The Sixth Amendment

The Text

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

What It Says

If you are charged with a crime you get a trial that is prompt and open to the public, before a jury drawn from the place where the crime happened. You must be told what you are accused of, you must be able to face and question the witnesses against you, you can compel witnesses to appear for you, and you get a lawyer.

What It Protects Against

Secret proceedings and trial far from home. The vicinage requirement exists because the Crown transported colonists across the Atlantic to be tried in England, where no local jury could acquit them and no witness for the defense could reasonably appear.

Sourced to a ratification-era document. See Contemporaneous Defense below.

Problem Addressed

The Administration of Justice Act of 1774 permitted trials of colonial officials to be moved to England or another colony. The Declaration of Independence names transporting us beyond Seas to be tried among the grievances.

Contemporaneous Defense

The Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, lists both the deprivation of trial by jury and transportation beyond the seas for trial as grievances, and the ratifying conventions in Virginia and elsewhere pressed for explicit protection of local jury trial.