Unfair Miranda Rights to All

• In Event: Roundtable: Courts and Sentencing

Abstract

Usual Miranda Rights (MR) recited to interrogatees fail to communicate their implications and meanings in a clear manner and at an appropriate vocabulary level for all education echelons. People brazenly assume knowledge of MR from watching crime shows, however do not contemplate their deeper connotations nor appreciate their importance as protective rights. MR recitations also vary in vocabulary level, and thus luck determines if an interrogatee understands his/her MR. While researchers have revealed that MR readings are widely varied, literature lacks analysis on the relationship between high education and MR comprehension level. To fill this gap, college students took a MR comprehension quiz, heard one of 4 recitations of MR, retook the MR quiz, and interviewed about the experience. Key findings concluded lack of understanding the implications of MR in college students. They were sufficiently deficient in comprehension of MR rights even after answering the question at the end of every MW: “Do you understand?.” Basic MR fail to instill strong comprehension about the right to not incriminate oneself, even for highly educated individuals. This means that Miranda Rights need an overhaul in order to appropriately follow the court ruling in Miranda vs. Arizona.

Author

• Brittany Solensten, University of Wisconsin - La Crosse