Object
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
Purpose
To provide legal safeguards for individuals — chiefly protection against self‑incrimination and guarantees of due process — used here to justify privacy and limit governmental intrusion.
Significance
Serves as the rhetorical and normative fulcrum that pivots the confirmation fight away from dry textualism toward lived liberties; its invocation undermines Harrison’s position, reshapes the political stakes, and crystallizes the moral argument the President and staff use to seek an alternative nominee.
Appearances in the Narrative
When this object appears and how it's used