Miranda Warning, Research Paper Example

The Miranda warning is a crucial procedure rule in the criminal justice system that upholds the rights of the defendants. The officers in the law enforcement are supposed to execute the Miranda warning with the aim of protecting a person who has been arrested and waits to be questioned from the violation of the Fifth Amendment right against the compelled self-incrimination evidence (Monk, 2003).

The five prongs contained in the Miranda warning are indicated below.

• The accused person has the right of remaining silent and decline to answer any questions.
• Anything that the accused person may say can be used in the court of law against the accused person.
• The accused person has the right of consulting an attorney prior to speaking to police and be represented by the attorney at the time of questioning any time.
• In case the accused person cannot afford to pay the attorney, one will be appointed to represent the accused person prior to questioning.
• If the accused person opts to respond to the questions without the presence of the attorney, he/she may has the right of stopping answering the questions until he/ she communicates with the attorney (Sareen, 2013).

They have a lot of significance to an unaware, uninformed defendant because the Miranda warnings are intended to reserve the rights of criminal suspects based on the demands of the constitution. The Miranda warning also protects the suspect from the possibility of the government to consider a person as a suspect of a crime. Most of the rights that have been enshrined in the Miranda warning are reflected in the Bills of Rights as well as the constitution including the habeas corpus, the right to representation by an attorney as well as the right of remaining silent. The aim of such provisions is assurance of the rights that a criminal suspect is supposed to have (Sareen, 2013).

The Miranda warning has therefore been a suitable balance between the rights of the accused individual and the police officers as they diligently execute their mandate. Prior to any form of questioning that is done on any suspect, it is the duty of the law enforcement officers to recite the Miranda warning considering the vital elements that are required for the person to be considered as “Mirandized” (Finkelman, & Bruce, 2008).

In light of public speculation and a situation that the Supreme Court is on the verge of removing the Miranda requirements, it is important to consider that the laws in the United States are intended to offer protection to all people. According to the opinions of some people, the law may be misleading or harsh. The police have a role to arrests and then interrogate suspected criminals and in the process, following important protocols is prudent to avoid violation of the rights of the criminals. The Miranda rights play a crucial role in the protection of the suspect and it is one of the most effective check-and-balance within the police officers involved in interrogation (Sareen, 2013). It is also important to avoid a situation whereby, police officers may take the advantage of lacl of sufficient awareness of the rights of the people which is a common occurrence. It is therefore very important that the Miranda rights are retained.

In most cases, the police took advantage of the ignorance among most people who are unaware of their rights. Most people can only mention some of their rights and it is uncommon that an individual can indicate knowledge of all the rights.

References

Finkelman, P. & Bruce A. L., (2008). Milestone Documents in American History: Exploring the Primary Sources That Shaped America. Vol.4. Dallas, TX: Schlager Group.

Monk, L.R., (2003). The Words We Live By: Your Annotated Guide to the Constitution. New  York: Hyperion.

Sareen, A., (2013). “Miranda Rights Won’t Be Read For Boston Bombing Suspect: Justice Official.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Web. 26 Jan. 2014.