How the Fifth Amendment Protects the People

by Theodore Morrison, age 17

“We the people of the United States,” is how the United States Constitution begins. One key part the Constitution that protects citizens is the Fifth Amendment.

The Constitution establishes the powers and restrictions of federal and state governments, and through numerous amendments, the unalienable rights intended to establish a free and prosperous society. Among those unalienable rights, the Fifth Amendment immortalizes the rights against self-incrimination, seizure of property without just compensation, the denial of due process, and double jeopardy.

The first part of the clause is the right against double jeopardy, which is the subjugation of a person to the same criminal accusation on multiple occasions. This is central to the idea that the American citizen is entitled to some assurance that they will not be harassed by government overreach. The right guarantees that if the government levies a charge against you and you are found innocent, they cannot charge you again with that same crime.

There are some situations, such as a mistrial where the trial may end before judgment is made, when double jeopardy does not apply. Regardless, the right against double jeopardy assures the American public of their relative equality before the law and that someone accused of a crime have just one trial of facts.

The second part of the clause is the right against self-incrimination. When someone “pleads the fifth” when arrested, it is referring to this clause. It guarantees that law enforcement cannot force you to provide statements when those statements could be used to incriminate yourself. This has been used to invalidate confessions and other incriminating statements when law enforcement caused such duress that the statements could not have been made willingly. The right against self-incrimination is a fundamental building block of our justice system.

The third part of the clause is the right to due process, which guarantees that the government cannot deprive a person of life, liberty, or property without a fair legal proceeding. This assures anyone arrested for a crime that they will have their day in court. It also means that the government has to follow particular rules in order to make an arrest, charge someone with a crime, or seize property. The right to due process is the backbone of the justice system, promising that the government must prove someone’s guilt before taking away their rights.

The fourth and final clause is the right to fair compensation upon a seizure of private property by the government for public use. This lays out a governmental right to seize private property in the interests of the collective public, such as certain roads or public building projects. While it lays out the governmental right to seizure, it also guarantees the right of the property owner to receive just compensation for the seizure, such that the exchange is not a theft but a forced purchase. It is with the ideals of a free market for people to deal their property as they see fit that the Founding Fathers also articulated a need for the government to take such action in the best interests of the general public.

The Fifth Amendment guards the public against the overreach of government, such actions that would otherwise impose tyranny upon the people of the United States. Tyranny can take many forms: imprisoning someone without process or appeal, government seizure of property, harassment by law enforcement, tyranny of many other forms, all of which harm liberty. It is through the protections of the Fifth Amendment that American citizen can live without worry of an unfair government. The Founding Fathers’ vision was a fair and free system that respects the inherent rights of all people.

[Sources: National Archives; Constitution Annotated; Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute; Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum; Slate]