The Miranda Warning Was Created by a Supreme Court Case

The now-famous "right to remain silent" stems from a 1963 case involving a Phoenix man named Ernesto Miranda, who was arrested for kidnapping and rape. During a two-hour interrogation, Miranda confessed to the crimes, and his statement was the sole basis for his conviction. However, his lawyers argued that he was never informed of his constitutional rights to an attorney and against self-incrimination. The Supreme Court agreed in a landmark 5-4 decision, asserting that suspects must be informed of their rights before any custodial questioning can begin. This ruling was rooted in the Fifth Amendment, which protects individuals from being compelled to be a witness against themselves, and the Sixth Amendment, which guarantees the right to legal counsel.

The decision in *Miranda v. Arizona* was a significant expansion of civil liberties, aiming to ensure that individuals are aware of their protections when in the inherently intimidating environment of a police interrogation. Chief Justice Earl Warren, writing for the majority, emphasized that without these safeguards, the process of in-custody interrogation contains "inherently compelling pressures which work to undermine the individual's will to resist and to compel him to speak where he would not otherwise do so freely." The ruling established the specific warnings that law enforcement must issue, now known as the Miranda Rights.

Ironically, the Supreme Court's decision did not set Ernesto Miranda free. His original conviction was overturned, but he was retried by the state of Arizona without the confession. This time, he was convicted based on other evidence, including testimony from his estranged common-law wife, and was sentenced to 20 to 30 years in prison. After being paroled in 1972, Miranda would autograph and sell "Miranda cards" containing the warning. His life came to a violent end in 1976 when he was stabbed to death in a bar fight; the suspect in his murder was read their Miranda rights upon arrest.