The Fifth Amendment, most likely to appear in courtroom television, goes like this:

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

This is the right against double jeopardy. This says that if you are tried for a crime and the jury finds you innocent, then you are innocent. The state cannot later decide they want to try again with another jury. This is another item that gives GREAT power to a jury. Remember, those who serve on juries, you can find someone innocent for ANY REASON WHATSOEVER -- no matter what the judge says.

This amendment also outlines that you do not have to testify against yourself. I'm not really sure why that had to be codified -- it seems pretty darn obvious to me.

This amendment also did something very different for it's time. It said that no government or government agent could take your things from you without due process. A king could not just take your land because he wanted it -- there had to be due process -- a legal procedure to determine right from wrong.

The last part is yet another part that was VERY clearly destroyed with the Kelo v. New London lawsuit. I don't know how clear it has to be to say that private property could be taken for public use without due compensation. And never mind that giving land to a private corporation -- how in the world can any sane person claim that is a public use?

But back to the amendment -- the key part of that last phrase was to indicate that all land in this country was to be privately owned and if the government wanted to take it for a legitimate public use (courthouse?), then the government would have to PAY for it, and they could not just take it.

Many localities in North Carolina walk all over this amendment. When they want some land for any reason, they condemn the land first, making it's value drop by 50% or more, then they claim that is "just compensation." Idiots.

Posted by: Ogre at 03:05 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 464 words, total size 3 kb.