Brogan v. United States

Brogan v. United States was a 1998 decision by the United States Supreme Court that ruled that the Fifth Amendment does not protect the right of those being questioned by law enforcement officials to deny wrongdoing if doing so would be a false statement.

Result
The case determined the ultimate status of the “exculpatory no”, a right found by several circuit courts. These courts claimed that Section 1001 of the United States Code should be interpreted such that the law does not apply to those who simply deny wrongdoing.

Justice Scalia explains that, although others have interpreted the law to only apply to situations in which the lie “pervert[s] government functions”, the language of the statute is clear, and that the court has no power to overrule the wording of the statute as created by Congress, even if the law is being used outside of its intended purpose.

The court also ruled that the Fifth Amendment does not apply in this situation, as the Fifth Amendment must be explicitly invoked, and even then only gives the person involved the right to remain silent, not to explicitly lie