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It is an legal term in the USA. That covers citizens in the USA. The fifth (5) reefer to the Fifth Amendment to the American Constitution. It states that 'you can not be forced to give incriminating (damaging) evidence against yourself'. So if a person is asked a question that will be damaging to themselves they can just state that "I plead the Fifth Amendment and will not answer that question" Usually this means, and everybody knows this, that the person has something to hide and that in it self is damaging, but the person did not tell a lie and can there for not be charged with perjury (lying under oath) which is an offense punishable with prison time. Answer Pleading the fifth is a reference to the Fifth Amendment. Making such a plea means that you refuse to answer the question on the ground that your answer might incriminate you. If you choose to take the fifth upon questioning by an opposing party, just know that you will probably have to take the fifth for every question you are asked.

Also know that just because you plead the fifth, it doesn't mean that you cannot be found guilty by some other means.

Finally, if you plead the fifth in some non-criminal matter, that protection may be absolute. For example, in the State of Georgia, if you take the fifth on a question in a divorce case, the judge can assume the answer is "yes, I'm guilty of what you're asking me."

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