YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1979

50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SUPREME COURT'S MIRANDA DECISION

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty years ago today, June 13, 1966 the Supreme Court of the United States handed down its decision in Miranda v. Arizona  establishing the principle that those who are placed under arrest by authorities must be advised of their legal rights before being interrogated.

While most of us have never been arrested, thanks to television and movies we are very familiar with the following statement which came as a result of the Miranda decision...

"You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.  You have the right to an attorney.  If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed for you."

US Supreme Court Building

Washington, D.C.

Photo by Jennifer White (2016)

THURGOOD MARSHALL APPOINTED TO SUPREME COURT 49 YEARS AGO

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall to the US Supreme Court 49 years ago today, June 13, 1967.

Marshall, born in 1908, was the first African-American to sit on the High Court.
He earned his law degree from Howard University and was counsel for the Linda Brown family in the Brown v. Board of Education segregation case of 1954.

Thurgood Marshall  served as the chief counsel for the NAACP from 1938 to 1961 and was appointed to the US Court of Appeals in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy and was confirmed in 1962.

Thurgood Marshall

National Portrait Gallery
Washington, D.C.
Photo by John White (2016)

IF YOU CANNOT AFFORD AN ATTORNEY...

JFK+50:  Volume 6, No. 1892

STATES MUST PROVIDE LEGAL COUNSEL FOR FINANCIALLY CHALLENGED CRIMINAL DEFENDANTS

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) Fifty-three years ago today, March 18, 1963, the United States Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of Gideon v. Wainwright.

The Court ruled that states are required to provide legal counsel to criminal defendants who are unable to pay for their own defense.

Clarence Earl Gideon had been charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor, but did not have the funds to retain an attorney. Mr. Gideon asked the court to appoint counsel for him, but the request was denied.

Mr. Gideon apparently had no alternative but to serve as his own attorney.  He was found guilty and sentenced to five years in prison.  The case was then appealed but the Florida Supreme Court denied his petition.  It was then taken to the highest court in the land.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled that under the Fourteenth Amendment* the states are required to provide counsel in criminal cases to represent defendants who cannot afford an attorney.

We all are familiar with, even if we have never been arrested, the so-called Miranda Rights read by police officers when they make an arrest.  They say...

"You have the right to remain silent.  Anything you say can & will be used against you in a court of law.  You have the right to an attorney.  If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you."

According to MirandaRights.org/, an arrested person must be "unequivocal" in their response to the Miranda statement.  "A person has to say, 'I want an attorney.  I will not talk until I have an attorney."'

SOURCES

"Fourteenth Amendment," Legal Information Institute, Cornell University Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/

"What Are Your Miranda Rights?," MirandaWarning.org/

United States Supreme Court Building
Washington, D.C.
Photo by Jennifer White (2016)