Which Amendment promises due process of law, protects against self-incrimination, and ensures that you can't be tried twice for the same crime (double jeopardy)?

Which Amendment promises due process of law, protects against self-incrimination, and ensures that you can't be tried twice for the same crime (double jeopardy)?

• A. 14th Amendment
• B. 8th Amendment
• C. 5th Amendment
• D. 4th Amendment

Answer: (C)

At issue are protections that guard fair treatment in criminal proceedings. This bundle is found in the Fifth Amendment. It promises due process of law, requiring the government to follow fair procedures before depriving someone of life, liberty, or property. It also guards against self-incrimination with the right to refuse to testify or answer questions that could incriminate you—the reason people say "plead the Fifth." Finally, it forbids trying someone twice for the same offense, a safeguard known as double jeopardy. While the Fourteenth Amendment also guarantees due process at the state level, and the Fourth and Eighth Amendments protect other rights, the explicit trio of due process, protection against self-incrimination, and double jeopardy is unique to the Fifth Amendment. So the amendment that best fits all three protections described is the Fifth Amendment.

At issue are protections that guard fair treatment in criminal proceedings. This bundle is found in the Fifth Amendment. It promises due process of law, requiring the government to follow fair procedures before depriving someone of life, liberty, or property. It also guards against self-incrimination with the right to refuse to testify or answer questions that could incriminate you—the reason people say "plead the Fifth." Finally, it forbids trying someone twice for the same offense, a safeguard known as double jeopardy. While the Fourteenth Amendment also guarantees due process at the state level, and the Fourth and Eighth Amendments protect other rights, the explicit trio of due process, protection against self-incrimination, and double jeopardy is unique to the Fifth Amendment. So the amendment that best fits all three protections described is the Fifth Amendment.