The Supreme Court Did WHAT To The 5th Amendment?!

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Published on Thursday, 20 June 2013

Written by Lori Harfenist, RT

While it's great that we're celebrating some major victories for civil rights this Supreme Court term, it's important to remember that not everything they do is great. I'm just as excited about the end of DOMA as the next person, but even aside from the horrible Voting Rights Act decision, here's a serious reality check and a reminder that we can never stop fighting for our rights...

In another 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court has significantly crippled Americans' rights under Miranda and ultimately our Fifth Amendment right to not answer incriminating questions. The ruling set the precedent that if a person is being informally questioned and hasn't been held or arrested in a criminal case, and that person refuses to answer a question, actually remaining silent rather than verbally stating that they are invoking their 5th Amendment right to do the same, then their silence can, indeed, be used against them as evidence of guilt or some other wrongdoing in a court of law.

(Jump all the way to 0:23 to skip the jazzy intro.)

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