Nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself. They had Lois Lerner of the IRS up in front of a Congressional investigating committee. She said " I didn't do anything wrong. And I'm taking the fifth".
Same committee has just decided that Lois's "I didn't do anything wrong" statement prevents her from taking the fifth, and they plan to grill her some more.
I don't approve. The fifth amendment is intended to prevent judges and prosecutors from forcing defendants to confess. As in "Sign this confession and we won't use this rubber hose on you any more." That's an important safeguard for us plain citizens against the criminal justice system. I'd rather let Lois Lerner slide by than give up on the fifth amendment.
In Lois's case, we ought to fire her and cancel her pension and her government health care. That would put the fear of God into that building full of bureaucrats. And her sidekick, Rose-something-or-other, ought to be fired too. That's well within the power of Congress. And it's constitutional too.
No comments:
Post a Comment