United States v. John Dohm and Robert Rowen

This case raises the profound question of whether, and to what extent, the government can compel a criminal defendant to sacrifice his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in order to assert and enforce another constitutional right.

Buried deep in the majority’s 10-page opinion are a few brief paragraphs which, with speed and apparent ease, reach a holding on this weighty constitutional question directly contrary to a long line of authority — not just elsewhere but in the Supreme Court and our own circuit — that could scarcely be clearer or more consistent. The majority today rules…