The Pending Reinvigoration of Boyd: Personal Papers are Protected by the Privilege Against Self-Incrimination

This article delineates the extent that personal papers and diaries are protected against being used to incriminate a person who had been compelled to produce them. It examines the way the Fifth Amendment privilege has been interpreted by the United States Supreme Court in relation to personal papers, places this jurisprudence in context, and posits a conclusion based on the Court's recent trends. It concludes that the Court should not allow American law enforcement officials to compel examination of a person's personal papers yet prosecute this person based on these compelled disclosures.