I’ve placed two parts of a law class lecture below that provide a perfect illustration and explanation about what the 5th Amendment is about and why it is in place. It is in place to protect you. Nothing you say to law enforcement or the government in a criminal investigation can be used to help you. It can only be used against you in an effort to prosecute you.
This is very important. Don’t think that you’ll never be questioned by police because you’re a good person living a good life. My wife and her entire office were questioned a couple of years ago by a SWAT team just because of where they worked, so no one can say with certainty that they will never be questioned by the law or government.
I’ll come out and say that the first man comes out of the chute sounding like a political wacko with a couple of his first statements, but he fully and completely supports everything he says and the second man (an officer with 28 years of interviewing experience) confirms everything the first man said, so keep that in mind when you hear the first man’s fast-paced lecture.
This was very, very eye-opening to me. You can safely ignore the title of the video. The other compilation of this lecture was in 6 parts and entitled “In Praise of the 5th Amendment.”
This is why I imagine Jesus was silent before Pilate.
Actually… he spoke to Pilate once but remained silent the rest of the time. Good point, though – I’d forgotten that detail. Makes me want to do some research into Roman law to see if there was something similar.