Shapiro v. United States
Citation and Court
335 U.S. 1 (1948) — Supreme Court of the United States
Facts
Shapiro was a produce dealer subject to wartime price control regulations requiring him to keep certain business records. He was subpoenaed to produce the records before a grand jury and complied. The records then formed the basis for his prosecution for price control violations. He claimed Fifth Amendment protection.
Issue
Whether the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination protects a person from being compelled to produce business records that were required by law to be kept and maintained.
Holding
No; the required records doctrine holds that the Fifth Amendment does not protect records that are required to be kept pursuant to a valid regulatory scheme and are of the type that the regulated person customarily keeps.
Rule / Doctrine
Required records — those that are (1) mandated by law, (2) of a kind that the regulated person would customarily keep, and (3) have public aspects making them essentially regulatory in nature — do not receive Fifth Amendment protection because the private aspect of such records is minimal. The government may compel their production without implicating the self-incrimination privilege.
Significance
Established the required records doctrine, a significant exception to the Fifth Amendment’s protection. The doctrine was later narrowed in Marchetti v. United States (1968), which declined to extend it to wagering tax registrations directed primarily at criminals.