What Is the Miranda Warning?

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The Miranda Warning

Introduction

For even the most casual viewer of police television shows, the cry of "read me my rights" has

been heard from the lips of accused criminals on many occasions. Beyond this statement lies an

underlying story of - The Miranda Warning. Where this warning came from? What is its true meaning

and intent? What the future should hold for The Miranda Warning? These are all pivotal questions

which will be answered in the course of this research in order to better understand not only Miranda, but

the overall American criminal justice system and its approach to the rights of those accused of crimes.

What is the Miranda Warning?

We begin with the origins of The Miranda Warning itself. The actual verbiage of the warning

needs to be understood. Originally the Miranda Warning came forth from the legal case of Ernesto

Miranda, He was the focus of the 1963 Supreme Court Case Miranda v. Arizona (Lyman, 2004).

Essentially, the facts of the case are as follows: Ernesto Miranda was arrested and accused of the rape of

a mildly mentally handicapped woman. At the time of his arrest Miranda was not advised by the

arresting officer that he had the Constitutional right to remain silent and could choose not to answer

questions without an attorney present. He was also not informed of his right to not be forced to offer any

information that would be used against him in any legal case in a court of law. Eventually Miranda's

attorney argued that Miranda's confession to the crime should be thrown out of court, because it was

obtained without Miranda being advised of his Constitutional rights. The original judge in the case

denied this motion, but eventually the Supreme Court ruled that the statements that Miranda originally

made to the police should be disregarded because he was not read his rights (Robertson, 1997). As a

result of this pivotal ruling a standardized warning therein known as The Miranda Warning was

instituted by all police and law enforcement agencies in the United States. The law required anyone

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accused of a crime before being questioned be informed of their rights. The full text of the warning is as

follows:

"You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you understand?