Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/524bv.pdf
Page Number: 718.0

524US2

Unit: $U97

[09-06-00 19:37:28] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 524 U. S. 666 (1998)

673

Opinion of the Court

Government, between prosecution by a jurisdiction that is
itself bound to recognize the privilege and prosecution by a
foreign jurisdiction that is not. But the argument overlooks
the cardinal rule to construe provisions in context. See
King v. St. Vincent’s Hospital, 502 U. S. 215, 221 (1991).
In
the Fifth Amendment context, the Clause in question occurs
in the company of guarantees of grand jury proceedings, de-
fense against double jeopardy, due process, and compensa-
tion for property taking. Because none of these provisions
is implicated except by action of the government that it
binds, it would have been strange to choose such associates
for a Clause meant to take a broader view, and it would be
strange to ﬁnd such a sweep in the Clause now. See Whar-
ton v. Wise, 153 U. S. 155, 169–170 (1894) (noscitur a sociis);
see also Gustafson v. Alloyd Co., 513 U. S. 561, 575 (1995)
(same). The oddity of such a reading would be especially
stark if the expansive language in question is open to another
reasonable interpretation, as we think it is. Because the
Fifth Amendment opens by requiring a grand jury indict-
ment or presentment “for a capital, or otherwise infamous
crime,” 4 the phrase beginning with “any” in the subsequent
Self-Incrimination Clause may sensibly be read as making it
clear that the privilege it provides is not so categorically
limited.
It is plausible to suppose the adjective was in-
serted only for that purpose, not as taking the further step
of deﬁning the relevant prosecutorial jurisdiction interna-
tionally. We therefore take this to be the fair reading of
the adjective “any,” and we read the Clause contextually as

4 As a whole, the Amendment reads as follows: “No person shall be held
to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a present-
ment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or
naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or
public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be
twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or
property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken
for public use, without just compensation.”