Miranda V. Arizona Case: Ernesto Miranda's Law

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Ernesto Miranda Ernesto Arturo Miranda was born in Mesa, Arizona on March 9, 1941. During his grade school years, Miranda began getting in trouble. His first criminal conviction was during his eighth grade year. The following year, now a 9th grade dropout, he was convicted of burglary. His sentence was a year in the reform school, Arizona State Industrial School for Boys (ASISB). After his release from the reform school, he got into trouble again with the law and was returned to ASISB. Once released for the second time, Miranda relocated to Los Angeles where a few months later he was arrested on suspicion of armed robbery and sexual offenses even though he was not convicted of these crimes. He was eventually extradited back to Arizona a couple Some people might even argue that the Miranda’s laws might actually be harmful to law enforcement. Because the Miranda rules specify that a suspect must be read their Miranda Rights and has a right to waive those rights. If the suspect declines, the police are required by law to stop all questioning. Even if a suspect initially waives his rights, during an interrogation he can halt the process at any time by asking for a lawyer or taking back the waiver. The police, from that moment on, are not allowed to suggest that he or she reconsider (ncpa.org). Because of this, many people feel that this has had a harmful affect on law enforcement. Police have found that is much more difficult to get a confession. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), the fraction of suspects questioned who confessed dropped from 49% to 14% in New York and from 48% to 29% in Pittsburg. With fewer confessions, police also found that it is much more difficult to solve crimes. For example, following the Court decision, the rates of violent crime cases solved fell drastically from 60% (or higher) to approximately 45%. This level has remained constant over the years. Also, due to fewer confessions and fewer crimes that are solved, this means there are fewer convictions. According to the NCPA, there are 3.85 fewer convictions every year because of Miranda. Defenders of the Miranda decision say that fewer crimes solved are for a good reason. They believe that law enforcement officers were forced to stop coercive questioning techniques that are unconstitutional. Over the years, the Supreme Court has watered down its stance in saying that the Miranda rules are not constitutional obligations, but rather “prophylactic” safeguards which are intended to insure that officers do not force a confession from a suspect. The need for both effective law enforcement as well as protection of society dictate the need

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