This is not going to be a popular post with some people. The government has decided not to give Dzokhar Tsarnaev his Miranda rights or access to an attorney. This is completely wrong. Posted on 04/21/2013 3:55:32 AM PDT by LD Jackson
This is not going to be a popular post with some people. The government has decided not to give Dzokhar Tsarnaev his Miranda rights or access to an attorney. This is completely wrong.
A Justice Department official said, "The suspect is en route to the hospital for immediate treatment. But we plan to invoke the public safety exception to Miranda in order to question the suspect extensively about other potential explosive devices or accomplices and to gain critical intelligence." Under this public safety exception they have 48 hours to get him before a judge, which I've read would end the exception. Anything he says to them during this 48 hours can be used against him in court.
Some in Congress want the Obama administration to go even further and classify Tsarnaev as an enemy combatant, which would deny him rights and an attorney indefinitely. This is also completely wrong. Like it or not, Tsarnaev is a naturalized U.S. citizen who is accused of crimes committed on U.S. soil. The crimes being heinous and terroristic don't change the fact that they are still just that - crimes. Citizens have rights and Tsarnaev should not be denied those rights. It doesn't appear he was working at the behest of any foreign government or terror organization. If he was receiving orders or assistance from a foreign government or a terror organization, that would change things, but for the moment that doesn't appear to be the case.
Let me be clear about one thing. I am not one of these people who believe there are never exceptions to making sure people like Tsarnaev get their rights. Using the much-used scenario, if a bomb was set to go off somewhere and only he knew where it was I'd be the first one to say strap him to a chair and do what it takes to make him talk. But again, that doesn't appear to be the case.
I was discussing this with a friend and she asked why I'm so concerned about this guy's rights. I told her that I'm not, but I'm concerned with her rights and my own. Allowing the government to pick and choose who is afforded the protections codified in the Bill of Rights is very dangerous, especially a government with people like Obama and Eric Holder making decisions.
Most people would probably scoff at my thinking, but what happens if the day comes when those in charge think gun owners are dangers to public safety and should be denied their rights? Or Christians? Think that can't happen? At a briefing given to a Pennsylvania Army Reserve unit, soldiers were told that evangelical Christians are the number one extremist threat to America – ahead of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, KKK, Nation of Islam, al-Qaida, Hamas and others. After complaints from soldiers at the briefing the Army Chief of Chaplains said it was an isolated incident and would not happen again.
While this is not the official position of the U.S. government, clearly there are people providing training to our military who do believe it. Do we really want there to be a public safety exception to Constitutional rights for citizens when those people are making policy?
Dzokhar Tsarnaev should have five things coming to him - His rights as an American citizen, a speedy trial, a needle, a pine box and an unmarked grave. Denying him the Constitutional protections that we all have is wrong and sets a dangerous precedent for the future, when the people in charge just might decide that you are a danger to the public safety for some reason.
What he said.
He was most assuredly working at the behest of Islam.
Here’s the funny thing which always confuses me:
Dude has the rights anyway. What’s the big deal about reading them to him?
This is a complete distraction!
Whether they read to him the constitution or not is irrelevant!
Also another thing worth noting...
In the media reports they said he ‘negotiated’ with the FBI for 20 minutes before he gave up.
Kid can’t be that stupid. He must have had the president on the phone and done a deal.
It’ll be interesting to see what happens.
If this guy talks with or without and we can't use the info against him...so what...we have all other kinds of evidence. It's not like he's going to be released anytime soon.
And all he has to say is "I want an attorney"....and the exception is gone....
Correct. He has the rights either way.
The legal system presumes everyone is an idiot and dictates that you must be made aware of your rights before anything you say can be used against you. Well, we already have enough evidence to put him to death, we don't need to use anything he says to prosecute him.
What encouragement is there for him to talk? Well, I wouldn't pull back from the death penalty.
The reading to him of his rights IS NOT ITSELF in the Constitution.
As a citizen, he should already know his rights and he can exercise them if he wishes.
The Constitution does not give the state the responsibility of educating a citizen of all their individual rights, so Miranda is a mistake. Miranda assumes that it is a state responsibility to educate the citizen.
The Constitution assumes some people will be dumb and stupid. Always has been the case, always will be.
If the state is responsible for educating a citizen of his/her rights, where does it end? Shouldn’t then the whole Bill of Rights - or the whole constitution be read to them?
Your reasoning is neither sound nor logical.
Especially since you are stating that he indeed might be working for a foreign state or group......at which point he is a treasonous citizen...
Islam is evil beyond anything you can imagine:
I disagree that it is irrelevant whether they read him his rights or not. It is a basic principle that guides law enforcement in their treatment of citizens that are arrested. Like it or not, Dzokhar Tsarnaev is a citizen of the United States. If he is not read his rights and is denied access to a lawyer, where does that leave you or me, as conservatives who have been declared a threat by the Obama administration, if hey decide we should be arrested? What if they decide we are a public safety danger and refuse to give us access to the rights that are guaranteed by the Constitution? That’s a slope I would rather stay away from.
The reading of the rights are a distraction.
I would prefer the ACLU to explain to its members why he’s being charged under Federal law rather than MA law.
In my OPINION he should be done under MA law.
Now liberals have to wake up and realize they can seek the death penalty in a state that forbids it and is against it.
Talk about hypocrisy of the highest order.
He may have done the deed of an adult but he's still a naieve 19 year old punk who's going to sing like a bird once he can start talking coherently......
The reading of the rights are just a policy that the goons follow when they arrest you.
It’s not really a big thing.
If he’s educated he knows what rights he has.
I could care less about the goon squad and their policies of whether they’re going to read rights or not.
Far more important to me as a suspect is whether they assert I can charged under Federal law (most of which is unconstitutional) or State law (most of which is fine)
Because the Supreme Court said so - Miranda v. Arizona (384 US 486).
He’s not a combatant unless you think the US is a war zone where the constitution is now suspended.
And it’s not...
combatant’s are in the mountains of Afghanistan with RPG’s not in Boston cooking bombs.
We do not read POW’s their rights.
The Supreme’s are a joke and once said slavery was legal.
I could care less what 5 lawyers in black say.
They’re irrelevant to me.
So, apparently Mr Phipps believes Tsarnaev is a complete idiot, and that the kid doesn’t have a clue that he has the right to remain silent and to ask for an attorney.
Muslim and all things moslim are the enemy, including the president. We live in unique times.
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