“I’m proud to admit that I will never talk to any police officer under any circumstances!”  Professor James Duane, J.D.

What conclusions do you draw when you hear someone in a congressional hearing or court of law quote the Fifth Amendment in answer to a question?

A truthful witness does not lie; a false witness breathes lies.  (Prov. 14:5; NLT)

Last week I had the privilege of attending a day-long retreat for the faculty of Regent University.  Many of you know that I am currently serving my alma mater in the position of Adjunct Professor as I am teaching a course in coaching entitled “Foundations for Ministry Coaching.”  This is only the second time I’ve taught this course and I have to confess that it is likely even more of a learning experience for me than it is for the students I’ve been blessed to teach. 

All that is really beside the point I want to get to with this DG.  At the Faculty Retreat, among other things, a good bit of time was given to what was called the “Deans Reviews.”  Regent, as a University, has a number of “schools,” each headed by a Dean.  Examples of schools within the university are Arts, Divinity, Education, Law, et al.  At this Deans Review, each of the Deans made a brief presentation of the happenings within their school.  Examples included the accomplishments of various faculty members, graduates, placement statistics, and similar metrics which are very important within the academic community.

The Dean of Regent’s Law School referred to the highly unusual accomplishment of one of the law professors, James Duane, who video-taped a law school classroom lecture which was then posted on YouTube.  Now, you wouldn’t think that would draw much attention, but that lecture has now been viewed close to 200,000 times in the short three-plus months it has been on the Internet.  The title of the YouTube post is a provocative (for a law school lecture) “Don’t Talk to Cops.”  Well, as you can imagine, I couldn’t wait to get home and watch this video sensation for myself.

What I learned from the lecture has dramatically altered the way I view the use of the fifth amendment to the Constitution.  If you’re anything at all like me, anytime you saw someone “plead the fifth,” you immediately judged them as “guilty as charged.”  After all, if they didn’t have anything to hide, why would they need to hide behind this constitutional provision.  I believe I would be correct in saying that the news media has greatly contributed to that paradigm that I so deeply held.  I would like to encourage you to watch Professor Duane’s video and see if you don’t experience the same mind-altering experience I did.  (I’ve posted the link below.)  The lecture is a bit long — close to 30 minutes — but I predict you will be held “riveted” to your screen. 

Equally interesting, is that Professor Duane yielded the last half of his lecture to an experienced police detective who started his presentation with “Everything he said was true.  It was right.  It was correct.”  The detective then went on for a little over 20 minutes to share a number of personal experiences and insights into several tactics used to “interview” suspected law breakers.  That video is titled “Don’t Talk to Cops, Part 2″ and can be viewed from the same YouTube page I provided below.

I share all this with you because I believe it’s information that we all need to know.  And fortunately, it’s presented in an incredibly fascinating and entertaining fashion.  I hope you enjoy your visit to a law school classroom as much as I did.

Prayer Power
Lord, open our minds to hearing new understandings of ideas we once held so confidently.  Help us to see that things aren’t always as they appear…even when we are totally convinced of their truth.

Link of the Day
Don’t Talk to Cops, Part 1

Blessings on you as you grapple with some of what you hear on today’s video link.