So, tell us, WPF, why did the Founders enact the Fifth Amendment?
Originally Posted by CuteOldGuy
The
Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides that "no person ... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." The right was created in reaction to the excesses of the
Courts of Star Chamber and High Commission—British courts of equity that operated from 1487-1641. These courts utilized the inquisitorial method of truth-seeking as opposed to the prosecutorial, meaning that prosecutors did not bear the burden of proving a case, but that sufficient "proof" came from browbeating confessions out of the accused.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_a...come_from.html
Bonus Explainer: In the statement he made today before Congress, Lay quoted from an unnamed 2001 Supreme Court opinion stating that one of the
Fifth Amendment's "basic functions …
is to protect innocent men …" What was the case?
Answer: Ohio v. Reiner, a unanimous opinion reversing the Ohio Supreme Court's ruling that a witness who denies all culpability doesn't have a legitimate Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.