Ignorant Judges and Lawyers Don't Observe Public Safety Exception of
Miranda
“Thanks to the "Public Safety
Exception" to Miranda (which was created in 1980), the
government is not forced to choose between treating a suspect as an enemy
combatant or immediately allowing said suspect to hide behind an attorney and
the right to remain silent. In
extraordinary circumstances, when a suspect is believed to be part of a broader
conspiracy that might result in the loss of innocent life, authorities have 48
hours to question the suspect before mirandizing him.
Dzokhar Tsarnaev, the man suspected of being a co-conspirator in the Boston
Marathon bombings, was mirandized after only 16 hours of questioning. According to Fox
News, FBI officials were "stunned" when federal District
Court Judge Marianne Bowler arrived at the hospital and read Tsnarnaev his
rights. Sources told Fox News that this premature action might have hurt the
investigation.
Apparently, prior to Judge Bowler reading him his rights, Tsarnaev was
cooperating with investigators. The arrival of public defenders and the Justice
Department, though, compromised the interrogation and now the belief is that
"valuable intelligence may have been sacrificed as a result."
This is not the first time the Obama Administration has been criticized for
its rush to award a terrorism suspect the right to remain silent and to hide
behind an attorney. On Christmas day in 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (aka
The Underwear Bomber), attempted to blow up a plane with plastic explosive
hidden in his pants. Using the Public Safety Exception, Abdulmutallab was
interrogated -- but only for 50 minutes.
After being read his rights and receiving medical care, Abdulmutallab chose
to remain silent.”
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