Arguments Against The 13th Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment addresses various aspects of citizenship in the United States as well as the rights citizens are afforded. The most profound clause used in this Amendment is the due process clause which addresses equal protection of the laws. Overall the goal of the 14th Amendment was to ensure the enactment of the Civil Rights Act (1866) remained valid to ensure that every person born in the United States were citizens and were entitled to full and equal benefit of all laws. Nonetheless, the Fourteenth Amendment has gone beyond the provisions of the Civil Rights Act (Snavely, 1968).
Nonetheless, in the case of In re Gault, he was not afforded due process. The justice system failed to give him and his parents notice of the charges against him, failed to advise him that he could be represented by counsel, confront his accuser and witnesses or was protected against self-incrimination
In this view, it would be astonishing if the United States Constitution did not require regular procedures and be consistent with it. Overall, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Gault’s favor and stated that juveniles tried for crimes in should have the right of due process as protected by the 14th Amendment, including the right to confront witnesses, and the right to obtain counsel which is guaranteed by the 6th Amendment (Snavely, 1968). In this ruling the Supreme Court also held that the purpose of the juvenile court was correction and not punishment. Juvenile proceedings are in no way criminal trials. They are considered to be adversary hearings in that whether the child is a delinquent, neglected, defective or dependent, the purpose and mission is to correct their condition as opposed to punishing them (Snavely,