The Price of Silence: Supreme Court Rules That Pre-Miranda Silence Can Be Used Against Defendant To Prove Guilt

This shows you how fucked up the conservative members of SCOTUS really are. The “Miranda Rights” are in the Constitution. They exist PRIOR to a suspect being Mirandized. The SOLE purpose of reading a suspect their rights is to insure they are AWARE of those rights…they are NOT magically given to a suspect once the rights are read.

JONATHAN TURLEY

225px-010_alitoIn a major loss for individual rights vis-a-vis the police, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that prosecutors could use a person’s silence against them in court if it comes before he’s told of his right to remain silent. The prosecutors used the silence of Genovevo Salinas to convict him of a 1992 murder. Because this was a non-custodial interview, the Court ruled that the prosecutors could use his silence even though citizens are allowed to refuse to speak with police. It is of little surprise that the pro-police powers decision was written by Samuel Alito who consistently rules in favor of expanding police powers.

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