Miranda Rights: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

'''Shrek''': Donkey, you ''have'' the right to remain silent. What you lack is the capacity.|''[[Shrek]] 2''}}

 

Although the exact wording varies from state to state, it goes something like this:

 

 

In some states the following is added:

 

 

In fiction, the Miranda Rights are frequent victims of [[Hollywood Law]]. In some movies or series, the rights are an inevitable part of every climax. In others, perps ''never'' seem to get their ''Miranda'' rights read to them when they are arrested. The latter case is actually [[Reality Is Unrealistic|more realistic]], since the police only read a ''Miranda'' warning to detainees they want to interrogate. When we ''do'' see the perps Mirandized, however, the officer almost invariably recites the text from memory. In reality, officers are required to read the rights from a card, to avoid mistakes that could get the case thrown out (''any'' deviation from the actual rights as printed mean the perp was not properly read their rights), and will get the perps to sign the card, in case he later denies having been read his rights. Also, they will not stop when a jaded criminal mastermind mutters, "Yeah yeah, I know my rights..." (They ''can't'', because the law requires that an officer inform a suspect of their rights, whether they claim to know them or not).

 

* Played with in ''[[Lethal Weapon 3]]'', after a car chase ends with the perp being ejected through the window and knocked unconscious:

** Also played with in ''[[Lethal Weapon 4]]'':

* There is a particularly powerful moment in ''[[Minority Report]]'' that involves the ''Miranda'' rights. {{spoiler|When confronting the man who kidnapped and killed his son, the protagonist grapples with the choice of killing him or not. Finally, he makes his intentions clear when he begins reciting the criminal's ''Miranda'' rights.}}

* In Madea Goes to Jail she is not convicted because the police forgot to Mirandize her

* Marcus starts with the ''Miranda'' Warnings in the car chase climax of ''[[Bad Boys]]''. But, of course, since the villain is in a another car, it's more of a [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner]].

** Mike does it in the sequel.

'''Mike(grimly):''' Getting it out of the way. }}

* Parodied in ''[[Undercover Blues]]''.

Jeff Blue: That's for me to know and you to find out. }}

* Also parodied in the very obscure slasher film ''Psycho Cop 2'', by the titular, well...psycho cop.

* Parodied in ''[[After the Sunset]]''. FBI agent Lloyd and his nemesis diamond thief Max catch a shark while fishing together. When the shark turns out to be alive, Max gets ready to smash it with a beer crate, when agent Lloyd unloads his revolver into the poor fish, yelling "YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT" at the top of his lungs.

* Parodied to hell and back in the second ''[[Police Academy]]'':

* Likewise parodied to heck in the 1987 ''[[Dragnet]]'' movie featuring Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks.

'''Pep Streebeck''': Anything-you-say can-and WILL be USED against-you IN a-court of LAW! }}

* In ''Showdown In Little Tokyo'', Brenden Lee's character uses the ''Miranda'' rights as [[Trash Talk]] during a fight, capping it with the [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner]]: "you have the right to be dead".

* There's a moment in ''Hannibal'' where Barney is about to provide Clarice with some information about Lector, but in so doing he'll be confessing to a crime (selling Lector memorabilia.) He asks Clarice to "agree for the record" that she has not read him his rights, so that if she was wearing a wire his confession would be inadmissible. Then he has her repeat the admission into her handbag for good measure.

* Spoofed in ''Incompetence'', the comedy novel by Rob Grant, where the caution takes up an entire chapter and basically amounts to "anything you say (or don't say) means you're both guilty and fully understand your rights". There's also a simplified version, for suspects who don't understand the full version:

* In the universe of [[Snow Crash]], the warnings have become incredibly wordy and trilingual, presumably as lawsuit-retardant; one cop translates the legalese back into straightforward, probably for his own amusement. "Any bodily motions not authorised or approved by us may result in responses up to and including lethal force..." "Or as we used to say, 'Freeze, Sucker!'"

* In [[The Hollows]] novel ''For a Few Demons More'', Rachel arrests Trent at his wedding and delivers an over-the-top sarcastic Miranda warning, including stating, "If you can't afford one, hell has frozen over and I'm the princess of [[Land of Oz|Oz]]."

** ''NCIS'' also occasionally reads a member of the military his or her "Article 31s." As a member of the armed forces, the suspect doesn't have ''Miranda'' rights, but Article 31 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice has a [http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/usc_sec_10_00000831----000-.html similar provision against compulsory self-incrimination].

* Parodied on ''[[Farscape]]'' ("Won't Get Fooled Again"):

'''Crais:''' Well... then ''I can't arrest you!'' }}

** Bonus insanity points for being delivered by a man in high heeled shoes. Who then slams Crichton's head in a car door.

* Discussed in an episode of ''[[Frasier]]''. Frasier believes that he cannot commit perjury for Niles's sake, and has a discussion with Martin about it. Martin brings up an example where he did not read a criminal's rights. Said criminal had been arrested multiple times, and knew his rights as well as Martin did.

* Many writers add "editorial comments" from the arresting officer, as with this example from ''[[The Closer]]'':

* An episode of ''[[Bones]]'' featured Booth arresting and Mirandizing a suspect in a hurry, since he's on an international airplane that's seconds from landing...and once it touches down, Booth doesn't have jurisdiction. Of course, this is [[You Fail Law Forever|patently ridiculous]]. ''Miranda'' warnings are not necessary for a valid arrest; they are concerned with statements by the arrested suspect. "You're under arrest" would have been enough for jurisdictional purposes, with the ''Miranda'' warnings coming at Booth's leisure...if international jurisdiction worked like that anyway, which it (probably) doesn't.

* In one episode of [[Castle]] this crosses with [[Lying to the Perp]]. Beckett and Castle both insist that Beckett did not read a small time crook his rights and that he is free to go. The real ruse works in that they aren't after him, but his boss, who would see him walk out of the precinct (with suspicious ease) and assume he was working with the cops. The crooks only chance at survival is to implicate himself further so that the cops would arrest him, and thus keep him in custody.

** Spoofed in a later episode:

* [[The Closer]] violates Edwards in nearly every episode when suspects ask for lawyers and have questions asked as 'minor things' while the lawyer is coming.

* In the ''[[Due South]]'' episode "Asylum", Ray gets framed for murder and runs to the Canadian consulate, whereupon Fraser promptly arrests him and reads him his Miranda rights. Since Fraser's whole reason for arresting him in the consulate is to force the Chicago police to extradite him from Canada, you'd think he'd at least make the effort of using [[wikipedia:Miranda rights#Canada|the Canadian version]] of [[Reading Your Rights]].

* Used rarely in ''Columbo'', most memorably when arresting a lawyer for murdering his mistress. Columbo coolly tells him he's going to read him his rights, pulls out a crumpled note and reads it verbatim.

* Parodied in the ''[[Community]]'' episode ''[[Community/Recap/S3 E17 Basic Lupine Urology|Basic Lupine Urology]]'' which is an [[Affectionate Parody]] of ''[[Law and Order]]''. Troy and Abed are acting like police detectives but regularly point out that they have no authority whatsoever.

 

== Real Life ==

** As the original book ''Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets'' points out, ''Miranda'' is essentially a compromise between a court system that wants to see the rights of the accused protected, and a society that wants to see crimes punished (because confessions are, by and large, the most effective vehicle for that).

* In a case of [[Reality Is Unrealistic]], the ''Miranda'' rights (and other American legal tropes) are so ubiquitous in the media that Canadians (who have a significantly different legal system) [[Eagleland Osmosis|often expect to be handled like they would in the U.S.]] For example, the fifth amendment to the Constitution of Canada had nothing to do with rights. It allowed the federal government to provide a bridge between Prince Edward Island and the mainland rather than ferry services. Protection against self-incrimination is found in ''Section 13''. The Canadian caution reads (with some variation depending on the police service):

** It's not helped by TV shows explicitly set in Canada which nonetheless feature cops reading arrestees their rights American-style. For example, ''[[Forever Knight]]'', set in Toronto, has the hero's partner cuffing a guy, starting the "You have the right to remain silent" bit, and actually telling the guy "Sing along, you know the words!" (Canadian rights are, however, similar to American rights in regards to self-incrimination and legal representation. They're just not codified the same way as ''Miranda''. The main significant differences: you do ''not'' have the right to have an attorney present while being questioned. If you ask for an attorney right away, the police have to hold off questioning you until you talk to one for advice, but you cannot say that they can't talk to you without your attorney being present. Also, invoking your right to silence doesn't mean the interrogation is over; you don't have to say anything, but the police don't have to stop asking you questions.)

* In France, it is mandatory to read their rights to arrested suspects. This is never done. [[Popcultural Osmosis]] often causes French suspects to insist on rights they don't actually have, however.

* Rather amusingly, and due to the subtitles (Closed Captioning) being prepared by an American company, the UK Fly-on-the-Wall Documentary ''Police Interceptors'' has the caption "Recites Miranda" whenever one of the police officers tell a suspect "[[You Do Not Have to Say Anything]]".

* [[Neal Stephenson]] in ''In The Beginning Was The Command Line'':

 

 

 

* Parodied in ''[[Zork: Grand Inquisitor]]'', when two Inquisition guards catch Antharia Jack (or the player, if he fails to find a hiding place in time)

'''Second Guard''': ''[takes out a piece of paper]'' You... have no rights. }}

* Parodied in [[Exterminatus Now]], too.

* [[Prototype (video game)]]: "You have the right to be ventilated. I have the right to burn your home and shoot your dog. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you?"

* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', 180 years in the future on a distant planet with an alien criminal:

* Marcus in True Crime: New York City parodies this. "You have the right to an attorney and some other shit I can't remember." In the first installment, the protagonist sometimes says to suspects after beating them up and cuffing them: "You have the right to remain - unconscious!"

* In ''[[Police Quest]]'', the player had better remember to read everyone they arrest their rights, if they want to finish the game with full points.

 

* From one [[Penny Arcade]] strip about two officers arresting a "Lamer".

'''Police Officer 2''': While we take turns beating the stupid out of you. }}

 

* Parodied on ''[[The Simpsons]]'' when Marge becomes a cop. She is forced to arrest Homer after he repeatedly breaks the law (double parking his car so he could buy underage kids beer). When she tells him of his right to remain silent, he replies "I choose to waive that right" and starts screaming.

** All the way back in season 1 (Krusty Gets Busted), Chief Wiggum arrests Krusty and tries to recite the Miranda Rights, but either forgets them or gets bored.

** In the season 13 episode, "The Parent Rap", Wiggum tries again to recite them, this time using a teleprompter in his car.

** Homer uses a modified Miranda rights as bedroom talk:

* In the ''[[Hey Arnold]]'' episode "Wheezin' Ed," when the kids find a counterfeit penny operation run by [[Too Dumb to Live|petty criminals Vic and Morrie]], one of the arresting officers uses an interesting [[Malaproper]] when effecting the arrest:

* Parodied in the ''Duckman'' episode "American Dicks", where Duckman is arrested during the taping of two rivaling police reality shows, and the officer arresting him states "You have the right to remain silent. You also have some other rights that they'll dub in during editing".