Jim: On Sat, 20 Apr 1996, jim bell wrote:
DOE v. United States, 487 U.S. 201; 108 S. Ct. 2341 (1988)
A defendant can be compelled to produce material evidence that is incriminating. Fingerprints, blood samples, voice exemplars, handwriting specimens, or other items of physical evidence may be extracted from a defendant against his will.
As you might expect, I see a problem (and a pattern!) with even these
The pattern is that you are again ignoring legal realities. << Which is a thing to be expected. >>
examples. Notice that with the possible exception of "handwriting specimens", the examples above all represent pieces of evidence whose
Handwriting as a tool used by most people, dates back to Eighteenth Century. Before that, it was a trade practiced by scribes, and priests. In Europe, outside of the Clergy, illiteracy was the standard, till the begining of the Industrial Revolution. << Remember that John Dee had an incredibly large library of 200 volumes. >>
or so, etc. I think even graphology (handwriting analysis) for legal purposes is likewise comparatively recent, although there is no obvious technological reason which this should have been so. The last category,
Courts have yet to rule that an individual can be forced to provide a sample of their handwriting, if the purpose of obtaining such a script is for a graphological profile. More to the point, courts -- or at least US Courts -- don't accept graphological profiles, as proof of anything. I suspect you confusing graphology with questioned document examination. Courts have ruled that a person may be forced to provide a sample of writing, for use in questioned document examination, without violating the fifth amendment. << You ought to read the case law, to see why providing such a sample is not a fifth amendment violation ---- it might help you be a better armchair lawyer, who spends to much time watching Perry Mason reruns. >>
Anyone who denies this should be required to make a list of the kinds of
Questined Document Examination, which you alluded to, was first accepted by courts in the United States, at the turn of the century. And it was only after World War One, that it was accepted in all courts in the US. xan jonathon grafolog@netcom.com Owner: Graphology-L@Bolis-com ********************************************************************** * * * Opinions expressed don't necessarily reflect my own views. * * * * There is no way that they can be construed to represent * * any organization's views. * * * ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/gr/graphology/home.html * * * * OR * * * * http://members.tripod.com/~graphology/index.html * * * ***********************************************************************