The United States has one of the highest violent crime rates in the world. It is not surprising, therefore, that many citizens have extremely strong opinions about the rights of those accused of criminal offenses. When an accused person is set free because of an apparent legal technicality, some people feel that the rights of the accused are being given more weight than the rights of society and victims of crime. The courts and the police must constantly engage in a balancing act of competing rights. At the basis of this discussion is the U.S. Bill of Rights. The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments deal specifically with the rights of criminal defendants