In the case of Ohio v. Matthew Reiner, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Reiner, upholding his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The case arose from an incident where a two-month-old child was found to have sustained serious injuries while under the care of babysitter Susan Batt and her boyfriend Matthew Reiner. During questioning by police, both Batt and Reiner denied causing harm to the infant but were charged with involuntary manslaughter nonetheless. At trial, Batt pleaded guilty and testified that she did not witness any harmful actions by Reinier towards the baby; however, when called as a witness for his own defense during his separate trial, he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights refusing to testify on grounds it may incriminate him further - despite claiming innocence throughout proceedings. The prosecution argued this invocation implied guilt which led to Reinier's conviction being upheld by lower courts including Ohio’s Supreme Court who stated innocent people do not fear self-incrimination. However upon appeal at federal level in 2000; U.S Supreme court unanimously overturned these rulings stating that invoking one's constitutional right cannot be used as evidence of guilt thus reinforcing protection against self-incolation even if defendant maintains their innocence.

In the dissenting opinion for Ohio v. Matthew Reiner, Justice Scalia argued that the majority's decision expanded the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination to an unreasonable extent. He contended that this privilege should only apply when there is a real and appreciable danger of self-incrimination, which he did not believe was present in this case. According to him, merely being a suspect or target of an investigation does not automatically create such a risk. Furthermore, he criticized the majority for failing to provide clear guidance on how courts should determine whether someone has reasonable cause to apprehend danger from their testimony. This lack of clarity could lead to arbitrary decisions and undermine law enforcement efforts by making it easier for individuals involved in criminal activity to avoid testifying.