Individual Rights Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Individual Rights - Essay Example One of those such rights would be the Miranda rights. In defining them, "Also known as the Miranda Rule or Miranda Warning, when you are arrested in the U.S.A., police officers must warn you that you have the right to remain silent, that anything you say could be used against you in a court of law, that you have a right to contact a lawyer and that if you cannot afford a lawyer, that one will be provided before any questioning if so desired," Adding that, "Failure to issue the Miranda warning renders evidence so obtained to not be admissible in the court. The warning became a national requirement when ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1966 case Miranda v. Arizona and that is how it got the name," (LawInfo.com, p.1). In the respect of this definition, the case involving Jane Smith would fall into direct violation in regards to the merits and meaning behind Miranda Rights. As the rights clearly state, a person has to be given the opportunity to posses legal counsel at the time of arrest and to have on one present during legal ques tioning. Another pertinent issue towards the legality of the case against a person in Jane Smith's position is the lack of parental consent towards the interrogation of their child who would have been a minor at the time. As common law states, when someone is a minor, they are to be approached with the knowledge and presence of their parents to consent to such approach. As the alleged perpetrator of the crime in question was a minor at the time, they would still be protected by the laws for interrogating minors despite whether or not the deciding authority wishes to charge the alleged as an adult. As there had been no written transferring of guardianship, the Uncle of Jane Smith would have no legal authority in regards to determining how, or even if his niece was to be questioned by the police. With the creation of laws, there is often times events and people that come as a way of facilitating such laws needing to be in place. In the case of the events leading up to case that which lead to the creation of the Miranda Rights law; A kidnapping and sexual assault occurred in Phoenix, Arizona, in March 1963. On March 13 Ernesto Miranda, 23, was arrested in his home, taken to the police station, identified by the victim, and taken into the interrogation room. Miranda was not told of his rights to counsel prior to questioning. Two hours later, investigators emerged from the room with a written confession signed by Miranda. It included a typed disclaimer, also signed by Miranda, stating that he had "full knowledge of my legal rights, understanding any statement I make may be used against me," and that he had knowingly waived those rights (Miranda v. Arizona, p.1). Such case practices that would later become illegal with the creation of the Miranda rights at the conclusion of the trial of Ernesto Miranda. Years since, the issue of delivering Miranda rights to person's in custody has become a central issue to the implementation of the American Judicial system in the way in which it was intended. For reasons of prosecuting crimes, the information gathered from alleged perpetrators is placed under great scrutiny as it comes to the methods for which they were gathered in the first place. Such attention paid in that, if collected even with the slightest bit of a hint that something had