The Fifth Amendment has long been hailed as the ultimate safeguard of individual civil liberty against the authoritarian power of the state. It gives us the right to “due process of law” when charged with a crime. It protects us from “double jeopardy" or being prosecuted twice for the same crime. And it says we cannot be forced to incriminate ourselves, giving us the right not to answer questions that would suggest we have committed a crime. Do we still value the guarantees of the Fifth Amendment today? It is supposed to protect us from being forced to bear witness against ourselves. Can a person be truly safe from themselves in this place and time?

Paul Susi is a writer, educator, theater artist, and social services professional born and raised in Portland. The son of Filipino immigrants, he has toured an adaptation of the Iliad to prisons all over Oregon, Wisconsin, Maine, and Vermont. He is the author of Character Work, published by Perfect Day Publishing in 2025. He is the director of the vendor program for Street Roots, an independent, award-winning weekly street newspaper in Portland.