Due process of law describes proper legal procedures but also has additional meanings in American constitutional law. The essential guarantee of due process is fairness, although its implementation in practice depends on the particular institutions of a given legal system; trial by jury, adversary proceedings, and certain rules of evidence, for instance, are specific to the common law system and not necessarily universal requirements. In general, procedural propriety means that disputes are resolved according to law; that is, courts are open and available to litigants, decisions are rendered by learned and impartial judges, and judgments are promptly and effectively enforced. All U.S. state constitutions expressly guarantee due process of law, using either those words or the synonymous phrase "by the law of the land." The U.S. Constitution, in keeping with the federal form of American government, contains two guarantees: The...