Oppressed Peoples Online Word...The Voice Of The Voiceless

Dedicated to disseminating news & information not found in mainstream media....

Youth is an Issue for Miranda Rights, Supreme Court Rules

MAS Immigrant Justice Center
MESSAGE CENTER

Youth is an Issue for Miranda Rights, Supreme Court Rules

 

 

                                              

The Miranda Warning
 
 

American Bar Association President Stephen N. Zack applauded today's ruling in a statement. "It's a matter of fact, not just law, that children are not the same as adults," Zack said. "It is hard to imagine anyone feeling comfortable with a 13-year-old child being questioned by police without a Miranda warning.  Decision by the United States Supreme Court in the case of J.D.B. v. State of North Carolina recognizes a child's unique vulnerabilities and immaturity when it comes to judgment and understanding. The American Bar Association agrees strongly with the court's smart, fair decision that a child's age must be considered when making a Miranda custody determination."

 

The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Thursday against the state of North Carolina in the case of a juvenile who was questioned in a school conference room without being read his Miranda rights. As a result, law enforcement officials across the United States will have to consider a young suspect's age carefully before deciding whether to inform that person that he or she has the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney.

In the case, J.D.B. v. North Carolina, the court concluded that police must consider a suspect's age in determining whether the questioning is "coercive." If a juvenile would find the situation coercive, the officer must therefore read the Miranda rights.

Until Thursday, police were required to decide whether, during questioning, a "reasonable person" would consider himself in custody. If the answer is yes, then law enforcement must read the Miranda rights.

 

1. You have the right to remain silent.

The Court: "At the outset, if a person in custody is to be subjected to interrogation, he must first be informed in clear and unequivocal terms that he has the right to remain silent."

2. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law.

The Court: "The warning of the right to remain silent must be accompanied by the explanation that anything said can and will be used against the individual in court."

3. You have the right to have an attorney present now and during any future questioning.

The Court: "...the right to have counsel present at the interrogation is indispensable to the protection of the Fifth Amendment privilege under the system we delineate today. ... [Accordingly] we hold that an individual held for interrogation must be clearly informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer with him during interrogation under the system for protecting the privilege we delineate today."

4. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you free of charge if you wish.

 

 

The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the "reasonable standard" should take a suspect's age into account. "A child's age is far more than a chronological fact," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in her majority decision.

"Even where a reasonable standard otherwise applies, the common law has reflected the reality that children are not adults," Sotomayor wrote.

Justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan joined Sotomayor in her decision.

 

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in opposition, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

Alito said the decision took away from Miranda's clarifying one-size-fits-all rule. "Safeguarding the constitutional rights of minors does not require the extreme makeover of Miranda that today's decision may portend," he wrote.

Why, Alito wondered, is age different from intelligence? Or cultural background? Or education? "There is no need to go down this road," he wrote.

 

Juvenile justice advocates were elated.

 

"Obviously, I think the ruling is terrific," said Marsha Levick, the deputy director and chief counsel of the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia. "I think Justice Sotomayor's opinion really underscores yet again the simple fact that kids are different and that their legal status must take into account their age."

North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, who argued the case in March, issued a brief statement. "Law enforcement needed a definite answer on whether they must consider age for Miranda purposes, and now we know they do," Cooper said in the statement. "Officers need clear standards when questioning witnesses, and it will be important for future courts to keep this ruling narrow."

 

The impact of the decision on the number of confessions or improper arrests among juvenile suspects remains to be seen. But law enforcement officers are likely to revise their ways, said John Charles Thomas, a lawyer at Hunton & Williams in Richmond, Va., who drafted a friend-of-the-court brief for North Carolina on behalf of the National District Attorneys Association.

 

"It would make sense that with this decision you would think what would happen is there would be more Miranda warnings," Thomas said.

 

The Miranda rights exist to prevent police from coercing confessions.

 

"That's a good thing, but it wasn't meant to say people shouldn't talk to police," Thomas said. "Miranda is a barrier of a kind. I mean, it makes people stop talking."

The case stems from a situation in September 2005 in which a 13-year-old boy was pulled out of his class at a Chapel Hill, N.C., middle school, escorted to another room and interrogated behind a closed door by a police detective and three other adults.

The boy confessed to a neighborhood larceny. He never was read his Miranda rights, which include the right to an attorney.

 

 

 

If you like this article please consider donating to :  Oppressed Peoples Online Word

O.P.O.W. Email:   oppressedpeoplesonlineword@gmail.com

World News Up-dated :  Mosaic World News

Views: 154

Comment

You need to be a member of Oppressed Peoples Online Word...The Voice Of The Voiceless to add comments!

Join Oppressed Peoples Online Word...The Voice Of The Voiceless

Blog Posts

Forum

Allah سبحانه و تعالى said : “This day, I have completed your religion for you”

Allah completed the religion through him and the proof is His saying, He, the Most High: «This day, I have completed your religion for you, perfected My blessings upon you, and am pleased…Continue

Started by karriem el-amin shabazz in Sample Title Sep 8, 2022.

The argument about Resurrection and life after death!

Allah says: “Nay! I swear by this city. This city wherein you have been rendered violable, and I swear by the parent and his offspring” (90Al-Balad:1-3) To begin a conversation, in Arabic with Nay,…Continue

Started by karriem el-amin shabazz in Sample Title Jul 29, 2022.

The question: When will the threat of Resurrection be carried out?

After Tauhid the other question about which a dispute was raging between the Prophet (pbuh) and the disbelievers was the question of the Hereafter. Here, before giving the arguments, the Hereafter…Continue

Started by karriem el-amin shabazz in Sample Title Jun 18, 2022.

This is the Truth: The Garden of Eternity, or the Blazing Fire!!!

Allah says: “Tell them, (O Prophet): “Did you consider (what would be your end) if this Qur'an were indeed from Allah and yet you rejected it? And this, even though a witness from the Children of…Continue

Started by karriem el-amin shabazz in Sample Title Jun 1, 2022.

Badge

Loading…

Groups

© 2024   Created by Bilal Mahmud المكافح المخلص.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service