Title: Why the Miranda Decision Still Matters 51 Years Later | LawForSeniors.org
Headings: How Government Works
How Government Works
Why the Miranda Decision Still Matters 51 Years Later
History of the Miranda Decision
On June 13, 1966, the United States Supreme Court published its opinion in Miranda v. Arizona. The Court held:
The Impact of Miranda on Modern Police Work
Similar Protections in Other Countries
Resources

Content: Reading an accused his rights is now an ingrained part of law enforcement procedure and considered integral to protecting everyone’s Fifth Amendment rights, but it wasn’t always that way. History is loaded with examples of coerced confessions, dating back to the Spanish Inquisition and even earlier to the Roman Empire. Today, we often take the protections afforded by our Bill of Rights for granted, including our Fourteenth Amendment due process rights and our Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. History of the Miranda Decision
Ernesto Arturo Miranda was born in Mesa, Arizona on March 9, 1941. Ernesto was a tough kid who first encountered law enforcement while still in grade school. When Ernesto was small, his mother died and his father soon remarried. It was not a happy home. Ernesto was in 8th grade when he was convicted of his first crime. The following year, he was convicted of burglary and sentenced to a year in reform school. About a month after his release, in 1956, he was arrested and returned to reform school at the Arizona State Industrial School for Boys.