They teach us in school how the three branches of government in the Constitution check and balance one another. The Bill of Rights, however, has two other checks and balances in place. Interestingly, they are in the private sector, not government. The First Amendment guarantees us the freedom of the press and the Sixth Amendment guarantees us the assistance of counsel in criminal prosecutions. These are important private sector jobs, so important they have constitutional significance and deserve special attention.
When formulating the Bill of Rights, the Founders must have realized that government cannot be counted on to check itself. They needed to go outside the three branches and enter the private sector. By establishing rights to a free press and the assistance of criminal defense counsel, regular private citizens could check all government officials on a daily basis.
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