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He doesn't have the right to plead the 5th to avoid testifying against anyone but himself or his spouse, so his attempts to plead the 5th were just nonsense. Ma
by fatfingerd 3y ago
He doesn't have the right to plead the 5th to avoid testifying against anyone but himself or his spouse, so his attempts to plead the 5th were just nonsense. Making an issue now seems to me like the "justice" connected criminals he was protecting by his contempt are somehow more worthy of rights than everyone they have used this tool on.
- singleshot_ 3y agoNitpick: When you refuse to testify against your spouse you are invoking spousal communication privilege, or spousal testimonial privilege, not 5A.
- tarxvf 3y agoOne always has the right to remain silent, for any reason. Compelled speech is immoral. (And rights do not come from the government) The people telling you otherwise are not interested in protecting you or anyone else.
- ethanbond 3y agoRights don’t come from your government but the protection of those rights does, so tomato tomato.
- jvanderbot 3y agoYou have the right to remain silent during questioning outside court. By the way have you seen how far this has degraded? You can't remain silent until you say you are remaining silent explicitly by claiming this right. But, I'm not sure you have the right to not speak in court when called to testify.
- jvanderbot 3y agoFor anyone who wants to read up on the erosion of the right to remain silent. https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/two-supreme-court-cases-confront-further-erosion-right-remain-silent https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/two-supreme-court-cases-... In particular, here's a quick overview of the idea that you need to speak to invoke your right to remain silent, rather than just remaining silent. https://versustexas.com/blog/miranda-right-to-remain-silent/ https://versustexas.com/blog/miranda-right-to-remain-silent/
- dragonwriter 3y ago> He doesn't have the right to plead the 5th to avoid testifying against anyone but himself or his spouse, so his attempts to plead the 5th were just nonsense That’s not true, you can invoke the Fifth anytime testimony might incriminate you, regardless of who it is directly against. If this is founded (which may itself be contested if it isn’t directly against yourself), you can’t be compelled to testify unless the potential for self-incrimination is neutralized by immunity. However, in this case there was no real self-incrimination concern.
- fatfingerd 3y agoYes, I meant the 5th is only to avoid testimony incriminating himself, which he couldn't do.
- NoZebra120vClip 3y agoNo, the "right to remain silent" is absolute. It's a refusal to testify to anything at all. The grounds of self-incrimination are there, but if nobody knows what you'll be asked or how you'll answer, those grounds are sort of immaterial.
- thfuran 3y agoWhat do you mean if nobody knows what you'll be asked? You have to actually have been asked something to decline to answer.
- sseagull 3y agoThis is correct. You can’t just say you are invoking the 5th and refuse to testify. If pressed, you actually have to get up there and invoke it — possibly to every question if needed. The fear of perjury is an interesting twist, though. And the removal of immunity may affect things too. (Although in your own trial you have the right to not testify, that doesn’t apply here).
- 3y ago