International Application Of The Fifth Amendment: Where In The World Is Ernesto Miranda?

Abstract

In 1966, The United States Supreme Court issued its now legendary decision in Miranda v. Arizona (1), and the practice of criminal law in the United States as was then known, was changed forever. The Miranda Warnings became not only the law of the land in protecting the rights of the accused, but also resulted in evolution and education in the field of law enforcement, processes that continue to this date. Now comes a series of cases involving international terrorism, and Miranda and its old stable-mate Mapp (2) get trotted out again for a new look, to see whether members of an international conspiracy--led by Osama Bin Laden and organized through the al Qaeda terrorist network--to kill American citizens and destroy American facilities across the globe(3), can make a run for the roses using the triple crown of American criminal jurisprudence, The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution. Two races have been run, and the al Qaeda horsemen have finished out of the money. They now gear up and don their colors for one last run in their quest for exoneration: a date with the U.S. Supreme Court.