Discuss the Fifth Amendment.

The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States includes several provisions that remain highly relevant today. The text of this amendment is as follows:

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.”

The first part of this amendment—“no person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment of a Grand Jury”—ensures that the punishment for a finding by a jury of guilty would include lengthy periods of incarceration or life in prison or, in states that allow the execution of convicted prisoners, death, arise from the decision of what is known as a Grand Jury, a collection of citizens numbering as many as 23 who vet the evidence submitted by a prosecutor, including witness testimonies, and decide whether a jury trial should go forward. The significance of the requirement for a Grand Jury indictment for a prosecution to proceed is that a body of individuals representative of the public at large rather than the office of the prosecutor makes the decision whether to indict. Prosecutorial discretion, then, is limited as to whether to charge an individual or individuals for a crime.
The second element of the Fifth Amendment involves what is called “double jeopardy.” This means that an individual acquitted of a crime cannot be tried a second time for the same crime. Once acquitted, the defendant is free from further criminal proceedings. While the concept of “double jeopardy” seems straightforward, however, criminal charges can be adapted to changed circumstances so that the acquitted defendant can, in fact, be tried a second time. Additionally, the “double jeopardy” provision applies only to criminal charges. Civil charges can still be brought against the individual in question.
The third element of the Fifth Amendment is the most well-known: protection against self-incrimination. Defendants in criminal trials cannot be compelled to testify in their trials. Individuals subpoenaed to appear before congressional investigating committees cannot be compelled to make statements that admit criminal conduct. In such situations, witnesses or subjects of investigations routinely answer questions on the basis of this amendment by stating, “I refuse to answer the question because the answer could incriminate me.” “Taking the Fifth,” then, protects the targets of investigations, but it certainly leaves the pall of criminality on those who use it.
The fourth element of the Fifth Amendment—protection against punishment by the government unless or until the individual(s) in question has been officially entered into the legal process with the protections that entails—does exactly what it says: no citizen of the United States can be imprisoned or suffer seizure of assets without a finding of guilty by a jury (or, if a jury trial is waived by the defendant, by the presiding judge). This part of the amendment is the most nebulous, giving law enforcement the authority to do precisely what the amendment seems to prohibit: the seizure of assets. Civil asset forfeitures represent a huge grey area in this part of the law.
Finally, the Fifth Amendment provides protections—protections of questionable value in many instances—against seizure of property without compensation. Under “eminent domain,” governments can in fact seize property for the public good but are required to compensate those whose property is seized. Fair determinations of value can be extremely controversial, especially when lives are seriously disrupted, as when government seizes property in residential neighborhoods so that roadways can be expanded.