Wednesday, June 13, 2007
MIRANDA DAY
When reading this description of this day in history, you have the right to remain silent...
On this day in 1966, the Miranda Decision was handed down by the United States Supreme Court. The 5-4 decision regarded the rights of individuals to remain silent because “...anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law.” It held that the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States “required warnings before valid statements could be taken by police.”
If you are held for questioning, you will hear police read you your rights or read you the Miranda, the more common reference to the Miranda Decision. The card imprinted with the Miranda Decision, and carried by the police, put some money in the pockets of then, 23-year-old Ernesto Miranda. The subject of Miranda vs. Arizona, he signed the cards, selling his autograph. Some ten years later, a man, suspected of stabbing Miranda to death during a card game, was released after being read his Miranda rights. A warrant was later issued for his arrest; but he was never seen again.
Without notifying suspects of their Miranda Rights, law enforcement in the U.S. has little basis for prosecution. What a criminal defendant says if not informed, before being questioned, that he/she has the right to remain silent and speak with an attorney or other legal counsel present, will not be admitted in court.
Book ’em, Danno ... and read ’em their rights.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966) was one of Chief Justice Earl Warren's (1891-1974) best-known opinions. Warren's handwritten notes contain his initial considerations about the decision that required police to warn an arrested suspect that the government could use any information provided as evidence and that the suspect had a right to remain silent and the right to counsel. Warren sent his notes to Justice William E. Brennan, Jr., for comment. Brennan's response advocated more flexibility and a far greater role for Congress and the States. Warren incorporated many important elements suggested by Brennan before he circulated the opinion to the other justices.