The man behind the Miranda warning
“You have the right to remain silent” is named after Ernesto Miranda. He won his Supreme Court case and was convicted again anyway.
In 1963 Ernesto Miranda was arrested in Phoenix and, after two hours of questioning, signed a confession to kidnapping and rape. Nobody had told him he could stay silent or ask for a lawyer.
His appeal reached the US Supreme Court. In 1966, by 5 votes to 4, the court ruled in Miranda v. Arizona that statements made during custodial interrogation can be used only if the suspect was first informed of their rights:
You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney…
What happened to Miranda
The ruling threw out his confession, not the case. In 1967 he was retried, mainly on the testimony of his former partner, and convicted again.
After parole he reportedly sold autographed Miranda warning cards, the ones police carry, for a few dollars each. In 1976 he was stabbed in a bar fight in Phoenix. A suspect was arrested and, according to accounts of the case, was read his Miranda rights; he chose to remain silent.
Why it matters
The warning is now part of everyday culture through TV crime dramas. Its purpose is to ensure that the rights in the Constitution are actually known to the people who need them, at the moment they need them.
Bring it up
“Ernesto Miranda, of ‘Miranda rights’, used to sell autographed copies of the Miranda warning.”
Follow the thread
- Related“An eye for an eye” was a step forward Two landmarks in the idea that law should be publicly known by the people it applies to.
- Related“Happy Birthday” was copyrighted until 2015 Another case where a single court decision changed something heard every day.
- RelatedThe snail in the ginger beer Another ordinary person’s case that changed how a whole legal system treats everyone.
