PROTECT MIRANDA RIGHTS

We’ve gone round and round here at CLN over Miranda rights in the age of terrorism.  We’re pleased to say that we found a wonderful opinion by Sol Wachtler in the New York Times that put it all into perspective.  Sol Wachtler is a professor of constitutional law, former chief judge of the New York Court of Appeals, and the author of “the emergency exception” (or “public safety” exception) to Miranda — which has been upheld by the Supreme Court.  This exception to Miranda rights says that in case of imminent danger to the safety of the public the authorities can delay reading rights to a suspect.  The “emergency exception” was most recently used during the questioning of the Times Square bomber, Faisal Shahzad. 

This op-ed explains why Miranda rights are important.  Judge Wachtler relates the history of the many problems with upholding convictions prior to Miranda — when there was a lack of clarity around interrogations that might conflict with the Fifth Amendment, which says that the government may not compel a person “in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.”  The Miranda ruling provides that clarity, and diminishes incidents of criminals being set free because of ambiguity around whether or not the accused was “compelled” to be a witness against himself during interrogation.  Seriously, check-it-out.