Is “Taking the Fifth” Just for Law and Order Re-runs?
Remember “taking the fifth?” It is more than just a bit of hackneyed dialogue from an old Law and Order rerun. It is one of the most important rights you have under the constitution. It declares that no person “shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” That means no trial for serious offenses without a grand jury indictment, no repeated trials for the same offense, no condemnation without trial, no compulsion to be a witness against oneself, and no seizure of your property for public use except at a fair price. See, pretty important stuff. But when Congress passed the Military Commissions Act last summer, it essentially gave the Bush Administration the right to detain anyone labeled an “unlawful enemy combatant” – without charge or trial – for as long as it pleases. Oh, well that’s only for foreign terrorists, right? Wrong! Such practices have already been used against American citizens – not found on some faraway battlefield – but right here on our o
