Miranda Flap

7--21--1999

Defense attorneys, the Clinton administration, and some other liberals are all in a flap over the possibility that the Miranda straightjacket might be loosened a little.

Most citizens will probably consider the possibility a welcome and overdue change. The stupidity of Miranda was never accepted by the general public in the same manner as it was by liberals and legal fools.

What happened was that due to the public outcry over the consequences of Miranda, with good evidence and good confessions regularly being thrown out of court by liberal-minded judges, Congress passed what is known as "Section 3501," which stipulated that evidence or confessions need not necessarily be thrown out simply because the so-called Miranda "warnings" were not given. The law sat on the books for years, largely forgotten. Then a case brought before the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals brought it into the spotlight and the appeals justices ruled 8 to 5 in favor of application of Section 3501. My, my - how the liberals have been squirming and squealing since. The possibility that upon appeal (currently underway), the Supreme Court itself might uphold the appeals court ruling, has them running scared.

We've heard common posturing and lawyer-style bantering over this. Most of the liberal commentators, legal or otherwise, have spoken out boldly as if Miranda were a constitutional right and that any thought of modifying or mollifying it would be akin to wiping out a portion of the Constitution itself. That is all utter nonsense. Any such assumptions are brazen and foolish on their face. Miranda was never constitutionally-based. Rather, it was absurd thinking by the most absurd, liberal, and constitutionally-damaging supreme court that ever sat.

It would be wonderful to see some rational, constitutional, balance actually return by having the highest court uphold the appeal court's ruling. Unfortunately, given the control of the system held for so long by those steeped in legal stupidity and a mindset for mollycoddling the criminal element, it wouldn't make much sense to hold your breath....