The Civil Liberties Defense Group

The Fifth Amendment

"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 offense 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 Fifth Amendment includes a number of substantive protections, including the protection against double jeopardy, the right against self-incrimination, the prohibition of uncompensated takings, and the right to due process.  The double jeopardy protection prevents the government from trying a person twice for the same crime.  This protection does not extend to trials by different levels of government or different states, nor does it apply to mistrials in the absence of bad faith conduct on the part by the state.
    The right against self-incrimination prevents the government from requiring a citizen to testify against himself in court or at any other phase of the criminal process.  The government can avoid its impact by granting use immunity when seeking to obtain a citizen's testimony for use against another defendant. This provision is also the basis of Miranda warnings, which the government must provide before any custodial interrogation.
    The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment prohibits the government from taking private property for public use without just compensation.  This refers to the government's power of eminent domain, whereby it can take private property for public use upon providing just compensation.  This has also been applied in the context of regulatory takings.  When the government deprives a citizen of substantially all of the value of his property by way of regulation, and that regulation is more in the nature of a taking for public use than an injunction against a public nuisance, the owner of the devalued property may be entitled to compensation.
    The Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment contains the amendment's broadest protections, prohibiting the government from depriving a citizen of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This can be broken down into two components, procedural due process and substantive due process. Procedural due process grants a citizen many rights before he can be deprived of liberty or property, including the right to a hearing by an impartial decision maker, the right to present evidence, and the right to advanced notice of criminal or civil charges.
     Substantive due process is broader and less clearly defined.  It has been applied in a variety of contexts.  It has most often been employed to invalidate arbitrary state laws that do not fall under any of the more explicit protections in the constitution.  The right to privacy is perhaps the most important example.