Fifth Amendment (U.S. Constitution — Invoked Provision)

A constitutional protection invoked verbally as an argumentative tool: Sam summons the Fifth Amendment’s guarantees of due process and protection against self‑incrimination, letting the amendment carry moral and legal weight into a heated Oval Office exchange. The amendment functions here as an authoritative, spoken text rather than a handled artifact — its citation tightens the debate, reframes abstract textualism into concrete personal stakes, and lands like a weighty, immovable precedent against Harrison’s strict reading of the Constitution.

2 appearances

Appearances in the Narrative

When this object appears and how it's used

2 moments

S1E9 · The Short List

Textualism vs. Lived Rights

The Fifth Amendment is referenced by Sam to underline protections (such as against self-incrimination) that, when read together with other amendments, imply a privacy interest the Framers intended to protect.

Before: Referenced conceptually within the Bill of Rights framework.

After: Remains part of the combined amendment-based rebuttal to textualism.

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S1E9 · The Short List

Cream in Coffee: Bartlet Punctures Textualism

The Fifth Amendment is called by Sam to emphasize protections against self-incrimination and to buttress the claim that privacy concerns underlie multiple amendments, reinforcing the case for implied rights.

Before: Conceptually at hand as part of the Bill of Rights invoked in debate.

After: Remains rhetorically potent for Sam; its invocation underscores the moral thrust of the argument even as Harrison holds the doctrinal line.

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