Supremes have heads squarely placed up their . . . . .Well, a very dark place. . . . .

Supreme Court: Suspects Still Have the Right to Remain Silent, But Must Say So

Published June 01, 2010

 | Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that suspects must explicitly tell police they want to be silent to invoke Miranda protections during criminal interrogations, a decision one dissenting justice said turns defendants' rights "upside down."

A right to remain silent and a right to a lawyer are the first of the Miranda rights warnings, which police recite to suspects during arrests and interrogations. But the justices said in a 5-4 decision that suspects must tell police they are going to remain silent to stop an interrogation, just as they must tell police that they want a lawyer.

"Criminal suspects must now unambiguously invoke their right to remain silent -- which counterintuitively, requires them to speak," she said. "At the same time, suspects will be legally presumed to have waived their rights even if they have given no clear expression of their intent to do so. Those results, in my view, find no basis in Miranda or our subsequent cases and are inconsistent with the fair-trial principles on which those precedents are grounded."

The gist of this is that you must actually say you are invoking your 5th Amendment Right to keep your yap shut to stop an interrogation.    The last paragraph should get your attention pronto.    This basically guts Miranda.   You are on your own.  Good luck.   Best advice,  Keep your yap shut or get comfortable with a 10' by 10'  room without a view.

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