Please note!
This fact brief was originally published as an experiment to test the concepts behind fact briefs.
Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of useful information in fact briefs like this one, not all of them reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
Does a presidential pardon undercut the recipient's Fifth Amendment rights?
Thursday, December 3, 2020
By Laura Brickman
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YES
The Fifth Amendment states that "no person shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself," meaning he or she may "plead the Fifth" under oath to protect the presumption of innocence and avoid criminal liability. If an individual accepts a presidential pardon, the privilege to plead the Fifth disappears, and the person could be compelled to testify.
An 1896 Supreme Court decision determined that “if the witness has already received a pardon, he cannot longer set up his privilege, since he stands with respect to such offense as if it had never been committed.”
In a 1915 decision, the court ruled a person can reject a pardon to protect his or her right against self-incrimination.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Between 2020 and 2022, under close editorial supervision, Gigafact contracted a group of freelance writers and editors to test the concepts for fact briefs and provide inputs to our software development process. We call this effort Gigafact Foundry. Over the course of these two years, Gigafact Foundry writers published over 1500 fact briefs in response to claims they found online. Their important work forms the basis of Gigafact formats and editorial guidelines, and is available to the public on Gigafact.org. Readers should be aware that while there is still a lot of relevant information to be found, not all fact briefs produced by Gigafact Foundry reflect Gigafact's current methods and standards for fact briefs. If you come across any that you feel are out of date and need to be looked at with fresh eyes, don't hesitate to contact us at support@gigafact.org.
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