entitled to due process of law. 

As an attorney, I spent several years as a public defender. People often asked how I could defend those criminals?  

The answer was simple. By defending those accused of crimes, I was not only defending those individuals, I was defending the Constitution itself. If there were no one to make sure that a person accused of a crime had the rights I’ve just described, the Constitution would be a meaningless piece of paper.  

You may think that immigrants do not believe in our values, but they are entitled to due process. The man who assassinated Charlie Kirk is entitled to due process. The man who assassinated Melissa Hortman and her husband is entitled to due process.  

Due process doesn’t mean a person avoids consequences. The man who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband was entitled to due process and was convicted and sentenced, after his guilt was determined. 

Even though we argue among ourselves, resort to name-calling and labeling, we have a common bond. Due process. It should be our paramount bond. Americans right or left must defend and uphold our Constitution. The rights we have are not negotiable. Know your rights. Stand up for others. Violation of those rights must be called out no matter which party is in power. If any elected official, left or right, is calling for actions that violate our Constitutional rights, we must demand that they stop. Write them, call and tell them to stop.

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Steve McCrea is a Coeur d’Alene resident.