due process

noun

1
: a course of formal proceedings (such as legal proceedings) carried out regularly and in accordance with established rules and principles

called also procedural due process

2
: a judicial requirement that enacted laws may not contain provisions that result in the unfair, arbitrary, or unreasonable treatment of an individual

called also substantive due process

Examples of due process in a Sentence

Due process requires that evidence not be admitted when it is obtained through illegal methods.
Recent Examples on the Web Beyond raising fear and due process concerns in immigrant communities, SB4 is also sparking questions around the logistics of enforcement. Henry Gass, The Christian Science Monitor, 28 Feb. 2024 To be relevant under such an analysis, the high court said, a law or similar prohibition would have to date back to either 1791, when the 2nd Amendment was adopted, or 1868, when the 14th Amendment and its related due process protections were adopted. Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 28 Feb. 2024 Cincinnati police union president Ken Kober said his organization represents all officers and they are all entitled to due process. The Enquirer, 26 Feb. 2024 Law enforcement’s approach to due process has also come under greater scrutiny following a federal ruling this summer that the Kansas Highway Patrol violated the civil rights of drivers and a local police department’s raid of the Marion Record. Katie Bernard, Kansas City Star, 23 Feb. 2024 AstraZeneca’s lawyers argued that Medicare’s new powers amount to a taking of their property rights without due process. John Wilkerson, STAT, 31 Jan. 2024 About 75,000 people have been jailed, many without due process, according to human rights groups. Jack Nicas, New York Times, 21 Feb. 2024 This was clearly a violation of due process rights. Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY, 17 Feb. 2024 Courts have issued mixed rulings, with the nation's first law, in Arkansas, struck down by a federal judge who said the ban on care violated the due process rights of transgender youth and their families. CBS News, 10 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'due process.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of due process was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near due process

Cite this Entry

“Due process.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/due%20process. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Legal Definition

due process

noun
1
: a course of formal proceedings (as judicial proceedings) carried out regularly, fairly, and in accordance with established rules and principles

called also procedural due process

2
: a requirement that laws and regulations must be related to a legitimate government interest (as crime prevention) and may not contain provisions that result in the unfair or arbitrary treatment of an individual

called also substantive due process

Note: The guarantee of due process is found in the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which states “no person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” and in the Fourteenth Amendment, which states “nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” The boundaries of due process are not fixed and are the subject of endless judicial interpretation and decision-making. Fundamental to procedural due process is adequate notice prior to the government's deprivation of one's life, liberty, or property, and an opportunity to be heard and defend one's rights to life, liberty, or property. Substantive due process is a limit on the government's power to enact laws or regulations that affect one's life, liberty, or property rights. It is a safeguard from governmental action that is not related to any legitimate government interest or that is unfair, irrational, or arbitrary in its furtherance of a government interest. The requirement of due process applies to agency actions.

3
: the right to due process
acts that violated due process

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