Miranda

An interesting synopsis of the Miranda ruling, from Orin Kerr. 

1) A lot of people assume that the police are required to read a suspect his Miranda rights upon arrest. That is, they assume that one of a person’s rights is the right to be read their rights. It often happens that way on Law & Order, but that’s not what the law actually requires. The police aren’t required to follow Miranda. Miranda is a set of rules the government can chose to follow if they want to admit a person’s statements in a criminal case in court, not a set of rules they have to follow in every case.

I know that when a suspect on TV is arrested, the first thing we hear the detective intone is:  "You have the right to remain silent".  I've done that on occasion, especially when  citizens are present.  I really don't need to read a suspect his rights unless I intend to ask him questions, ergo, I'm not going to violate his right to remain silent if I already have sufficient cause to arrest him for an offense.  In many cases I might not ask a suspect any questions.  Granted, it's easier to get a statement into evidence if you have a Miranda warning on file, but if I'm not interested in his statement, there's no real reason to get a Miranda waiver.

Don't believe everything you see on television.