Tehan v. United States Ex Rel. Shott

In 1964 the Court held that the Fifth Amendment’s privilege against compulsory self-incrimination “is also protected by the Fourteenth Amendment against abridgment by the States.” Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U. S. 1, 6. In Griffin v. California, decided on April 28, 1965, the Court held that adverse comment by a prosecutor or trial judge upon a defendant’s failure to testify in a state criminal trial violates the federal privilege against compulsory self-incrimination, because such comment “cuts down on the privilege by making its assertion costly.” 380 U. S. 609, 614. The question before us now is…