http://news.yahoo.com/supreme-court-decided-silence-used-against-161934950.html

In a 5-4 ruling on Salinas v. Texas in which the conservative members of the Court and Anthony Kennedy determined that if you remain silent before police read your Miranda rights, that silence can and will be held against you.

Umm, WTF. I don't know if there is more to this, but sounds like a bad call from the way the article describes it.

6/17/2013 5:29:35 PM

I don't understand.

You have to know all of your rights before you have them?

6/17/2013 6:31:50 PM

at least we can vote out the inept jud....oh, nevermind

6/17/2013 6:58:57 PM

should lead to interesting traffic stops..

"How fast were you going?"




[Edited on June 17, 2013 at 7:12 PM. Reason : i really wanted to use the gif...]

[Edited on June 17, 2013 at 7:13 PM. Reason : ...]

6/17/2013 7:11:31 PM

While the majority opinion makes a better caselaw argument, I feel that the existing case law is wrong and overly burdensome to defendants. It seems illogical to state "you don't have a right unless you assert that right" from a governmental point of view. I find the majority opinion especially weak given that what they seem to be saying is that had the defendant asserted their right, then the very same "testimony" used against them would not have been used. I acknowledge the difficulty the court would face in determining whether a given defendants non-verbal responses are or are not actual invocations of the 5th amendment but I am unsympathetic. It is not the place of the courts or the people to make the job of the police easier. Any interaction with the state should be considered compulsory when such interactions can or will be used in a court of law.

6/17/2013 7:18:13 PM

Gee, let me guess which Justices decided in favor of this ruling. Oh wait... I already know.

6/17/2013 7:51:27 PM

I don't get it. I mean, wouldn't simply invoking your right also be used against you, following the same logic?


If you were being questioned without being legally detained, and you fell silent once the questions became serious and you realized you'd better shut up, then it stands to reason that simply asserting your right to the 5th would also be used against you in the same capacity.

Really, the unintended consequence of this is going to be people who would otherwise willingly cooperate with police (to solve the murder case of a loved-one, for example) to stonewall an investigation out of fear of being prosecuted unfairly.

Man, what a stupid decision.


With that being said....don't ever cooperate with police.....ever.

[Edited on June 17, 2013 at 9:01 PM. Reason : ]

6/17/2013 9:00:25 PM

Quote :

"With that being said....don't ever cooperate with police.....ever."

What if you're the one who called the police? That seems like it would be pretty counter productive.

6/17/2013 10:10:07 PM

WTF? Reading your "Miranda rights" doesn't grant you any rights. It simply reminds/advises you of rights that you already have.

6/17/2013 11:40:06 PM

Not anymore. Thanks, Scalia.

6/18/2013 7:04:27 AM

and Kennedy.

6/18/2013 7:10:54 AM

Kennedy is a conservative as well.

6/18/2013 8:53:11 AM

I've been saying that this court is too powerful and corrupt for years.

And now, your constitutional rights can be used against you. Sweet.

6/18/2013 8:59:07 AM

Ehhh, Kennedy tends to be more of a swing than strictly conservative.

6/18/2013 10:25:22 AM

^^ After the last couple of weeks, this surprises you?

We've got a government that says it's A-OK to:

'Splode citizens with drone strikes, and have even refused to say it couldn't be done on US soil.
Allows the NSA to spy on anyone and everyone across the board.
Uses the IRS to intimidate and persecute political parties, entities and individuals.
Is prosecuting journalists for using their 1st amendment rights.
Is trying damned hard to take away citizens' 2nd amendment rights.

And that's just what they've owned up to recently.

[Edited on June 18, 2013 at 10:49 AM. Reason : *]

6/18/2013 10:46:43 AM

the supreme court didn't do those things, and he is talking about the supreme court

6/18/2013 10:55:11 AM

The court is a branch of the government. All 3 will screw us every chance they get.

6/18/2013 10:59:28 AM

Quote :

"You have to know all of your rights before you have them?"

Rights that require actions such as "remaining silent" require knowledge of them in order to exercise them effectively.

6/18/2013 11:04:21 AM

More importantly, being read your Miranda rights informs you that you are being detained, rather than simply being questioned and "free to leave."

6/18/2013 11:56:19 AM

Those rights were much more narrow before Miranda, they haven't always been so broad. I'm not a fan of this decision by any means, but its not as shocking as the headlines make it out.

6/18/2013 12:12:55 PM

It's shocking in that it's a clear step backwards for civil rights formed through poor conservative legal rationale.

And Kennedy is a conservative. His voting record is something like 55-60% in favor of conservative rulings, which apparently is enough to earn him the title of 'the swing vote.' Just because you've got the arch-conservative Scalia, Alito, and Thomas in addition to the merely severe conservative Roberts doesn't make Kennedy a liberal. This court is the clearest manifestation of conservatives being fucking idiots and backwards assholes.

6/18/2013 1:27:02 PM

Quote :

"After the last couple of weeks, this surprises you"

I'm not sure where you got the "surprise" part from, when I said "years".

6/18/2013 2:19:39 PM

I'm easily surprised.

6/18/2013 2:54:07 PM