1. Adamson v. California, (1947)
2. Facts: Adamson was convicted of murder. During the trial, the state had commented to the jury on his failure to take the stand.
3. Procedural Posture: Adamson claimed that the conviction violated the 14th amendment because the state’s comment amounted to a violation of the 5th amendment’s self-incrimination privilege in a federal proceeding.
4. Issue: Whether a state’s comment at a state criminal trial on the failure of a defendant to take the stand at trial is a violation of the defendant’s 5th amendment privilege against self-incrimination.
5. Holding: No.
6. ∏ Argument: The 14th amendment incorporates the 5th amendment’s privilege against self-incrimination and applies it to the states in the same way that the 5th amendment applies directly to the federal government.
7. Majority Reasoning: Although the 14th amendment’s due process clause guarantees a right to a “fair trial” in a state criminal trial, there is no ground under Palko to make the self-incrimination privilege one of the “fundamental” rights that is incorporated in the 14th amendment and applied to the states.
8. Dissent Reasoning: [Black] felt that the full incorporation of the bill of rights into the 14th amendment was the “original purpose” of the 14th amendment and the intent of the amendment’s framers. The history demonstrates that both those in favor of and against the amendment thought that it was powerful to forbid the states from depriving a citizen of the protections afforded by the bill of rights. The process of Twining to expand or contract the applicability of the bill of rights through the 14th amendment as needed by “natural law” was more power than the court was granted by the constitution. Also, the “selective application” process of Palko was inconsistent with the historical purpose.
9. Concurrence Reasoning: [Frankfurter] argued that the 14th amendment’s due process clause has “independent potency” apart from the bill of rights. It does not represent shorthand for the first 8 amendments. However, in determining which clauses in the first eight amendments are incorporated and which are not, the judicial interpretation of which are “fundamental” is too subjective. The relevant question is whether the ciminal proceedings deprived the accused of the due process of law.
