News With Views By Paul Engel
- You have the right to remain silent, correct?
- SCOTUS says you don’t have the right to remain silent unless you say so.
- Do you find it ironic that you have to speak to remain silent?
Everyone knows we have a right to remain silent, correct? What if I told you that in 2013 the Supreme Court upheld a decision basically stating that is not true. You only have the right to remain silent if you verbally claim the right in the first place, otherwise, according to SCOTUS, your silence can be used against you. Let’s take a look at this case and some of the history behind this violation of your rights.
Your Right to Remain Silent
Anyone who has watched a crime drama, or has been arrested, knows about the Miranda Warning.
the requirement set by the U. S. Supreme Court in Miranda v. Alabama (1966) that prior to the time of arrest and any interrogation of a person suspected of a crime, he/she must be told that he/she has: “the right to remain silent, the right to legal counsel, and the right to be told that anything he/she says can be used in court against” him/her.
Miranda warning – The Free Legal Dictionary
There’s more to the Miranda decision, but this is what every American “knows”: They have a right to remain silent. But where does that come from?
No person shall … be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself
U.S. Constitution, Amendment V
Technically, you have the right not to be compelled to be a witness against yourself in a criminal case. Since anything you say could be used against you, you generally did not have to talk to law enforcement, or any government agent for that matter. However, as is so often the case, the right to not be compelled to self-witness was relabeled the right to remain silent. While at first that sounds like the same thing, we’ll soon found out it is not.
Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370 (2010)
In the Berghuis v. Thompkins case, Mr. Thompkins had been arrested and advised of his right in accordance with Miranda, at which point two officers interrogated him about a shooting where one victim died. As recorded in the case:
At no point did Thompkins say that he wanted to remain silent, that he did not want to talk with the police, or that he wanted an attorney. He was largely silent during the 3-hour interrogation, but near the end, he answered “yes” when asked if he prayed to God to forgive him for the shooting…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE… (newswithviews.com)
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