--- title: The Sixth Amendment and Your Right to a Speedy, Public Trial | TIME description: The sixth amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial by jury in the district where the crime was committed and the opportunity to question witnesses. It's fundamental to modern justice. canonical: https://time.com/video/031K5HLB/ og:title: The Sixth Amendment and Your Right to a Speedy, Public Trial og:description: The sixth amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial by jury in the district where the crime was committed and the opportunity to question witnesses. It's fundamental to modern justice. og:url: https://time.com/video/031K5HLB/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/031K5HLB/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Sixth Amendment and Your Right to a Speedy, Public Trial twitter:description: The sixth amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial by jury in the district where the crime was committed and the opportunity to question witnesses. It's fundamental to modern justice. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/031K5HLB/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # The Sixth Amendment and Your Right to a Speedy, Public Trial > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Subscription: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition TIME is a general-interest news organization founded in 1923, reporting on the people, ideas and issues shaping the world. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: The Sixth Amendment and Your Right to a Speedy, Public Trial [Watch (HLS stream): The Sixth Amendment and Your Right to a Speedy, Public Trial](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/031K5HLB.m3u8) (4:29)  _Published 2011-06-28. The sixth amendment guarantees the right to a speedy trial by jury in the district where the crime was committed and the opportunity to question witnesses. It's fundamental to modern justice._ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:14 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy](/video/5RNWfl7X/) ### Your Fourth Amendment Right to Privacy [The Tenth Amendment and States' Rights](/video/5N4osmQj/) ### The Tenth Amendment and States' Rights [The Ninth Amendment and Your Unwritten Rights](/video/M2sW3isF/) ### The Ninth Amendment and Your Unwritten Rights --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] In all criminal prosecutions. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial. 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. The Sixth Amendment really is the centerpiece of our criminal justice system. It is the amendment which most fundamentally guarantees the right of trial by jury. But it doesn't merely guarantee the right of trial by jury. It guarantees the openess of the preceedings. The trial is gonna be a public trial because, the public has a right to a public trial. The press has a right to be there, the people have a right to be there. The idea is partly defendants rights. It is partly about self government. Even if the defendant prefers to be tried somewhere else. No, he's gonna be tried where the blood spilled because that local community has a right to weigh in. [ MUSIC ] 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. The assistance of counsel for his defense. [ MUSIC ] The colonists experienced the inconvenience of trial, the humiliation of trial. Of criminal charges being brought in any manner to prevent insurrection, to act as a consequence for those who spoke poorly of the king, or who worked against the actions of the soldiers or the actions of the government. These protections in the Sixth Amendment were put in place to prevent those types of negative consequences. By an impartial jury. An impartial jury of the state and district were in the crime shall have been committed. On it's face with sixth amendment says that you have the right to an impartial jury and that the jury has to be selected in an area where you live. But that's been interpreted over time to mean that you have the right to a jury of your peers, that in the due process crossed together means. That the government can't exclude groups of people from the jury, either on the basis of race or gender. You know, for a long time, women were excluded from jury service because they had obligations at home. They couldn't take time off to be on a jury and eventually the Supreme Court realized that women couldn't be excluded from the jury. It wouldn't be a fair and impartial jury. [ MUSIC ] And to have the assistance of counsel. The assistance of counsel. For his defense. At the time the Constitution was written, you had a right to the assistance of counsel but nobody was going to pay for a lawyer for you. So if you could afford a lawyer, you got one, and if you couldn't afford a lawyer, then you didn't have one. Back in the 1930s, we had the Scottsboro Boys. They were known as the Scottsboro Boys because these were black boys. Who had been arrested on false charges of rape in Scottsboro, Alabama. And these boys, a group of boys, were tried in one day, sentenced to be executed, and they did not have an attorney. They did not have an attorney. And that case was appealed to the US Supreme Court. And the US supreme court said, in a case involving life or death, you must have an attorney. Until 1963, in the case of Gideon and Pete Rangwrite, the sixth amendment was interpreted to mean that. Only if you are accused of a capital crime, a really serious crime. You are entitled to this assistant, by assistance by a legal counsel. The break through in Gideon the [ INAUDIBLE ] and its really a remarkable story. Gideon was an impoverish pauper who really constructed his own Our legal defense and, and greatly expanded the right to legal counsel to a right enjoyed by anyone accused of any crime, no matter how much. 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