Due Process of Law and the History of the Birth of Miranda Rules

In countries that uphold due process of law, prioritizes the protection of every individual from arbitrary actions by officials, for example in the United States a suspect who, when arrested, is not mentioned his rights by the investigator can result in the loss of suspect status which is known as Miranda Rules or The Four Miranda Warnings which reads:

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provide for you at government expense”

Birth of Miranda Rule which is currently used as an effort to guarantee the rights of a person suspected of committing a crime so as not to be treated arbitrarily by law enforcement officers, originating from an event that occurred in 1963 in Arizona, United States.

At that time, a young man named Ernesto Miranda was arrested by the police on charges of kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old woman. Upon his arrest, Ernesto Miranda was taken to the police station for interrogation, which lasted for two hours.

After that, Ernesto signed a confession stating that he had kidnapped and raped the woman in question, but before signing the letter, Ernesto was not given the right to remain silent and the right to have a lawyer accompany him during the investigation by investigators. Then, the confession letter was presented at trial and used as evidence, on that basis Ernesto was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

However, Ernesto Miranda filed an objection to the verdict to the Supreme Court America by considering three other similar cases and the objection was granted by Supreme Court on the basis that the written confession made by Miranda was invalid because Ernesto Miranda had not previously been given his rights as a suspect.

However, that did not immediately release Miranda, only suspend his sentence. Based on the decision Supreme Court United States in 1966 which stated that Miranda's confession was invalid, from that moment on the rights of suspects began to be taken seriously and that event was the beginning of the term Miranda Rules.