Wallace-Wolf on The Problem with Self-Incrimination

Jordan Wallace-Wolf (University of Arkansas, William H. Bowen School of Law) has posted DOES THE PRIVILEGE AGAINST SELF-INCRIMINATION GUARD AGAINST A DISTINCT KIND OF MISCHIEF? on SSRN. Here is the abstract:

 

What's wrong with coercing a criminal defendant to provide self-incriminating testimony? The two most common answers focus on one of the two different "sides" of such coercion. One answer focuses on the defendant-their act of producing the incriminating information should not be coerced. A different answer focuses on the coercer-they are not entitled to the information that their coercion produces. I suggest and defend an overlooked third possibility. According to this answer, forcing someone to provide self-incriminating testimony is not wrong because it coercively brings about an act of production or the receipt of the corresponding product. Instead, the problem with coerced self-incrimination is that it uses the defendant's memory of doing something to hold him accountable for doing it.