Miranda Vs Arizona Case

The Miranda v Arizona decision handed down by the Supreme Court in 1966 has been the most impactful decision yet as far as instituting requirements for law enforcement officers in their daily duties when processing or investigating suspects for alleged crimes. Miranda, along with three other cases that were heard at the same time, set the standard for the admissibility of statements obtained from suspects after an interrogation. Miranda, along with those consolidated cases, required that statements of suspects, if confessing to a crime, were voluntary in nature and obtained only after the suspects were advised of certain rights and expressed their understanding, and waiver, of those rights. Law enforcement officers and investigators today must

The U.S. justice system is considered the fairest of all but if confessions are inadmissible and true criminals are released then our society will progress under great peril from continued violent acts. Law enforcement officers are mandated by Miranda to advise subjects in a custodial interrogation of their rights under the Fifth Amendment and their right to a counsel under the Sixth Amendment. The policies of police departments everywhere had to be changed due to Miranda; as this decision provided a fundamental shift in the tactics being used by investigators to interrogate suspects. No longer could officers pray on the ignorance of the law or intimidation of authority in order to compel confessions. “The courts have made it very clear that the use of physical force or physical abuse or even the threat of this type of conduct on the part of police will render a confession involuntary” (Wicklander & Zulawski, 2002, p.

Suspects commit crimes and often the victims are left wondering why the suspect’s rights seem to be more important than those of the victim. It does seem like an unfair game, the bully gets afforded everything, the victim left to suffer. In order for the justice system of the United States to stay the most balanced and civil rights friendly system in the world; suspects’ rights have to be respected and guarded so chaos doesn’t take over. Police officers through the years have gotten better with training and experience, guidance by prosecutors, and increased motivations to “do the right thing” to ensure suspects are processed correctly, and interrogated within the constraints of the U.S. Constitution. Seeing a conviction through to the end, the suspect afforded all protections under the law, and the victims seeing closure is the ultimate testament to how far law enforcement interrogations have come since Miranda. If police officers do their jobs and advise suspects of their rights at the appropriate times, during custodial interrogations, future case law won’t be required in order to generate more