October 2012
"Decrypting the Fifth Amendment: The Limits of Self-Incrimination"
Journal Article, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law Heightened Scrutiny, volume 15
By Vivek Mohan, Research Fellow, Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program/Information and Communications Technology and Public Policy Project and John Villasenor
In "Decrypting the Fifth Amendment: The Limits of Self-Incrimination in the Digital Era," Vivek Mohan and John Villasenor examine the scope of information protected from compelled self-incriminating disclosure by exploring the boundaries of the contents of the mind. They propose a framework for bringing the foregone conclusion doctrine, which was articulated in 1976, into the digital era, and conclude that the question of what constitutes a "testimonial act" must be revisited to proactively ensure that emerging technologies do not eviscerate the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
