Epilogue

• Library: The Privilege of Silence: Fifth Amendment Protections Against Self-Incrimination (ABA) (2014 Ed.)

Epilogue

Although this book is filled with cases concerning the application of the Fifth Amendment Self-Incrimination Clause in various settings, the right against self-incrimination is in decline. Its decline is partially the result of a shift in the Supreme Court's interpretation of the clause. Since reaching a high-water mark during the Warren Court—culminating in the exclusionary rule created by Miranda v. Arizona—subsequent decisions have typically reduced the scope and power of the clause. For instance, the Fifth Amendment's historical protection of the incriminating contents of private papers has been replaced by a narrow protection only for the incriminating aspects of document production, which, in turn, is limited by the "foregone conclusion" doctrine and the required record exception. Further, the Court's recent decision in Salinas v. Texas—allowing the prosecution to argue that silence in the face of law enforcement questioning equals guilt—is a substantial retreat from the rule of Griffin v. California that a prosecutor cannot...