Due process of law most certainly acts as bedrock of civil liberty as seen in the Constitution, which upholds this

s by its focus on due process rights and procedures in the 5th and 6th amendments. They were in the first 10 amendments to the constitution, otherwise known as the Bill of Rights, and thereby helped affirm civil liberties. Due process of law exists also in the 14th amendment, but only for interpretation purposes, by requiring states to also have mandatory due process. The Constitutions criteria for due process have two standards, which are substantive (SDP) and procedural due process (PDP). SDP includes fundamental rights the government must accommodate, such as the requirement of a fair and unbalanced trial before taking life, liberty, or property. Intended for the accused, PDP consists of rights (such as the right to counsel) that are granted in a trial. The procedural rights in the 6th amendment, most importantly the right to counsel, take precedence over substantive rights. The Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright affirms this idea. In 1961, Clarence Gideon was accused of petty larceny. Gideon could not afford an attorney, and was forced to defend himself in court, inevitably leading to imprisonment. The Supreme Court later ruled that Gideons Sixth Amendment rights were not fully provided for, and that in the future the 6th amendment must be applied under all circumstances to the 14th amendment. The justices knew that Gideons inability to pay for a lawyer should not have affected his rights, and should not have factored into his innocence. After being granted a second trial with a state-appointed attorney, Gideon was acquitted one hour into deliberation. The importance of the right to counsel stands proven with that; after having a lawyer to counsel and represent him, Gideons innocence was proven. However, even with the best of lawyers, some court cases cannot be won in the defendants favor. With that, the chances of winning a trial pro se are even slimmer. Therefore, an educated lawyer to counsel, more specifically the right to counsel, stands the most essential right to the accused and should be the first right ensured in any trial. The entire process from the beginning of the first trial to the end of the second affirms the importance of criminal rights before and after trial; had the 5th or 14th amendment not been in place to guarantee a trial, Gideon, like any other accused citizen, would have been immediately imprisoned for a crime he did not commit. Gideon was still sentenced, but his post-trial rights, such as prison library access and the right to motion were still important, as those were what instigated his acquitting by allowing him to research his rights and forward his case to the SCOTUS, who eventually ruled in his favor. In light of Gideon v. Wainwright, PDP and criminal rights shall always maintain precedence over SDP as they ensure the accused citizen can defend himself at the standard of the law rather than their ability.