Overview

The Fifth Amendment packs a lot of rights into one paragraph; Grand Juries, double jeopardy, self-incrimination, right to due process and forfeiture of private property are all covered. We, as the public, are probably most aware of ""Taking the Fifth"" beloved of politicians and arch criminals alike. The idea of a person having the right not to be a witness against themselves has a very long history starting with Judaic law. That history is traced here traversing the middle ages and oath taking, the Inquisition, church courts and double jeopardy, the contest between common law and ecclesiastical courts, its use and abuse in Tudor and Jacobean England and, finally, its interpretation in colonial America. All of this history and law informed James Madison when he drafted the Fifth Amendment and Robert McWhirter here recounts that long arc and its influence. This lively account is written for the interested citizen, as well as the civics student and there are surprising, and interesting, diversions into the way the events and personalities surrounding the Fifth Amendment have appeared in literature, film, sports and popular culture. This book was originally published as chapter five of Bills, Quills, and Stills: An Annotated, Illustrated, and Illuminated History of the Bill of Rights.

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9781945682056

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Reviews

Encyclopedic in its scope and presentation of the story behind the enactment of the Bill of Rights. From start to finish, Bob McWhirter shows himself to be an excellent guide for an enjoyable journey into the past. --George T Anagnost Arizona Attorney magazine A great book that appeals to all ages interested in an unbiased history of our country's founding fathers and their objectives. It has great coverage of famous British cases, whose outcome was abhorred by the American colonists and who, as a result, insisted that the constitution provided express safeguards prohibiting similar violations of individual rights in America. --Richard Coffinger Attorney-at-Law

Author Information

Robert McWhirter is an acknowledged authority on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights on which he has written and lectured widely both to academic and legal audiences as well as civic institutions. His earlier work was published by the American Bar Association. He appears regularly on Arizona Public Television's Horizon program explaining the legality and history surrounding the challenges to, and interpretation of, the Constitution. Robert also specializes in criminal law on which he has published widely. He presently practices as a criminal defense lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona.

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