1.  The Right to a Jury Trial and Access to Evidence

The Supreme Court in Duncan v. Louisiana, 391 U.S. 145 (1968), held that the right to a jury trial is a fundamental right incorporated to the States through the 14th Amendment, emphasizing the necessary protections it affords the accused.  However, in District Attorney's Office v. Osborne, 557 U.S. 52 (2009), the Court held that an accused does not have a due process right under the United States Constitution to obtain evidence to conduct DNA testing to prove actual innocence.  

a.  In your own words, explain whether the above statements about the rulings in Duncan and Osborne fully and accurately capture what the Supreme Court decided.  Consider the core reasoning behind these rulings in your explanation.  

b.  Given that the Due Process Clause is intended to protect the rights of the accused, how should public policy address the balance between these rights and the limitations imposed by the Osborne decision?  Should policy reforms be considered to ensure greater access to evidence like DNA testing, and if so, how?  

2.  The Right to Privacy and Its Evolution

The Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, 410 US 113 (1973), held that the Due Process Clause includes an inherent "right to privacy" of which affords women the right to choose to have an abortion.  This reasoning followed in a long line of cases addressing the fundamental right to privacy.  The Supreme Court recently overruled Roe in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, 597 US ____ (2022), and held that the right to an abortion is not a fundamental right protected by the Due Process Clause.  

a.  Discuss whether the Dobbs decision only applies to abortion issues, or if it also threatens other court rulings that established the fundamental right to privacy.  Include examples from the majority opinion to support your view.  

b.  Considering the potential shift in how the right to privacy is viewed after Dobbs, what could be the implications for privacy rights in criminal justice?  

Instructions:

Post your initial response by Thursday of the current week at 11:59pm [EST]. Initial responses must be at least 300 words.

Reply to at least two (2) of your classmates’ posts and with a cite to an independent source (Don't simply agree or disagree and cite to your original posting, the purpose is to create a true discussion). Replies must be posted by Sunday of the current week at 11:59pm [ET] and must be at least 150 words each.

You must answer the questions thoroughly and cite all relevant assigned readings for that week including the specific page numbers (using APA format).

Your outside sources must be  scholarly (e.g., peer-reviewed journals) and/or reputable (e.g., an article from The New York Times, a chapter from another textbook). Please do not refer to or incorporate information from extremely unreliable sources (e.g., Wikipedia, TMZ, blogs).  I encourage you to use Nexis-Uni on the library's website which has access to many more scholarly publications than a regular internet search.

Posts must be respectful, well-written, free of grammatical errors, relevant to the topic, and demonstrate critical thinking and analysis.

Posts must be original and in your own words. Please note that discussion forum posts are subject to review by a plagiarism detection program. 

Please note that discussion posts must be timely, especially considering you are relying on other students to post your reply posts.