Miranda Vs. Arizon Supreme Court Case

Upper Tier Rights There are many cases in the history of constitutional law that involve the wording of the United States Constitution. One case that deals with many parts of the constitution is Miranda v Arizona. This was a case that the Supreme Court voted on in 1966. This is a case of upper tier rights, because it deals with the constitutional rights. It mostly deals with the fourteenth amendment which is a right to due process and the sixth amendment which is a right to counsel. A suspect, Ernesto Miranda, was arrested on mostly circumstantial evidence for the kidnapping and rape of an 18 year old female. During the interrogation by the police Miranda confessed to the kidnapping and rape of the female. He also signed a paper that said
he was giving a voluntary statement to the police and that the police were not forcing him to confess to the crimes which he may or may not have committed. To most this sounds like the police did an alright job they got a confession out of him and there was no signs of abuse by the police.
So many would say what is the problem?
Why is this even considered a constitutional law case? How did Miranda v. Arizona turn into a landmark United States Supreme Court case? When this case went to trial Miranda’s court appointed attorney found out that the police never informed Miranda of his Constitutional right to counsel. So in fact by not informing Miranda that he had the right to counsel the police violated his Fourteenth Amendment which is the right to due process and his sixth amendment which is a right to counsel. If he would have had counsel present in the room he may never have signed that form confessing to the kidnapping and rape of that 18 year old woman. Miranda’s court appointed attorney at trial objected to the confession saying that his clients fifth, sixth, and fourteenth amendment rights were violated. The trial judge overruled the objection mainly because the defendant never formally asked to have an attorney present or to see or speak with his attorney. So Miranda was convicted of the crime and sent to up to 30 years in prison. Miranda’s attorney the appealed the decision all the way up to the Arizona supreme court. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled that they also believed that his rights were not violated because he never asked for an
attorney.
The Next step Miranda’s Attorney took was that he asked the United States Supreme Court to hear the case and they did. Then on June 13th, 1966 then United States Supreme Court ruled that Ernesto Miranda’s Constitutional rights had been violated by the police. The vote was close it was a 5-4 vote. Chief Justice Earl Warren along with Justices, Black, Douglass, Brennan, and Fortas thought that Miranda’s rights were violated and Justices Clark, Harlan, Stewart, and White thought that the police had acted in the correct manor.
This was one of the most historical cases in United States Supreme court history. This basically told police that if you did not inform the individual that he has a right to counsel you can not use any confession or information gathered from that. This is considered an upper tier rights case because it not only deals with one amendment but it actually deals with two others. The fifth, sixth and fourteenth amendments all come into play with this case. Police no Mirandize all suspects before talking to them and almost all law enforcement personal actually do it as they are arresting the suspect just to make sure. A suspect has the right to waive Miranda but then can not use it in the court case later on. In conclusion Miranda v Arizona became a land mark case in United States law history because it one had many constitutional rights broken in it that were corrected by the United States Supreme Court. It also actually helped the law enforcement agencies do their job better. It helped prevent other suspects from having their rights broken like Ernesto Miranda had his. Like stated earlier this is a prime example of upper tier rights because it not only deals with one constitutional right but three and they are three of the most important amendments, the fifth, sixth, and fourteenth amendments.

Sources
Miranda v. Arizona, U.S. Supreme Court Case Summary & Oral Argument. (n.d.). The Oyez Project | U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument Recordings, Case Abstracts and More. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from http://www.oyez.org/cases/1960-1969/1965/1965_759
Miranda v. Arizona. (n.d.). LII | Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0384_0436_ZS.html
The Supreme Court . Expanding Civil Rights . Landmark Cases . Miranda v. Arizona (1966) | PBS. (n.d.). PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from http://www.pbs.org/wnet/supremecourt/rights/landmark_miranda.html