Interesting read about one's rights ...

[HSP]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100601/...miranda_rights

[BIG C]

Eh, I don't think this really changes much by way of your right to remain silent.....Okay, they're saying here that you have to actually speak to them to say "I want to invoke my right to remain silent".....The Supreme Court has long ruled that you have to unequivocally and unambiguously invoke that right.....You can do that by either words or actions.....Either say "I don't want to talk", or simply "SHUT THE FUCK UP ! ! ! ! !.....

Actually, this case only reaffirms something that I've said on plenty occasions and that is that lots of members of the bench actually have zero idea about the law.....I'm not sure how the COA in Cincy made the determination that this guy didn't waive his right to remain silent.....Apparently they read him his rights, he indicated that he understood his rights, they asked him questions, and instead of simply SHUTTING THE FUCK UP ! ! ! ! ! or simply saying "I don't want to talk without having my lawyer present," this dumbfuck decides he's going to answer questions.....If the dumbass would have simply SHUT THE FUCK UP ! ! ! ! !, then they could have asked him questions forever and a day and they wouldn't have had a confession, or anything else, that they COULD AND DID use against him in a court of law.....If the dipshit wanted to talk and answer questions, then his only response should have been "I don't want to make any statements without having a lawyer present".....

Thus, as much as it pains me to actually admit that I concur with anything John Roberts, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas has to say concerning our Constitutional Rights, I have to strongly agree with them here that the confession was NOT obtained in violation of the 5th Amendment, that it was totally admissible, and the conviction here should not be thrown out.....

I don't know why, but to this date I still find it mindboggling that one of the most powerful protections that we have against police actions, and one of the easiest rights to invoke against police interrogations, is the one that most defendants totally fuck up, and once you screw that one up, it then becomes one of the most difficult ones to cure.....Your right to remain silent attaches as soon as you're arrested (or even if you're not arrested and they're just asking you questions about the crime, which is a whole 'nother issue in itself).....Invoke that right by either SHUTTING THE FUCK UP ! ! ! ! !, or by just telling the cops "I don't want to answer any questions without having my lawyer present".....That's been pretty much the rule since Miranda in '66, and this decision hasn't done anything to put any additional burdens on the defendant as far as I can tell.....

BTW, I really love these threads because it gives me an opportunity to continue to assail you guys and girls with my new motto of "SHUT THE FUCK UP ! ! ! ! !".....I think I'm gonna edit my signature line and only use that as my tagline.....

[Jacquie]

I totally agree with Big C for once.

I got arrested years ago-- slow down, gents. Not for this.

The cops did not announce themselves when I was wandering around an abandoned building taking pictures. In fact, the guy that walked up on me was a man not in uniform. I ran, because I was absolutely terrified that it was a dangerous person as I was in a moderately dangerous area. I ran to my car about a half block away and was clutching my pepper spray. Finally, some one gets it in their head to say something. I lay down on the wrong side, not knowing how to get arrested or thinking that I'd done anything wrong.

Cop gives me a good beating by kicking my ribs and back in as I'm turning over at his instruction. He screams at me, "You stupid bitch, you just got another charge slapped against me along with my foot." Completely inappropriate, because I was a teensy seventeen year old white girl in a bright pink sundress.

The cop questioned me for forty five minutes... I just glared angrily at him. He explained that the area I had trespassed in was one of Baton Rouge's meccas for prostitution, a brothel. I think he was trying to figure out if I was being trafficked or something, but I mean, c'mon!! I had a camera, and I was wearing chuck taylor's. He would've been better off asking if I had pot on me. He also kept injecting malaprops connected to literature to appeal to me, because I suppose I look artistic. I wish I could've opened my mouth to correct him, but being a smart lady, I knew better. The only thing I did once my paperwork had all been handed to me and they had release me was, "Thanks for making me miss church. Now, I have to go to Confession for two things."

They ended up completely dropping the charges, because those dumb cocksuckers listed my address as the place I got arrested at...or maybe my friend's lawyer dad had something to do with it, I'm not sure, was too young to understand those things. Remarkable how much I had to endure for them to fuck up on something as easy as writing the proper address.