What's in the Fifth Amendment

Bob Loblaw has a great post about one of the most amazing decisions I've ever seen.  What is the Fifth?

Comments

[KipEsquire]

This one scared me in ways that I have never been scared before.

[Windypundit]

Katya Komisaruk used to have a large web site of useful information about police encounters, and her advice was to use the magic words "I'm going to remain silent. I'd like to see a lawyer." Practice it, use it, use it every time you break your silence. It sounded good to me then, and it sounds even better now.

[Mahan Atma]

"I'm going to remain silent. I'd like to see a lawyer."

It's important to ask specifically for a lawyer, not just the right to remain silent. By asking for a lawyer, you (technically) prevent them from re-initiating the interrogation at a later time.

[A. Zarkov]

I heard an allegation that Ken Starr ignored Monica Lewinsky’s request for a lawyer because her lawyer did not practice criminal law. It’s also alleged that she was held for 8 hours against her wishes.

So what do you do if the police (or the FBI) simply ignore your requests and keep on questioning you under duress? This happens and the police simply deny everything. Unlike most civil police departments these days, the FBI does not routinely videotape interrogations. In that way it becomes your word against the FBI agents. This is exactly what happened in the Wen Ho Lee case. The case against Lee unraveled because of government misbehavior. That’s too bad because Lee was involved in perhaps the biggest security breach in the history of the US government. The source code for our nuclear weapons design computer programs was compromised. One neede to realize these codes contain a tremendous amount of empirical data acquired at great expense over many years of testing.

[Bobbie]

Honestly, this decision "scared" you in ways you've never been scared before? You must live a very sheltered life.

While I think this case was wrongly decided -- I don't find anything ambigious about the phrase, even in context -- but it doesn't scream out as an injustice.

[S.cotus]

Mr. Zarkov, Monica was never charged with a crime. (Sleeping your way to the middle is not a crime in DC, anyway.) Arguably she might have asserted a Bivens claim against Starr, but she did not.

Whatever the case, in dealing with people like Monica, they are usually very reluctant stand confront people like Starr and demand a lawyer. People like her think they can schmooze their way out of trouble.