Learning to Love the Fifth Ammendment
I thought this was a pretty good video -- why even the innocent should not talk to the police. Learn to love your fifth amendment rights. He demonstrates that even the innocent can make statements that can be used to wrongly convict them.
ccoffer:
That was incredibly, deliciously good! Thank you.
July 27, 2008, 6:11 pmWatchman:
When I taught government classes at the community college here in town, I always told the kids this when we covered the Bill of Rights. Hopefully you'll never end up in that situation, but if you do, shut your mouth and ask for a lawyer. That whole "anything you say" bit...they mean that.
July 28, 2008, 12:01 pmLes:
Is there anyway I could procure a transcript of this? I'm on dial-up and not particularly reliable dial-up a that, so downloading a 30-minute video through Google's viewer would be just too painful for me.
July 28, 2008, 2:32 pmLarry Sheldon:
How sad. How wrong. That is _not_ the way I was brought up.
Bur unfortunately it is correct.
Am I the only one who thinks the worst if it is that the laws, rules, regulations, and attitudes ot the police are such that if you can not say anything at all with out being at risk of violating something you could die for?
Name, rank, and serial number.
July 28, 2008, 3:13 pmK:
Following this logic (that you should never talk to the police)leads to never acting as a witness or giving them any information whether you are a suspect or not. You may not know you are a suspect. Or you may say something that leads them to suspect you of some totally unrelated crime.
So: never be helpful, never testify, never assist a stranger - he might be an undercover cop-, never give any information to your child's school teacher - he works for the state -, never vote - that proves where you were at a given time -, never, ever, speak to a neighbor - do you really know them? -.
When you are stopped for a driving violation refuse to identify yourself. The policeman will take you to jail. But that might be better than giving your name. He can check that name for outstanding warrants and you might be convicted of a murder in a place you have never visited.
And, don't tell the judge your name either. Or the psychiatrist appointed to examine you. You have the Constitution on your side, you have your rights, and screw them.
If you encounter an injured person you shouldn't help them or call 911. But in some states you must help them and call 911. So know the law.
But if you should encounter a body you are probably safe, being a corpse is not a crime. Just walk away. You are not an expert so you couldn't know it was a real corpse.
July 29, 2008, 5:59 pmTristan Phillips:
K: The argument is never talk to the police when they're investigating a crime. He said nothing about a traffic stop, or anything else.
Stop pulling stuff from your backside so you can flog them to death. Unless that's the only way you can present your position.
July 30, 2008, 7:46 amErikTheRed:
I can certainly relate to this. I voluntarily agreed to questioning in a matter (that I had nothing to do with, of course) when I was about 18 or so years old. I was appalled. The person questioning me spent the entire session playing word games and trying to trick me into admitting something... Not to sound egotistical or anything, but I'm pretty sure an innocent person of "average" intelligence would have tripped up and made a false confession. I wound up being harassed for about two weeks before they gave up - they would show up at my place of work and make sure that everyone knew I was suspected of something. Same with my neighbors. They threatened my roommates. Later on, I found out that the detective in question was under a great deal of pressure because the victim was a friend of the city's mayor, and the basis for them going after me was that there was a vague eyewitness report saying they saw someone with red hair in the area. I shit you not.
So the unfortunate truth is that crimes happen, and sometimes law enforcement is under tremendous pressure to nail somebody (actually guilty? who cares?), and many law enforcement personnel lack the ethical backbone to do the right thing. They're basically just thugs with badges. Moral of the story is same as the above - just because you're innocent doesn't mean they won't do everything in their power to nail your hide to the door.
July 31, 2008, 12:29 am