This case involves a 23 year-old man named John Doe who
had never finished 9th grade. One day
John was arrested at his home and taken to the police station.
A woman who had just been robbed
and who was at the police station told police that John was
the man who robbed her. The police
took John into a room where they asked him questions for
two hours. At first John kept telling police
that he did not rob the woman. After two hours of questioning,
however, the police got John to sign
a written confession stating that he did rob the woman. A
jury found John guilty largely because of
his written confession. Even though the police were not rough
with John when they questioned him,
John is arguing that the police never told him that he had
a right to not answer the policemen's
questions or that he had a right to have a lawyer in the
room when the police were asking him
questions. The idea of due process that is written into the
Constitution means that the government,
including the police who work for the government, must follow
its own rules when dealing with
people.
