18 November, 2006

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 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." (Source)

This Amendment deals with several aspects of the Justice System and how they should work. The first is the right to a trial by jury in a criminal case. The court said in Twining v. New Jersey (1908) that the 5th amendment with the self-incrimination clause is only valid in the Federal Courts. This case was later overturned with Mallory v. Hogan (1964) "The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits state infringement of the privilege against self-incrimination just as the Fifth Amendment prevents the Federal Government from denying the privilege."(Source) In these cases you are not required to testify against yourself. You can not be prosecuted for the same case twice. "A substantive crime and a conspiracy to commit that crime are not the same offense for double jeopardy purposes."(Source)

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