thaJack
Regular Member
The case: Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada 542 U.S. 177
The question at hand is whether or not providing your name to the police could potentially violate your Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
The court held that the identification requirement did not violate Hiibel's Fifth Amendment rights because he had no reasonable belief that his name would be used to incriminate him; however, the Court left open the possibility that Fifth Amendment privilege might apply in a situation where there was a reasonable belief that giving a name could be incriminating.
So, essentially, what they are saying is that you cannot refuse to give an officer your name because that does not violate your Fifth Amendment rights. However, if there is a situation where you believe that it would potentially be self-incriminating, then you could refuse to provide it.
Here is the weird part... would you not have to explain that reasonable belief at some point? And if you did explain that reasonable belief would that not serve to self-incriminate?
The question at hand is whether or not providing your name to the police could potentially violate your Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
The court held that the identification requirement did not violate Hiibel's Fifth Amendment rights because he had no reasonable belief that his name would be used to incriminate him; however, the Court left open the possibility that Fifth Amendment privilege might apply in a situation where there was a reasonable belief that giving a name could be incriminating.
So, essentially, what they are saying is that you cannot refuse to give an officer your name because that does not violate your Fifth Amendment rights. However, if there is a situation where you believe that it would potentially be self-incriminating, then you could refuse to provide it.
Here is the weird part... would you not have to explain that reasonable belief at some point? And if you did explain that reasonable belief would that not serve to self-incriminate?