Post by Evil Yoda on Mar 5, 2021 14:05:45 GMT -5
This is a book by James Duane, to whose lecture Jimmy Jazz posted a link in a thread on Nationals. It's a slim volume, and the bulk of it tracks pretty closely with the lecture. It includes more case examples and is well cited for those who wish to find and examine actual cases.
The last two sections cover how pleading the Fifth Amendment can be used against you and suggest the Sixth Amendment is a better ally now. In sum: prosecutors, with the aid of the Supreme Court (primarily Scalia) have corroded the protection of the Fifth Amendment by allowing prosecutors to tell juries a defendant invoked that right and to suggest doing so implies guilt. Duane praised Scalia for his defense of rights enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights except for the Fifth Amendment, which Scalia apparently regarded as a shield only for the guilty, and which he worked to weaken. As did the lecture, the first part of the book explains how police interrogation techniques can and have gotten people to make false confessions, which undercuts Scalia's argument. In part this is because the justice system contains a number of flaws, prominent among them that police can and do routinely lie to those they are interrogating.
The Sixth Amendment says you are entitled to a lawyer. The book details how people have asked for lawyers and not gotten them, and later been tricked. Duane explains that the only sure way to ask for a lawyer is this way: "I want a lawyer." Police have chosen to misinterpret statements less certain and the courts have backed them up.
I recommend it. Even if you are sure you are law-abiding and will never face this situation. He explains why you can never be certain you will not face this situation. In addition, it will prepare you to advise a relative who may be... less law-abiding... how to react should the police wish to speak with him. He also has advice how to react should an investigator approach you from any of dozens of Federal agencies who employ what amount to agency specific police.
The last two sections cover how pleading the Fifth Amendment can be used against you and suggest the Sixth Amendment is a better ally now. In sum: prosecutors, with the aid of the Supreme Court (primarily Scalia) have corroded the protection of the Fifth Amendment by allowing prosecutors to tell juries a defendant invoked that right and to suggest doing so implies guilt. Duane praised Scalia for his defense of rights enumerated in the Constitution and Bill of Rights except for the Fifth Amendment, which Scalia apparently regarded as a shield only for the guilty, and which he worked to weaken. As did the lecture, the first part of the book explains how police interrogation techniques can and have gotten people to make false confessions, which undercuts Scalia's argument. In part this is because the justice system contains a number of flaws, prominent among them that police can and do routinely lie to those they are interrogating.
The Sixth Amendment says you are entitled to a lawyer. The book details how people have asked for lawyers and not gotten them, and later been tricked. Duane explains that the only sure way to ask for a lawyer is this way: "I want a lawyer." Police have chosen to misinterpret statements less certain and the courts have backed them up.
I recommend it. Even if you are sure you are law-abiding and will never face this situation. He explains why you can never be certain you will not face this situation. In addition, it will prepare you to advise a relative who may be... less law-abiding... how to react should the police wish to speak with him. He also has advice how to react should an investigator approach you from any of dozens of Federal agencies who employ what amount to agency specific police.