Infamy

• Author: Dennis J. Mahoney
• Pages: 1363

Page 1363

Our legal system depends upon the reliability of a person's word?his oath as an officer, his promise as a contractor, his testimony as a witness. Under the COMMON LAW, conviction of certain crimes so diminished a person's credibility that he permanently forfeited certain of his CIVIL RIGHTS, his oath was of no legal value, and he was incompetent to testify in court. Infamy, as this is called, resulted from conviction of FELONY, or a crime involving willful falsehood. The Fifth Amendment requires PRESENTMENT or INDICTMENT by a GRAND JURY before a person may be tried in federal court for an infamous crime.

In modern political rhetoric, the term "infamy" often means general harm done to a person's reputation, especially as a result of LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATIONS or other governmental action.

DENNIS J...