have you ever heard the phrase: "anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law" in movies or TV shows?
that is called the miranda warning (or your miranda rights)! unlike what movies often show, police officers do not have to say this warning the second they arrest someone. instead, they generally have to read your rights before questioning you while you're in police custody. if they don't, anything you say during that interrogation may not be allowed to be used against you in court.
how did this become a thing? it all started with a 23-year-old man named ernesto miranda in phoenix, arizona. on march 13th, 1963, police brought miranda to the police station and questioned him continuously for around two hours straight without telling him that he had the right to remain silent or the right to have a lawyer with him. eventually, miranda signed a written confession admitting to kidnapping and rape, and he was convicted to 20-30 years in prison.
miranda's lawyers argued that his constitutional rights had been violated because he was never informed of those rights before being questioned. the case eventually made its way to the U.S. supreme court, which voted 5 to 4 on june 13th, 1966, to overturn his conviction. the court ruled that the fifth amendment (protects people from being forced to incriminate themselves) and the sixth amendment (guarantees the right to a lawyer) require police to inform anyone who gets arrested of these rights before a custodial interrogation.
did the officers who questioned miranda get in trouble? nope. they weren't punished or disciplined at all since, in 1963, there wasn't yet a rule requiring police to give these warnings before questioning someone (which sucks). the supreme court's decision created a new standard that police departments across the united states would HAVE to follow from then on.
final note and maybe fun fact: even though miranda won his supreme court case, he didn't get to go free. prosecutors tried him again without using his confession, and he was convicted a second time based on other evidence collected!!!
the history post 1966 up to 2022 on it
