Originally published by Legaltech News
Due process is a fundamental component of the American system of
law and justice. It has substantive and procedural components, and,
at its core, is the thread of fundamental fairness that allows our
judicial system to stand as an example for the world.
The intellectual foundation of due process can be tracked back
to our nation's founding and the founders' quest to
eliminate the risk of tyrannical governmental intrusions upon
liberty. For example, in "Federalist Papers No. 84,"
Alexander Hamilton, invoking the words of the 18th century British
legal scholar Sir William Blackstone, wrote of due process:
"To bereave a man of life ... or by violence to confiscate
his estate, without accusation or trial, would be so gross and
notorious an act of despotism as must at once convey the alarm of
tyranny throughout the whole nation; but confinement of the person,
by secretly hurrying him to jail, where his sufferings are unknown
or
