 Under U.S. law and with rare exceptions , people ( whether criminal suspects or defendants or not ) have the right to remain silent as part of their right not to incriminate themselves under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution . Remaining silent is optional - they may speak or be silent as they wish . The Miranda warning concerns the duty of the police or other formal questioners to make sure that the suspect is aware they have that right prior to questioning , in case they want to be silent at some point or the suspect later pleads ignorance that they had the right ( and would have relied upon it had they been aware ) . Miranda v. Arizona 384 U.S. 436 ( 1966 ) and related cases contemplate that a suspect might invoke their rights ( make clear they wish to rely on them ) , waive their rights ( make clear they do not wish to rely on them ) , or do neither of these . A number of cases such as the present one , refine Miranda by addressing when and at what point a suspect , who is aware that they have the right to remain silent , is said to have begun to rely on that right , as opposed to when they were aware of the right but were not choosing to rely on it . 
