Double Jeopardy Pros And Cons

Title? I’ll Plead the Fifth
William O. Douglas once said, “The 5th Amendment is an old friend and a good friend. One of the great landmarks in men 's struggle to be free of tyranny, to be decent and civilized.”
Since the ratification of the Fifth Amendment, our civil liberties have been protected by its creation, its boundaries, and its importance. Not everyone, every day, may come in contact with the fifth. Those criminals that observe the right to the fifth may not ever had been protected if the amendment was not ever ratified.
The Fifth Amendment, along with the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights, was adopted by the House of Representatives on August 21, 1789. The Fifth Amendment and the entire Constitution and the beginning of the Bill of Rights, was written by several of the Delegates of the Philadelphia Convention. The process set out in the Constitution and Bill of Rights for its ratification provided for much popular debate in the states. The Constitution and Bill of Rights would take effect once they had been
ratified by nine of the thirteen state legislatures.
The Fifth Amendment actually has several different rights within in its boundaries.
Double jeopardy, in law, is the protection against the use by the state of certain multiple forms of prosecution. In general, in countries observing the rule of double jeopardy, a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime based on the same conduct. In U.S. law, double jeopardy does not attach until the jury is sworn in a jury trial or until the first witness is sworn in a bench trial. There are several examples of double jeopardy. An easy and simply understood example is if a man is tried for murder, he cannot be tried for manslaughter. This is because manslaughter and murder may be two different crimes but are based on similar conduct. But if the same man committed murder and robbed a store, the Fifth Amendment does not protect him. Double jeopardy also keeps the state from retrying a person for the same crime after he has been proven not
guilty.
Another right presented by the Fifth Amendment is the protection against self-incrimination. At trial, the Fifth Amendment gives a criminal defendant the right not to testify. This means that the prosecutor, the judge, and even the defendant’s own lawyer cannot force the defendant to take the witness stand against his or her will. However, a defendant who does choose to testify cannot choose to answer some questions but not others. Once the defendant takes the witness stand, this particular Fifth Amendment right is considered waived throughout the trial.
A recent example of the amendments workings was the case of Zimmerman vs. Martian trial. Before a verdict was decided, Forbes and other social media sites pointed out the relation between the trial and the Fifth Amendment. Forbes stated this in an article: “The Double Jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment provides that no person can ‘be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.’ The concept of double jeopardy has an almost iconic quality and it’s one of the few protections that many lay-persons are familiar with: once you are charged for a crime once and found innocent then the government can’t try you again.” Zimmerman was tried for second-degree murder and manslaughter. The fifth protected him from being tried twice for his crime. Zimmerman was later found not guilty.
Throughout the history of the Fifth Amendment, it has sufficiently affected our personal history, citizens’ lives, and our own civil liberties as a nation. The United States is known for its mercy towards its citizens. The amendment has protected thousands Americans since its ratification. We all can find the fifth has protected us in one way or another, even if we say “I plead the fifth,” jokingly. The Fifth Amendment is a reliable and comforting right that not all Americans may encounter, but gives satisfaction to those that rely on a stable and consistent set of laws.

Work Cited
"Fifth Amendment." LII. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.
"Fifth Amendment - U.S. Constitution." Findlaw. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.
Khanna, Derek. "Double Jeopardy and the Zimmerman Trial - Can He Be Tried All Over Again?" Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 23 July 2013. Web. 30 Sept. 2013.