• meco03211@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    This is incorrect. The fifth only protects you from self-incrimination explicitly in criminal cases. The clause is “…nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,…”

    In civil proceedings, it is actually stated that not answering questions can give rise to an adverse inference. I’m unsure how explicitly that is defined or if it might create a duty to draw the adverse inference. But it is certainly allowed.