Due Process of Law
Definition of Due Process of Law
Note: See a more comprehensive approach to the Due Process of Law legal concept in the American Law Encyclopedia
Legal concept representing the normal and regular administration of law. Due process is founded on the principle that government may not act arbitrarily or capriciously. It means that government may only act in ways established by law and under such limitations as the law imposes to protect individual rights. There are constitutional provisions at both the federal and state levels designed to ensure that laws will be reasonable both in substance and in means of implementation. Due process language is contained in two clauses of the U.S. Constitution. The Fifth Amendment prohibits deprivation of “life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” and sets a limit on arbitrary and unreasonable actions by the federal government. The Fourteenth Amendment contains parallel language aimed at the states. Due process requires that actions of government occur through ordered and regular processes. It subjects those processes to constitutional and statutory limits in the protection of individual rights. There are two kinds of due process. The first is procedural due process, which focuses on the methods or procedures by which governmental policies are executed. It guarantees fairness in the process by which government imposes regulations or sanctions. Procedural due process requires that a person be formally notified of any proceeding in which he or she is a party, and he or she be afforded an opportunity to an impartial hearing. Additional procedural rights have been enumerated in the Bill of Rights. Through the process of incorporation, most Bill of Rights protections have been applied as limitations on the states through the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Substantive due process represents the second kind of due process. It involves the reasonableness of policy content. Policies may deny substantive due process when they do not relate rationally to legitimate legislative objectives or when they are impermissibly vague. The distinction between procedural and substantive due process directly involves the nature of judicial review. When the U.S. Supreme Court examines a policy for procedural fairness, it makes only a limited review. It does not engage in consideration of legislative motive or the wisdom of the enactment. Appraisal of the reasonableness of substance, however, allows the Court to act as an extension of the legislative process. Since most state enactments impinge on property interests, the due process clause has provided the Court with a comprehensive method by which to judge state regulatory measures.
See Also
Incorporation (Judicial Function) Judicial Review (Judicial Function) Procedural Due Process (Judicial Function) Substantive Due Process (Judicial Function).
Resources
Due Process of Law Related Resources
- Due Process of Law in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
- Judicial Function Keywords in the United States Legal Encyclopedia
- Judicial Function Keywords in the International Legal Dictionary
Notes
- “Due Process of Law”, The American Law Dictionary, 1991, California
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