NCJ Number
108829
Journal
Criminal Justice Journal Volume: 9 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1987) Pages: 241-290
Date Published
1987
Length
50 pages
Annotation
In this article, the author reviews Miranda v. Arizona 20 years after the controversial decision focused on incommunicado police interrogation of suspected criminals versus the right of persons suspected of crime to assistance of counsel as the police investigate their cases.
Abstract
The author examines in two parts the development, evolution, and current status of the Miranda doctrine. The Miranda rule and the voluntariness test are outlined in Part I. The author argues that the U.S. Supreme Court appears more concerned with whether confessions were voluntary and uncoerced than whether a suspect's waiver was a fully informed decision. In Part II, the author analyzes U.S. Supreme Court cases that rely on Miranda for precedent and argues that these subsequent cases have weakened the Miranda rule. The author concludes that the Miranda warnings must be strengthened in order to protect the defendant's first amendment rights. He also points out that those most likely to suffer from the weakening of the Miranda protections will be the poorly educated and socially disadvantaged. 391 footnotes.