How do you feel about the penalties that exist for witnesses who refuse to testify in court? (lemmy.world)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by MediaSensationalism@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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Do you feel that the 4th amendment should protect them? Or perhaps a new amendment should be written to protect them and abolish power of subpoena?

I'm slightly biased as I ask this. I feel that the mind is "sacred" in a sense, that it should be considered a fundamental human right for an individual to be able to preserve privacy over their internally held thoughts and memories, and that the ability of the court to force an individual to speak or disclose part of their mind is a wild overreach of power and an affront to the personal liberty of the innocent.

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[-] savvywolf@pawb.social 6 points 2 months ago

So... How would a requirement to testify be enforced? If witnesses were thrown in jail for not testifying, couldn't cops use that to threaten a "witness" into making a false statement?

How would you tell a witness who was hiding something from a witness who didn't see anything?

[-] MediaSensationalism@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I think you're confused. The court already has the ability to force testimony, and witnesses can already be thrown in jail for refusing to testify.

I updated the title to make it clear that I'm referring to penalties that already exist, rather than suggesting that new penalties should be created.

[-] stinerman@midwest.social 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The prosecution generally does not call recalcitrant witnesses because they make bad ones.

How would you tell a witness who was hiding something from a witness who didn’t see anything?

Corroborating evidence. If multiple people say "yeah Jimmy saw the entire thing", that's how you know. The lawyers can't just say "we think @savvywolf@pawb.social was there so they have to testify." Mostly because you'd make a terrible witness for the prosecution (or the defense).

this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2024

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