Preface

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

Preface

The genesis of this book was the recognition that the practicing lawyer's library lacked a comprehensive guide to the application of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. This work is designed to fill that void and to become a basic research tool to aid lawyers in thinking about and applying the Fifth Amendment privilege in various contexts and proceedings.

The impetus for writing a second edition of this book was twofold. First, the Supreme Court recently called into question the "Privilege of Silence," when it ruled in Salinas v. Texas, 133 S. Ct. 2174 (2013), that a suspect's silence during non-custodial police interrogation could be used against him in a criminal case. This decision caused me to want to revisit and explore more deeply some of the more controversial issues addressed in the first edition, including when a Fifth Amendment right is waived, the application of the privilege to the compelled access to encrypted communications, and the claimed privilege of silence that forms the title to the book. Second, in the five years since I wrote the book, a large of number of interesting cases have found their way into my office, clearly warranting a comprehensive update. Thus, this second edition attempts to expand the discussion of almost...