Fifth Amendment Rights

Unequal Protection: Unequal Uses for the Bill of Rights

The statistic in this chapter’s epigraph is sobering indeed. It says corporations sought protection under the Fourteenth Amendment a hundred times more often than did the people it was intended to protect. And this is not a victimless shift—there have been real and substantial consequences. In the years following the Santa Clara decision and the cases that referred to it, companies have used their personhood rights in an amazing variety of ways. What follows in this chapter is a small selection.

First Amendment

Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. noted in the landmark 1919 Shenck v. United States case that shouting “Fire!” in a crowded theater does not constitute free speech; the Bill of Rights guarantees that a person’s opinion can be expressed, not that there are no limits on what one can do. But consider how this fundamental freedom has been bent by corporations since Santa Clara.

By claiming the same right as humans to express themselves, companies won approval to spend whatever they want on lobbyists in Washington. At one point there was a full-time tobacco lobbyist for every two legislators on Capitol Hill. As of 2005 there were roughly 64 registered lobbyists for every member of Congress, and 138 of them are former members of Congress. Include state lobbyists, and there are more than 60,000 (because of variations in state laws on what is or isn’t a lobbyist, and who and how they should register, this may well be a significant underestimate: nobody really knows the true number). 1

As Jeffrey H. Birnbaum noted in the Washington Post in June 2005, “The number of registered lobbyists in Washington has more than doubled since 2000 to more than 34,750 while the amount that lobbyists charge their new clients has increased by as much as 100 percent. Only a few other businesses have enjoyed greater prosperity in an otherwise fitful economy.” 2

He added that “lobbying firms can’t hire people fast enough” and that salaries started at $300,000 a year. “Big bucks lobbying is luring nearly half of all lawmakers who return to the private sector when they leave Congress,” Birnbaum noted, citing a study by Public Citizen’s Congress Watch. The situation has only gotten worse since then.

And in a bizarre twist, during the administration of George W. Bush more than a hundred very well-paid lobbyists decided to forsake their big pay checks for, relatively speaking, paltry Civil Service paychecks for a year or two to become the actual regulators for the agencies they used to lobby.

Miranda Rights When it Comes to a DUI Arrest : Know Your Rights ...

We all know these famous words from the movies and from television shows – “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law . You have the right to an attorney…” These words are repeated time and again when ever a police officer makes an arrest.

And if you have ever been charged with a Virginia DUI , then you should have heard these same words from the officer who arrested you. This is because it’s required by law for an arresting officer to notify you of these rights. They’re known as your Miranda Rights.

What exactly are Miranda Rights?

Because of a verdict in the case Miranda vs. Arizona in 1966, anyone who’s taken into police custody must be told these 4 things before being questioned:

This might be a very important section of this specific issue. • You have the right to remain silent; • Anything you say can, and will be used against you in a court of law; • You have the right to an attorney ; • If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you;

These Miranda Rights are based on the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states that no one shall be compelled to act as a witness against themselves. This allows you to refrain from making any self-incriminating statements. To exercise your Miranda Rights in a Virginia DUI , you can simply remain silent, or notify the arresting officer that you choose to plead the Fifth.

If, however, an arresting officer doesn’t read you your Miranda Rights, then any statements or confessions that you make will be deemed inadmissible in court. And any evidence that was obtained as a result of your statement will be dismissed from your case. If an arresting officer in your Virginia DUI didn’t read you your Miranda Rights, then you should contact a Virginia DUI attorney , who will investigate your case.

What can a Virginia DUI attorney do?

If your Miranda Rights were violated in a DUI, then an attorney may have your testimony deemed inadmissible during your trial. Any confessions which you were compelled to make may also be dismissed. With enough proof to show that your rights have been violated, a judge may throw out your entire case. The first step in fighting for your Miranda Rights is to contact a Virginia DUI attorney.

Under Virginia law, if you’re convicted of DUI in the General District Court, you have a right to appeal and get a new trial in the Circuit Court. Virginia DUI lawyer , Bob Battle, is the only DUI lawyer in the state to guarantee that if you wish to appeal your case, he’ll represent you on appeal to the Circuit Court for FREE!

Fifth Amendment, The Right to Fairness

The Fifth Amendment, The Right to Remain Silent

The Fifth Amendment

Origins of the Fifth Amendment, the right against self-incrimination

Is there a right to remain silent?, coercive interrogation and the Fifth Amendment after 9/11