Bill of Rights - Sixth Amendment Rights

What is the exact wording of the Sixth Amendment?

The exact wording of the Sixth Amendment is:

"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 defense."

Now let's break the Sixth Amendment down into segments and see what it says:

Hear is the first Segment of the Sixth Amendment:

"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..."

Any US Citizen accused of a crime has the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation, have a public trial, with an impartial jury, within the district the crime was committed, without waiting an unreasonable amount of time for the trial to take place.  This is all pretty self-explanatory and a great deal of this is in our Miranda warning most people associate with the Fifth Amendment as described in my Fifth Amendment post.  Another portion often known as a speedy trial is to prevent US Citizens from being locked up for years without ever seeing the inside of a courtroom.  Our Founding Fathers wanted to ensure we were never mistreated in this manner as was routinely done in many parts of Europe.

Hear is the Second Segment of the Sixth Amendment:

"...to be confronted with the witnesses against him..."

Ensures the accused confronts any accusers.  The main reason for this is because a basically honest person usually has a very hard time lying to someones face if they are wrongfully accusing that person of a crime.  It also does the converse and allows the accuser to positively identify the the accused to ensure the correct person is in custody for the crime.  If the proper person is in custody, the accuser will know the actual perpetrator of the crime is punished for the crime.

Hear is the Third Segment of the Sixth Amendment:

"...to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defense."

This segment of the Sixth Amendment is self-explanatory and simply states the accused has the right to an attorney and may gather witnesses through a compulsory process.