Miranda rights

Republican Darrell Issa, Champion Of Miranda Rights? (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 17, 2010, 5:02PM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA)

In an appearance on Bill Maher's show Friday, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who has previously slammed President Obama for coddling terrorists, emerged as an unlikely and eloquent defender of preserving Miranda rights, speaking out strongly against Attorney General Eric Holder's proposal to loosen the rule.

Issa, one of the Obama Administration's most persistent critics, has criticized the president for, in the words of a February Chicago Sun-Times column by Issa, "the administration's decisions to treat terrorist detainees like common criminals."

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Miranda rights

Holder: Obama Admin Seeks Changes To Miranda Rule (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 9, 2010, 6:29PM

President Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder

Appearing on the Sunday shows for the first time today, Attorney General Eric Holder said the Obama Administration wants to change the Miranda rule -- the requirement that police inform suspects of their right to remain silent and to a lawyer before interrogation -- in terrorism cases to "something that is flexible and is more consistent with the threat that we now face."

Holder said on Meet The Press that the Administration wants to work with Congress to make the public safety exception to Miranda -- in which information from questioning before reading the Miranda warning can be admitted in court, in certain situations in which public safety is a concern -- "more flexible."

As TPMmuckraker reported Friday, experts believe the Administration is already pioneering a robust use of the public safety exception to Miranda. In the case of Faisal Shahzad, the man who allegedly tried to set off a crude bomb in Times Square, FBI agents reportedly questioned him for three or four hours before reading him his rights. Much more on the back story here.

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Obama Administration

Experts: Obama Admin Pioneering Robust Use Of Miranda Exception In Terrorism Cases (VIDEO)

Justin Elliott | May 7, 2010, 5:52PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

The Obama Administration is applying an old exception to the Miranda rule in a new way in order to interrogate terrorism suspects before reading them their rights, several experts tell TPMmuckraker, finding what one law professor calls a "middle ground" between those who want suspects put through the criminal justice system and those who believe they should be classified as "enemy combatants."

Federal agents questioned both Faisal Shahzad, the man accused of planting a makeshift bomb in Times Square, and Umar Abdulmutallab, the failed Christmas Day bomber, under the so-called public safety exception to the Miranda rule for substantial periods before informing the men of their right to remain silent, and to an attorney.

Information gleaned during questioning under the public safety exception -- in which police "ask questions reasonably prompted by a concern for the public safety," according to the 1984 Supreme Court case that recognized the exception -- is admissible at trial.

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