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Amendments Of The Fifth Amendment

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This Amendment was passed by Congress on September 25, 1789 and was ratified by the states December 15, 1789. It is a part of the Bill of Rights, the first Ten Amendments of the Constitution. The Fifth Amendment has five sections or clauses. Clause number one – The right to a Grand Jury Hearing. The Grand Jury decides whether to indict a person. This is not a trial. The exception to this clause is, land or naval forces in service during time of war or public danger. Article 1 Section 8 gives the authority for the use of Military Courts for the Armed Forces. This denies military personnel the same rights as civilians. Clause number two is the Double Jeopardy Clause. This protects you from being prosecuted twice for the same crime after conviction or acquittal, or multiple punishments for the same crime. This does not count if one is a civil case and one is a criminal case. A person can be prosecuted by the state and the federal government if he/she has committed a crime in state and federal jurisdiction. Usually the federal side will concede to the state and not prosecute. Clause number three is the Self-Incrimination Clause. This clause protects from a person that has been accused of a crime from being forced to testify against him/herself. We are innocent until proven guilty, it is the job of the state or federal governments to prove guilt. Words can be changed in ways physical evidence cannot. Information from sobriety tests, voice samples etc. are admissible in court,

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