Litigation

Holder Floats Idea of Revising Miranda for Terror Suspects

By Peter Hardin

There may be a need for changes to limit the constitutional rights granted terrorism suspects, Attorney General Eric Holder says.

In appearances on Sunday TV talk shows, Holder discussed an interest in working with Congress to permit more time to interrogate terror suspects before they are informed of their Miranda rights, according to an Associated Press article.

Some Republicans criticized the Obama administration recently after a man was arrested for at attempted car bombing in Times Square; the suspect, Faisal Shahzad, was initially questioned, was read his Miranda rights, and then talked further with investigators, according to news accounts at the time.

Holder said law enforcement authorities need more flexibility to question terror suspects than they are afforded by current exceptions, the New York Times reported. He also said Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen, got training from the Taliban in Pakistan.

You can learn more about the Shahzad case, and related controversy over detainees’ rights, from Gavel Grab.

Full post as published by The Gavel on May 10, 2010 (boomark / email).