Miranda Rights

At least once in your lifetime you have heard something like You have the right to

remain silent. Whether in a television show or a cool cop movie. That sentence is just the

beginning to the Miranda Rights. The rights were established June 13, 1966. Miranda Rights

provided that suspects must be informed of their specific legal rights when they are placed under

arrest. These rights basically state that a person under arrest have the right to remain silent. The

rights also state that they can get a lawyer. If the person under arrest wanted a lawyer and cannot

afford one, one can be provided for them. They are only stated when police intend to interrogate

the person under arrest while in custody. Ernesto Miranda was a laborer whose conviction on

kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery charges based on his confession under police interrogation.

His during his time with police, his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination had been

violated. When he confessed, those confessions were used against him to sentence him 20 to 30

years in prison. His rights were violated because he did not have the full opportunity to use his

privilege. "To permit a full opportunity to exercise the privilege against self-incrimination, the

accused must be adequately and effectively apprised of his rights and the exercise of those rights

must be fully honored." said Supreme Court's chief justice, Earl Warren.

Police are only required to Mirandize a suspect if they intend to interrogate that person

under custody. Arrests can occur without the Miranda Warning being given. If the police later

decide to interrogate the suspect, the warning must be given at that time. If public safety is an

issue, questions may be asked without the defendant being Mirandized, and any evidence

obtained may be used against the suspect under these circumstances. The Miranda Warning is all

about questioning and being protected from self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment, not

being arrested.
 The person arrested still has to answer questions about their name, age, and address. They

can be searched in order to protect the police officer. If a person under custody confesses before

they a read the Miranda Rights, it cannot be taken into evidence or cannot be used against them

in court. So in Ernesto Mirandas, he was at first sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison. Then he

went through trial again without his confession used against him and this time only received 11

years in prison.

If you have been Mirandized you wish to speak to police without an attorney, you can

change your mind at any time and plead the fifth. This means that you no longer wish to answer

questions, or that you have changed your mind and wish to have an attorney with you.

Miranda Rights are not a good way to bring people to justice. In many ways it can

sometimes go wrong. People that have committed a heinous crime can use the rights to make it

harder to for them to be brought to justice. Even if it is obvious that they committed the crime. If

a confession is made before the rights were given to the person under custody it cant be used

against them. This can result in criminals not getting the right amount of time that they deserve

on their sentences to prison, or just not get any time at all. On the other hand, it can also be a

good thing in most cases. Sometimes it can be fair to state the rights because most people are not

aware of what they can do to keep themselves safe especially when innocent. In some cases, a

person might know something that if they do state after they are given their rights then they can

be sentenced to prison. However, they could be innocent in a situation that seems bad. So at the

end of the day it would be better it they kept their mouths closed. I feel like we keep the Miranda

Rights to all people under arrest whether it is obvious or not that the committed a crime for the
fact that everyone is innocent until proven guilty. This is one of the things that it is important to

remember during situations involving Miranda Rights.