Amendment V

Amendment V

“No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without dues process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

The first section of the 5^th amendment guarantees that an individual does not have to commit to a crime at any point during interrogation or investigation. No officer can lawfully force a person to confess to a crime or say anything that could be considered incriminating. This section also states that no citizen can be held captive for a crime without being indicted which means, there have to be formal steps in criminal proceedings that include indictment of a Grand Jury. This protects citizens from being subject to the underhanded tactics that government and/or law enforcement may try to use in order to intimidate people they consider suspects of crimes. This demands that matters of criminal justice be public in order to ensure justice among the people.

             The second section of the Fifth Amendment protects the people from being tried for the same crime more than once and guarantees citizens punishment only after a lawful trial. This also limits the power of the states and government. This stems from the British Government exploiting citizens whenever there was criminal suspicion. The British Government had full reign to behave the way it felt and if an individual was suspected of committing a crime, there was no limit to what that person may have had to endure whether innocent or guilty.

            The third section of this amendment guarantees that there has to be “just compensation” for any taking of private property. This can be a sticky situation if you have private property that a private developer wants to buy in order to build a community pool; according to the Supreme Court, the government could sell your property to a company that wants to build a community pool on your property.

I like the way this video breaks down what is considered “testimonial” and “non-testimonial” as far as Fifth Amendment Rights are concerned. It explains that courts can mandate a person comply with authorities in matters that are non-testimonial such as handing over a key to a locked box, but NOT in matters considered testimonial such as giving authorities a password to computer that may have incriminating evidence. The video explains that the difference between a password/combination and handing over a key is that the actual placing of the key in authorities’ hand is not a testimony, while to give out a personal password or combination is considered testimonial.

This video clip highlights Enron’s acknowledgement and exercise of the Fifth Amendment in court and throughout the case. Although they were found guilty, they were not forced to answer any incriminating questions and often refused to answer these types of questions. I believe it is necessary to protect citizens from unlawful act of the government and law enforcement, but I also believe that in instances where suspected criminals who come from extremely low economic backgrounds (unlike exec at Enron)are by default more susceptible to their rights being infringed upon without them even knowing it or being able to fight for their rights.