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Pros And Cons Of Double Jeopardy

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The 5th amendment is another amendment us law enforcement officers should know well. The 5th amendment states “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 5th amendment gives citizens’ rights by giving them guaranteed rights to a grand jury, forbids double jeopardy and also protects citizens against self-incrimination. Probably the most important thing for law enforcement officer is the self-incrimination part. When an arrest is made and the suspect is in custody. When the police take the suspect into custody and start interrogating him that is when the officer has to read him the Miranda warning. This will what I will have to take most out of this amendment. Also the meaning of double jeopardy is for preventing someone to be charged with the same or similar crime. Meaning nobody can be tried twice for the same charge. Backing up a little bit, the 5th amendment was first adopted and made an amendment on December 15, 1791 when James Madison first proposed it to the House Of Representatives.
The 5th amendment has had many cases that it has dealt with throughout the years. The two cases I have chosen are Blockburger v. United States and Miranda v. Arizona. These two cases have been landmark cases in our history for the 5th amendment. Blockburger v. United States dealt with a defendant that was charged with violations of the Harrison Narcotics Act. The defendant had been indicted on 5 separate accounts but they dealt with the sale of morphine to the same customer. The defendant was charge with the 2nd,3rd and 5th counts. He was sentenced to 5 year and 2,000 dollars to each of the counts, but the defendant came up with a few theories for his defense. He said that the two

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