◆ SpookStack

—2— Our Constitution and our traditions establish the ground rules for the investigation and prosecution of criminal cases, Ours is an “accusatorial’ system: the defendant is presumed to be innocent and the burden is on the prosecution to prove him guilty beyond a reason- able doubt. A fair public trial is guaranteed. So is the right to counsel and the right of confrontation and trial by jury. There is the privilege against self-incrimina- tion, which among other things means that the defendant is not obligated to cooperate with his accusers in provid- ing the evidence of his guilt. His confession may not be coerced no matter how subtle the tactics. At trial he cannot be compelled to testify and his failure to take the stand may not be held against him or even com- mented upon by the prosecution or the trial judge. The police are restrained from unreasonable searches and seizures—a man's home being his castle; and. no matter how despicable the aceused may be, if the police lawlessly invade the precincts that the Fourth Amend- nent makes sacrosanct. the evidence that is unlawfully obtained is inadmissible at the trial. The Constitution, in other words, places obstacles in the path of police. prosecutors, juries. and judges. It purposefully makes criminal investigations and prosecu- tions difficult, not easy. The Fourth, Fifth. Sixth and Seventh Amendments make this abundantly clear. The theory reflects the attitude of our eighteenth century forebears. They wanted to take government off the hacks of the people. Modern constitutions of the newly emerged nations talk in terms of things that government must do for the people. Ours talks in terns of things that government cannot do to the people. The Framers erected by design high fences around the homes and offices of the people and built a sanctuary for the indi- vidual, honoring and respeeting his dignity and privacy no matter how unpopular or suspect he might be,