In the United States, you have the right to remain silent.

You also have the right to consult an attorney.

But more importantly, if you're arrested, you have the right to know that you have the right to remain silent and to consult an attorney.

Those rights have always existed to Americans as having been established by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to the Constitution.

It wasn't until 1966 that it was made law that anyone placed under arrest or being questioned

by the police had to be informed of those rights. The process of reading a perp their rights

became known as a Miranda warning, and that name was not

pulled out of thin air. On March 13, 1963, Ernesto Miranda voluntarily went to the Phoenix

police station with two officers. There, he was interrogated for two hours before confessing to

the kidnapping sexual assault

of 18-year-old Patricia Weir, along with other crimes.

On the top of each page of his handwritten confession was displayed, quote,

This statement has been made voluntarily and of my own free will with no threats, coercion, or promises of immunity,

and with full knowledge of my legal rights, understanding any statement I make can and will be

used against me. It seemed like a pretty airtight case with a signed confession along with a

disclaimer that Ernesto had full knowledge of his rights.

The problem was that he didn't.

The officers had never explained his rights to him.

He didn't know that he could have an attorney present and he didn't know that he could remain

silent.

And him simply saying he knew his rights was not good enough.

It would ultimately lead to his conviction being overturned

...