"It's not a perfect system...but it's about finding a balance."
-Judge Andre Davis, Senior Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, on America's law system under the Constitution. (2014 Interview)
-Judge Andre Davis, Senior Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, on America's law system under the Constitution. (2014 Interview)
A Balance of Rights and Responsibilities
A Handcuff on the Police's Responsibility to Protect the People
Graphs charting data regarding clearance rates for certain crimes before and after Miranda Rights became required under Miranda v. Arizona. (1998, Credit: Handcuffing the Cops: Miranda’s Harmful Effects on Law Enforcement)
Using the charts above, we can see that after Miranda v. Arizona, the crime clearance rate changes significantly before leveling off after a few years. This leveling off represents a new balance between rights and responsibilities triggered by Miranda. But from this data, we can also see that the new crime clearance rate is significantly lower than before Miranda. In short, it appears that Miranda Rights do prevent police from incarcerating some criminals.
"I have definitely had very bad outcomes where Miranda was an issue. I handled a rape case several years ago with someone we knew to be a serial rapist...They tossed the case and the guy walked out of jail. " -Laura Greene, Prosecuting Attorney (2014 Interview) |
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A Protector of the People's Rights Guaranteed by the Constitution
Interview of Chris Ochoa, a man who served several years in jail after confessing to a crime he did not commit. In his case, the police pushed him to confess in ways that severely restricted his ability to enjoy the full protection of his rights. (2007, Credit: Innocence Project)
As a safeguard to false confessions, Miranda Rights seek to ensure that the innocent shall not be deprived of their freedoms. "We the People of the United States, in Order to...secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.." -The Preamble to the Constitution (1787) The Constitution guarantees the rights and protects the liberties of all US citizens. "Life and liberty can be as much endangered from illegal methods used to convict those thought to be criminals as from the actual criminals themselves."
-Former Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren (1959, Credit: Assenting Opinion of Spano v. New York) |
-Judge Andre Davis, Senior Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, on the balance our law attempts to achieve. (2014 Interview)
Rights and responsibilities have an opportunity to be balanced and rebalanced in the U.S. under the auspice of the U.S. Constitution. If such a rights-responsibilities balance could not be achieved, then it would lead to oppression – meaning one party would be asked to put in a lot (responsibilities) and receive little in return (rights) and vice versa. Imagine an Orwellian society, in which the government has cameras watching everything every citizen does. The crime rate would drop, but at the cost of great freedom.
The Miranda case accentuates the reciprocity between rights and responsibilities by first disturbing the existing rights-responsibilities balance. The reciprocity of rights and responsibilities inherent in the U.S. Constitution serves to continually achieve new rights-responsibilities balances by proportionally redistributing rights and responsibilities for all parties over time. Fifty years after Miranda, the public safety remains intact and the people's rights are more protected under a new balance between rights and responsibilities. |
The cover of George Orwell's book, 1984, which depicts a society in which the responsibility of the government is placed above the rights of the people. (Credit: ctrlaltdeeleet.com)
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"We are able to conduct good investigations and go to court and win cases regardless of Miranda Rights..more often than not people will still speak to you."
-A California Police Officer (2014 Interview)
-A California Police Officer (2014 Interview)