S.J. Quinney College of Law Professor Paul Cassell was featured in the August 2, 2016 edition of the ABA Journal. The story, titled “50-year story of the Miranda warning has the twists of a cop show,” details the history and impact of Miranda v. Arizona.
Reflecting back on Dickerson after 16 years, Cassell believes Rehnquist’s line about Miranda being immersed in our popular culture has gotten too much attention, and he maintains that the case really wasn’t about that. “My brief made clear that federal agencies would continue to give Mirandawarnings no matter what happened because it demonstrates the voluntariness of the statement,” Cassell says. “Maybe it showed the court wasn’t seriously invested in looking at doctrinal issues relating to Miranda.”
“Popular culture makes people think it’s just reading words off a card, but there are lots of procedural issues that impede cops,” says Cassell. “There’s no question that Miranda has damaged law enforcement.”