To Talk, To Balk, or To Lie - The Emerging Fifth Amendment Doctrine of the 'Preferred Response'

• NCJ Number: 82607
• Journal: American Criminal Law Review Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: (Winter 1982) Pages: 521-555
• Author(s): P Westen; S Mandell
• Date Published: 1982
• Length: 35 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In this Article, Professor Peter Westen and Stewart Mandell discuss the extent and legitimacy of state-based preferences for the assertion of fifth amendment claims.

Abstract

Describing state prescriptions on the manner in which witnesses assert the privilege as 'preferred responses,' the authors describe state interests underlying the prescriptions as well as constitutional limits on the state's ability to prescribe choices. Although resting their argument on fifth amendment jurisprudence, the authors suggest that the doctrine of the preferred response arises in other spheres of testimonial privilege. (Publisher abstract)