Comment by Adam Shedd
In United States v. Bin Laden, Judge Leonard Sand of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York extended the Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination to statements made by two suspected terrorists to American law enforcement personnel in foreign countries. An issue of first impression for the court, the case represented the first extension of this Fifth Amendment privilege to “foreign suspects . . . interrogated abroad by American law enforcement officials.”
The issues in this Comment concern the debate regarding how far constitutional guarantees extend. Are they reserved solely for U.S. citizens' enjoyment? Do they apply to all conduct within the borders of the United States? Are they extendable to instances of conduct under the legal jurisdiction of the United States, but outside the territorial boundaries of the country? Our present system has not resolved these questions fully. This Comment focuses on the application of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in U.S. proceedings to conduct occurring extraterritorially.
About the Author
Adam Shedd. J.D. candidate 2003, Tulane Law School; B.A. 2000, Tufts University.
Citation
77 Tul. L. Rev. 767 (2003)