No, the corporation can assert attorney client privilege which may cover most of the same information, but the court has never extended fifth amendment rights to corporations.
I had to do some research on this one. According to United States v. White, "Since the privilege against self-incrimination is a purely personal one, it cannot be utilized by or on behalf of any organization, such as a corporation." 322 U.S. 694 (1944). The person could invoke the Fifth Amendment when testifying on matters conducted in purely personal capacity, but not on behalf of a corporation, because corporations do not have Fifth Amendment rights.
My knowledge from Criminal Procedure is that you can only claim a fifth amendment privilege after you have been charged. Since you aren't charged with a crime in a civil lawsuit, my assumption is that you can't bring a self-incrimination claim.
The only constitutional rights that corporations have are within the First Amendment. See Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (which recognized a corporation’s political free speech rights) and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (which recognized a corporation’s religious rights).
I was also unsure about this one so I had to do research. But I agree with what everyone said above, it appears from case law that a corporation cannot assert a Fifth Amendment privilege. I want to say that an individual who is testifying on behalf of the corporation could plead the 5th in his personal involvement in the illegal activity but could not assert it on behalf of the corporation or their policies/procedures.
No, the corporation can assert attorney client privilege which may cover most of the same information, but the court has never extended fifth amendment rights to corporations.
ReplyDeleteI had to do some research on this one. According to United States v. White, "Since the privilege against self-incrimination is a purely personal one, it cannot be utilized by or on behalf of any organization, such as a corporation." 322 U.S. 694 (1944). The person could invoke the Fifth Amendment when testifying on matters conducted in purely personal capacity, but not on behalf of a corporation, because corporations do not have Fifth Amendment rights.
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge from Criminal Procedure is that you can only claim a fifth amendment privilege after you have been charged. Since you aren't charged with a crime in a civil lawsuit, my assumption is that you can't bring a self-incrimination claim.
ReplyDeleteNo. See Braswell v. United States.
ReplyDeleteThe only constitutional rights that corporations have are within the First Amendment. See Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (which recognized a corporation’s political free speech rights) and Burwell v. Hobby Lobby (which recognized a corporation’s religious rights).
I was also unsure about this one so I had to do research. But I agree with what everyone said above, it appears from case law that a corporation cannot assert a Fifth Amendment privilege. I want to say that an individual who is testifying on behalf of the corporation could plead the 5th in his personal involvement in the illegal activity but could not assert it on behalf of the corporation or their policies/procedures.
ReplyDelete