The Constitution
due process
The guarantee that government cannot take life, liberty, or property without fair procedures, and, as courts read it, without adequate justification.
In full
The Fifth Amendment binds the federal government and the Fourteenth binds the states with the same words: no deprivation 'without due process of law.' Procedurally it means notice and a fair hearing. Substantively, courts have read it to protect certain fundamental rights against government interference regardless of procedure, the doctrine behind many of the last century's most contested cases.
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A plain-language explanation for civic education, not legal advice. When in doubt, the official source named above controls.