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The ambiguity of silence; the silencing of ambiguity.

By Marks & Katz, LLC

Bill of Rights (Image from the public domain.) Undoubtedly, cops have legions of tricks to convince suspects to give up their Miranda right to remain silent, starting with delaying an arrest and detention so as not to need to give such rights yet, proceeding to intimidating body language (including patting the cop's handgun and handcuffs), and proceeding to leaving the suspect the choice between languishing in a depressing, decrepit, smelly, and confining lockup while waiting the weekend to see a judicial officer for a bond review or to be taken on a McDonald's field trip with unlimited Coca Colas and fries in exchange for spilling the beans. Of course, the "persuasion" methods to getting a waiver of Miranda rights can become more sinister, including police lying that Miranda rights were given and waived in the first place, threatening harm or other problems to the suspect or his or her loved ones, alternatively yelling and mollycoddling the suspect (sometimes through good cop/bad cop or a legion of them parading in and out and at times leaving the suspect alone, in suspense over what will happen next, and whether a good cop or back cop will enter next) over a sustained period of time, and proceeding to all sorts of physical discomfort that reveal no visible scars or bruises (including forcing the suspect to sit in underwear on an ice-cold steel chair or to be blindfolded with a urine-soaked cloth); ask the CIA and other interrogators of suspected terrorists for additional methods of such heavy-handed interrogation methods...continue to full post

Full post as published by Underdog on March 27, 2008 (boomark / email).