Wednesday, June 02, 2010

I don't want anything from Miranda

With the recent Supreme Court decision regarding your protection against being compelled to testify against yourself I am hearing a lot of people talk about "Miranda rights." Here is the relevant part of the Miranda case:

On March 13, 1963, Ernesto Arturo Miranda was arrested based on circumstantial evidence linking him to the kidnapping and rape of an 18-year-old woman 10 days earlier. After two hours of interrogation by police officers, Miranda signed a confession to the rape charge on forms that included the typed statement "I do hereby swear that I make this statement voluntarily and of my own free will, with no threats, coercion, or promises of immunity, and with full knowledge of my legal rights, understanding any statement I make may be used against me." However, at no time was Miranda told of his right to counsel, and he was not advised of his right to remain silent or that his statements would be used against him during the interrogation before being presented with the form on which he was asked to write out the confession he had already given orally.

The Arizona Supreme Court held that the confession was legal but our Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that the rapist didn't have his hand held enough by law enforcement and threw the confession out.

Here is the relevant part of the fifth and sixth amendments to the United States Constitution:

No person... shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself...

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right... to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

My right against compulsory self incrimination comes from God and is protected by our founding documents. My right doesn't come from a rapist.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually in the Constitution it does. Have you ever been read your Miranda Warning? In that case, was "god" on hand to advocate for you?

Anonymous said...

For someone who apparently spent years entangled in our legal system, you exhibit a stunning ignorance of how it actually works.

Anonymous said...

Today's post was brought to you by Daniel Miglavs, Constitutional Scholar Extraordinaire.