Few legal terms have found their way into the popular lexicon the way “due process of law” has. When someone complains that he is being denied “due process,” the person is generally expressing a sense of unfairness about the procedures that were, or will be, used to ascertain the truth of charges of misconduct against him.
The Hon. Daniel J. Klau
Daniel J. Klau is a Superior Court judge for the State of Connecticut.
Posted inCT Viewpoints
First Monday: Bad acts and guilty minds — the twin attributes of a crime
Some unlawful acts are considered civil offenses, for which the payment of money to compensate for an injury is sufficient penance. But other illegal acts are deemed crimes, the commission of which indelibly brands the defendant a “criminal” and exposes him to the loss of personal liberty — jail.