Law discussion responses
1. To understand the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination, one must understand self-incrimination. Self-incrimination only applies to criminal charges that is based on confession or admission. For instance, it can cover statements (oral or written) that can result in criminal liability. This does not include physical evidence such as fingerprints or DNA (Hails, 2014). Under the Fifth Amendment, it protects a person from being compelled to give a testimony that might incriminate him or herself (where this amendment does not apply in civil cases). Looking at the privilege against self-incrimination, no person can be required to make statements that can be used against him or her in a criminal proceeding (Hails, 2014). In some situations, the Fifth Amendment cannot be covered where it can be impossible to file any charges in criminal cases. The three situations are that the statute of limitations has been run, the witness has been granted immunity, or that the witness can’t be prosecuted due to double jeopardy (Hails, 2014). Looking at this, this right is important because it protects yourself from accidentally exposing yourself.
2. Self-incrimination is based on a confession or admission of criminal charges. The Fifth Amendment has rights in place to protect someone from being compelled into giving a testimony that may incriminate him or herself. A defendant cannot be forced into taking the witness stand by anybody in the court because of self-incrimination. There are three instances where charges cannot be filed based on self-incrimination. Hails explains these as, “1. The statute of limitations has run, 2. The witness has been granted immunity, 3. The witness cannot be prosecuted due to double jeopardy” (Hails, 2014). The Supreme Court stated that the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination can only be applied to testimonial evidence whether it’s written or oral.
I do believe this is an important right because there have been cases where people didn’t fully understand their rights and confess to crimes they have not committed. This can be seen with the famous Central Park Five case where 5 innocent teenagers were coerced into confessing crimes they did not commit and had no understanding of their rights. These rights are put in place to prevent this from happening.
3. fifth amendment states “nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself” ( Legal information institute,1992) This means that the defendant has a right to not self incriminate themselves in court if they were asked to testify. This gives the defendant a little bit of a chance to not get charged with the crime. I feel like this right is important for someone who is truly innocent. If they were forced to testify it would not be fair to them because it will reduce the chances of not being sentenced and the defendant can be corrected by the attorney to admit a crime they didn’t commit.
4. Under the Fifth Amendment, it states “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 offense 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 due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation” (Legal Information Institute, 2020). Self-incrimination is only applied to criminal charges but is based on admission or confession. The Fifth Amendment gives a set of rules that protects the individual, so they are not taken advantage of or even tricked. It does not protect every aspect, but it covers not being required to make statements that could later be used against them. In my opinion, the Fifth Amendment is important. Some people do not know what rights they have. If some people did not know any better, they would assume to try to talk themselves out or even explain. It protects people from self-incrimination.
5. The fifth amendment protects individuals from self-incrimination. This ensures there’s no deprivation of life, liberty or property to anyone. Self-incrimination only applies to criminal charges that is based on confession or admission. For instance, it can cover statements (oral or written) that can result in criminal liability. This does not include physical evidence such as fingerprints or DNA (Hails, 2014). An defendant in a criminal trial is protected from giving a statement that’s self-incriminating. The Supreme Court has interpreted the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause as providing two main protections:
procedural due process
, which requires government officials to follow fair procedures before depriving a person of life, liberty, or property, and
substantive due process
, which protects certain
fundamental rights
from government interference. In my humble opinion, this is an important right because this protects the liberties of the people from speaking against themselves.