High Court Points to Possibly Scaling Back Miranda Right
WASHINGTON — Government lawyers Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to give the police more freedom to question suspects without first warning them of their right to remain silent, and most of the justices sounded as though they were inclined to do so.
"Miranda does not require officers to give the warnings," said Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. "It is a conditional thing."
If an officer warns a suspect of his rights, and the suspect talks, his words may be used against him in court. But a failure to give the warning does not mean that all the evidence must be thrown out, he added.
"I respectfully disagree," replied Jill M. Wichlens, an assistant public defender from Denver.
She argued that the court's own opinions make clear that Miranda warnings are required, and the penalty for failing to warn suspects of their rights is that police and prosecutors may not use any confessions or evidence that they obtain.
The exchange came as the justices heard arguments in two cases that could redefine the Miranda rules. Two veteran Justice Department lawyers and a Missouri state prosecutor urged the justices to adopt a scaled-down version of the Miranda warnings.
Under this approach, police would be free to question suspects without warning them of their rights. If the suspect confessed, the officer could then read the rights warning and ask that the confession be repeated.
Two public defenders called on the court to maintain the Miranda decision as a constitutional requirement for the police. They relied heavily on comments in the court's earlier opinions. But on several occasions, the justices interrupted to say that that was not what had been intended.
Three years ago, Rehnquist wrote an opinion for the court upholding the 1966 decision in Miranda vs. Arizona as having set a "constitutional rule" that could not be overturned by Congress. However, on Tuesday, he stressed that Miranda did not impose a constitutional "requirement" on the police.
The Miranda vs. Arizona decision, known to generations of Americans from TV cop shows, says police must tell suspects of their right to remain silent and warn them that anything they say can be used against them. Suspects also must be told of their right to a lawyer, and informed that one will be appointed for them if they cannot afford one.
Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony M. Kennedy and Sandra Day O'Connor said they saw no problem with the police questioning suspects, so long as force and pressure were not used.
