Prevention

• The U.S. Constitution prevents the government from violating the civil rights and liberties of the criminally accused by putting restraints on how police and prosecutors can act with a suspect. To violate an individual's rights can produce unreliable and unfair convictions.
  
  

Truth Finding

• A criminal trial is the balance of the government's right to present information with the accused's rights to present witnesses to testify and to have effective counsel. The rules of evidence are an essential part of criminal procedure law because they regulate what the jury hears about both the crime as well as about the accused.
  
  

Justice

• The Sixth Amendment grants everyone the right to attend any criminal court proceeding. This encourages the participants to be accountable to the citizenry, and in turn, this accountability strengthens the likelihood that justice will prevail.
  
  

Investigations

• The U.S. Constitution allows law enforcement to investigate criminal cases without stumbling over technicalities. Meaning, the police can operate in the field without fear that good faith investigative efforts will breach Constitutional rules and sour a criminal prosecution.
  
  

Respect

• Respect for victims' rights has gained momentum in the last thirty years, adding a new component to criminal procedure laws. The victims' rights movement seeks to protect victims' privacy, dignity and their right to be made whole financially.