Is Silence Sacred? The Vulnerability of Griffin v. California in a Terrorist World

Abstract:     
Part I of this Article traces the shared history of the right against self-incrimination from twelfth-century England to the mid-twentieth century. Part II examines the modem history of the privilege in the United States, from the Supreme Court's 1965 decision in Grifin to its 1999 decision in Mitchell. Part Ill examines the United Kingdom's modem approach to the privilege, including its re-shaping of the privilege in response to domestic terrorism. Part IV examines why the U.S. and U.K. systems, with a common history and shared values, have moved in such dramatically different directions with respect to the privilege. Part V assesses the possibility that the privilege, already vulnerable, will be curtailed by the new Court along the lines of the United Kingdom's procedures.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 35

Accepted Paper Series