5th Amendment
by: Emily mclain
5th Amendment States:
Amendment Description
Once the US won its independence from Britain, the men who wrote the Constitution did not trust large government They came up with the Bill of Rights to ensure our rights are protected. James Madison introduced the 5th Amendment
The clauses incorporated within the Fifth Amendment outline basic constitutional limits on police procedure. The Framers derived the Grand Juries Clause and the Due Process Clause from the Magna Carta, dating back to 1215. Scholars consider the Fifth Amendment as capable of breaking down into the following five distinct constitutional rights: grand juries for capital crimes, a prohibition on double jeopardy, a prohibition against required self-incrimination, a guarantee that all criminal defendants will have a fair trial, and a promise that the government will not seize private property without paying market value. While the Fifth Amendment originally only applied to federal courts, the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the Fifth Amendment's provisions as now applying to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
A Summary:
Due process of law given to anyone who committed of a crime, people cannot ne tried in court for the same crime more than once(Double Jeopardy). People do not have to testify against themselves if it will lead to there guilt. Instead of answering the question that may lead to incrimination they state "I plead the 5th".
Supreme Court Case
USA. v Causey, Skilling, and Lay 2004.
This case involved executives from The Enron Corporation in which they invoked there right to plead"The 5th Amendment" in there testimony in order not to incriminate themselves of reporting false financial statements and insider trading
Skilling and Lay were found guilty of conspiracy and fraud The false reporting of financial statements and employee testimony gave the jury enough info to make a decision.