The Supremes Chisel Away At Miranda Protection

By Pablo Fanque
National Affairs Editor



Voting along predictable lines, a five-knucklehead majority of the U.S. Supreme Court has voted to further water down the Miranda Rights of suspects. 


“The right to remain silent” actually--now--requires you to speak.  The Supremes ruled 5-4 today that criminal suspects must explicitly tell police interrogators they wish to remain silent in order to receive Miranda protections. 

Writing the dissenting opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the decision “turns Miranda upside down . . . suspects will be legally presumed to have waived their rights even if they have given no clear expression of their intent to do so.”