Warren Lays It All Down
- The beginning informs us that the official Opinion (final decision of the court) is written by the Chief Justice (leader of SCOTUS), whose name is Earl Warren.
- Warren gives a broad view of how these cases are central to the American justice system, involving statements of admission (confessions) from individuals stuck in police custody.
- Next, he reminds us that we have seen similar cases recently, such as Escobedo v. Illinois. Miranda v. Arizona is picking up where those cases left off.
- Specifically, Warren wants to give concrete Constitutional guidelines for law enforcement agencies and courts to follow.
- Warren then gives a history lesson. He says that in the distant past, confessions were very common, because criminals were put behind bars, or hurt, until they confessed. But that's not how we do things now.
- He references England a lot—remember, America's entire governmental system evolved from Great Britain's. We're their baby.
- This next part is pretty cool. Warren says that "rights declared in words might be lost in reality." In other words, rights are just words on a page until someone actually enforces them. And Warren says we must enforce them.
- The seventh paragraph is Warren's overview of the new rule—the Miranda Warning. But it's more than that; it's also a clarification of what it means to be in custody (not free to leave), and to be interrogated (officially questioned by police or detectives).
- Because it's important to know exactly what we're talking about here.