Holder Wants More Flexible Miranda Rule for Terrorism Suspects
Attorney General Eric Holder says the Obama administration would like to work with Congress to develop a more flexible Miranda rule to allow longer questioning of terrorism suspects before they are advised of their legal rights.
Holder outlined his proposal on Sunday morning news shows, telling NBC’s Meet the Press that the change in stance is a “new priority” and “big news,” according to stories in the Washington Post, the New York Times and the Associated Press. Holder indicated a need to expand the public safety exception that allows police to question suspects without advising them of their rights when there are immediate threats to public safety.
“We’re now dealing with international terrorism,” Holder said on ABC’s This Week, according to the Post account. “And if we are going to have a system that is capable of dealing in a public safety context with this new threat, I think we have to give serious consideration to at least modifying that public safety exception.”
The New York Times provides more legal background. The Supreme Court’s Miranda v. Arizona ruling in 1966 bars prosecutors from using suspect’s statements as evidence unless they are first advised of the right to a lawyer and a right to remain silent. The public safety exception was established in a 1984 Supreme Court case that allowed as evidence a suspect’s answer to police questions about where he had hidden a gun. The questions were posed when the suspect was arrested.
Holder said the existing exceptions don’t give terrorism interrogators enough flexibility. The administration has already “been stretching the traditional limits of how long suspects may be questioned” without a warning, the Times says. The FBI questioned the suspected underwear bomber for about 50 minutes before he was told of his rights, and questioned the suspect in the failed Times Square bombing for three or four hours before he was Mirandized.
The Post story says the administration’s goal is to have leeway to question terrorism suspects for longer periods without having to transfer them to a military justice system or having to designate them as enemy combatants. The administration may be seeking a change to a statute governing how long a suspect may be questioned before being brought before a judge, according to the Post.
Experts interviewed by the Times disagreed over whether the Supreme Court would uphold a statutory change to the Miranda rule. The American Civil Liberties Union criticized Holder’s proposal in a press release.
Last updated at 1:34 p.m. to correct date of Miranda v. Arizona ruling.
