Amendment Five: No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Before being put on trial for a crime that can be punished with the death penalty, or other serious crimes, a person has to be officially accused by a grand jury. It also does not allow the government to try a person for the same crime twice, nor does it allow the government to force a person to give evidence that would prove his or her guilt. Also, accused people shall not lose their life, liberty, or the things they own without due process of the law. (Due process means a set of legally established processes.) But the government can take private property for a public use if a fair price is paid for it in return.
The Fifth Amendment not only makes sure offenders get a proper trial by jury, but it protects citizens from the government. The government cannot seize property for public use. The most influential statement of this principle is found in Armstrong vs. United States (1960), where the Supreme Court wrote: “The Fifth Amendment’s [Takings Clause] . . . was designed to bar government from forcing some people alone to bear public burdens which, in all fairness and justice, should be borne by the public as a whole.” This would apply not only to landholdings but also to any person's property.
