ABSTRACT
This chapter presents criminal cases to illustrate a struggle between two cherished and not necessarily antithetical values. The conflict is between the public's interest in safety and the public's interest in the protection of individual liberty. Cases on criminal justice are as myriad as the variety of citizen-police-courtroom encounters themselves. Legal representation may well be "a right by which virtually all other rights are protected in practice". Along with other provisions in the Bill of Rights, the protection against self-incrimination stands for the proposition that determining guilt and innocence by fair procedures is as important as punishing the guilty. "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted", declares the Eighth Amendment. By prohibiting "unreasonable searches and seizures", the Fourth Amendment seeks to guard the physical security of all even in a digital age.
