Also known as: 5th Amendment · Fifth Amendment rights · Amendment V
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A constitutional amendment ratified in 1791 that enumerates protections in federal proceedings. It requires grand jury indictment for serious crimes, bars double jeopardy, shields against compelled self-incrimination, guarantees due process before deprivation of life liberty or property, and requires just compensation for takings of private property.
Felicity French, a U.S. citizen living abroad, faced trial in a foreign military tribunal under an executive agreement that eliminated her right to a civilian jury. She challenged the arrangement in federal court. The court held that the agreement could not override Fifth Amendment due process protections for American citizens.
Fiona Foster and her same-sex spouse, married under state law, sought federal tax benefits available only to opposite-sex couples. The statute excluded their marriage from the federal definition. The court ruled that the exclusion violated the Fifth Amendment's equal protection component by demeaning a state-recognized marriage.
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Francesca Fowler, a married woman, sought contraceptives from a clinic that state law prohibited. She challenged the ban after arrest. The court found that the Fifth Amendment's self-incrimination clause, read with other amendments, created a zone of privacy shielding intimate marital decisions.
Fusion Power owned Grand Central Terminal and sought to build an office tower above it. The city denied the plan under its landmarks law. The court determined that the restrictions did not constitute a taking under the Fifth Amendment because they left the property economically viable and served a public purpose.
Farah Fox and her same-sex spouse sought a death certificate listing both as surviving spouses after one died in another state. State officials refused recognition. The court held that the Fifth Amendment's liberty interest, incorporated through the Fourteenth Amendment, required states to recognize lawful same-sex marriages.
Fatou Fall, a juvenile, faced delinquency charges carrying potential institutional confinement. The trial court applied a preponderance standard. The court ruled that the Fifth Amendment's due process guarantee requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt for every element of the offense.
Yes. A grand jury witness who invokes the privilege and receives no immunity cannot have her testimony used against her in a later prosecution. The compulsion of a subpoena triggers the protection, and the absence of immunity renders the statements inadmissible.
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No. Such an instruction violates the Fifth Amendment by allowing an adverse inference from the exercise of the privilege to remain silent. The error affects substantial rights and may be noticed on plain-error review even without objection.
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Suppression is required when the suspect is in custody, subjected to interrogation, and receives no Miranda warnings. Threats tying cooperation to immigration or academic consequences can also render statements involuntary under the due process clause.
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No state may deny professional status to an individual who refuses to answer on Fifth Amendment grounds. Conditioning employment or licensure on surrender of the privilege violates the amendment.
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…proceeding classically associated with obtaining freedom from physical restraint. Cf. id. , at 444–445. In enacting the Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, the Framers similarly chose to employ the “life, liberty, or property” formulation, though they otherwise deviated substantially from the States’ use of Magna Carta’s…