Washington (CNN) -- If criminal suspects fail to invoke their right to remain silent, they have waived that right, a divided Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The high court upheld the murder conviction of a man who did not verbally assert his right to remain silent during his police interrogation. In a 5-4 ruling, the court said a suspect must explicitly tell officers he or she is asserting that right, known as Miranda rights. The famous constitutional "right to remain silent" and the "right to talk to a lawyer before answering any questions" are among the well-known warnings all criminal suspects must be given upon arrest. The conservative court has generally been supportive in recent years, when police challenges to Miranda rights have been raised.Court: Suspects who don't explicitly invoke right to remain silent have waived itUpholds murder conviction in Michigan caseIn sharp dissent, Sotomayor says ruling is a 'major retreat' from self-incrimination protections
In a sharp dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor called the court's ruling a "major retreat" from protections against self-incrimination guaranteed by the original _ ruling. Those results, in my view, find no basis in _ or our subsequent cases and are inconsistent with the fair-trial principles on which those precedents are grounded."