Friday will mark the 48th anniversary of an United States
Supreme Court decision that many legal experts describe as one of the most
significant in history. That decision came from the case of Miranda v. Arizona
The Miranda Warning, or Miranda Rights as they are oftentimes
called, are a set of constitutional rights many of us have heard many times,
given the frequent use of them on film and reality television.
Generally speaking, these rights are required under the
constitution to be given to individuals in police custody before they can be
lawfully questioned or interrogated.
Though these rights are known to many of us, they can be
difficult to recall when put on the spot, which is part of the reason area
attorneys say it is important for them be communicated the moment they become
relevant.
“When you start to read those rights to an individual, then that
makes it real because they may believe this officer is being nice to me here
and he is just wanting to have a conversation with me, and they don't realize
they're walking themselves into a penitentiary,” says David A. Johnson,
attorney with the Law Office of David A. Johnson in Hazard.
The Miranda v. Arizona
