384 U.S.

436
86 S.Ct. 1602
16 L.Ed.2d 694

Ernesto A. MIRANDA, Petitioner,

v.
STATE OF ARIZONA. Michael VIGNERA, Petitioner, v.
STATE OF NEW YORK. Carl Calvin WESTOVER,
Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES. STATE OF CALIFORNIA,
Petitioner, v. Roy Allen STEWART.
Nos. 759761, 584.
Argued Feb. 28, March 1 and 2, 1966.
Decided June 13, 1966.
Rehearing Denied No. 584 Oct. 10, 1966.

See 87 S.Ct. 11.

No. 759:
[Syllabus from pages 436-437 intentionally omitted]
John J. Flynn, Phoenix, Ariz., for petitioner.
Gary K. Nelson, Phoenix, Ariz., for respondent.
Telford Taylor, New York City, for State of New York, as amicus curiae,
by special leave of Court. (Also in Nos. 584, 760, 761 and 762)
Duane R. Nedrud, for National District Attorneys Ass'n, as amicus curiae,
by special leave of Court. (Also in Nos. 760, 762 and 584)
No. 760:
Victor M. Earle, III, New York City, for petitioner.
William I. Siegel, Brooklyn, for respondent.
No. 761:

F. Conger Fawcett, San Francisco, Cal., for petitioner.

Sol. Gen. Thurgood Marshall, for respondent.
No. 584:
Gorden Ringer, Los Angeles, Cal., for petitioner.
William A. Norris, Los Angeles, Cal., for respondent.
[Amicus Curiae intentionally omitted]
Mr. Chief Justice WARREN delivered the opinion of the Court.

The cases before us raise questions which go to the roots of our concepts of
American criminal jurisprudence: the restraints society must observe consistent
with the Federal Constitution in prosecuting individuals for crime. More
specifically, we deal with the admissibility of statements obtained from an
individual who is subjected to custodial police interrogation and the necessity
for procedures which accure that the individual is accorded his privilege under
the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution not to be compelled to incriminate
himself.

We dealt with certain phases of this problem recently in Escobedo v. State of

Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977 (1964). There, as in the
four cases before us, law enforcement officials took the defendant into custody
and interrogated him in a police station for the purpose of obtaining a
confession. The police did not effectively advise him of his right to remain
silent or of his right to consult with his attorney. Rather, they confronted him
with an alleged accomplice who accused him of having perpetrated a murder.
When the defendant denied the accusation and said 'I didn't shoot Manuel, you
did it,' they handcuffed him and took him to an interrogation room. There,
while handcuffed and standing, he was questioned for four hours until he
confessed. During this interrogation, the police denied his request to speak to
his attorney, and they prevented his retained attorney, who had come to the
police station, from consulting with him. At his trial, the State, over his
objection, introduced the confession against him. We held that the statements
thus made were constitutionally inadmissible.

This case has been the subject of judicial interpretation and spirited legal debate
since it was decided two years ago. Both state and federal courts, in assessing
its implications, have arrived at varying conclusions.1 A wealth of scholarly

material has been written tracing its ramifications and underpinnings.2 Police
and prosecutor have speculated on its range and desirability.3 We granted
certiorari in these cases, 382 U.S. 924, 925, 937, 86 S.Ct. 318, 320, 395, 15
L.Ed.2d 338, 339, 348, in order further to explore some facets of the problems,
thus exposed, of applying the privilege against self-incrimination to in-custody
interrogation, and to give concrete constitutional guidelines for law
enforcement agencies and courts to follow.
4

We start here, as we did in Escobedo, with the premise that our holding is not
an innovation in our jurisprudence, but is an application of principles long
recognized and applied in other settings. We have undertaken a thorough reexamination of the Escobedo decision and the principles it announced, and we
reaffirm it. That case was but an explication of basic rights that are enshrined in
our Constitutionthat 'No person * * * shall be compelled in any criminal case
to be a witness against himself,' and that 'the accused shall * * * have the
Assistance of Counsel' rights which were put in jeopardy in that case through
official overbearing. These precious rights were fixed in our Constitution only
after centuries of persecution and struggle. And in the words of Chief Justice
Marshall, they were secured 'for ages to come, and * * * designed to approach
immortality as nearly as human institutions can approach it,' Cohens v.
Commonwealth of Virginia, 6 Wheat. 264, 387, 5 L.Ed. 257 (1821).

Over 70 years ago, our predecessors on this Court eloquently stated:

'The maxim 'Nemo tenetur seipsum accusare,' had its origin in a protest against
the inquisitorial and manifestly unjust methods of interrogating accused
persons, which (have) long obtained in the continental system, and, until the
expulsion of the Stuarts from the British throne in 1688, and the erection of
additional barriers for the protection of the people against the exercise of
arbitrary power, (were) not uncommon even in England. While the admissions
or confessions of the prisoner, when voluntarily and freely made, have always
ranked high in the scale of incriminating evidence, if an accused person be
asked to explain his apparent connection with a crime under investigation, the
ease with which the questions put to him may assume an inquisitorial character,
the temptation to press the witness unduly, to browbeat him if he be timid or
reluctant, to push him into a corner, and to entrap him into fatal contradictions,
which is so painfully evident in many of the earlier state trials, notably in those
of Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, and Udal, the Puritan minister, made the system
so odious as to give rise to a demand for its total abolition. The change in the
English criminal procedure in that particular seems to be founded upon no
statute and no judicial opinion, but upon a general and silent acquiescence of
the courts in a popular demand. But, however adopted, it has become firmly

embedded in English, as well as in American jurisprudence. So deeply did the

iniquities of the ancient system impress themselves upon the minds of the
American colonists that the States, with one accord, made a denial of the right
to question an accused person a part of their fundamental law, so that a maxim,
which in England was a mere rule of evidence, became clothed in this country
with the impregnability of a constitutional enactment.' Brown v. Walker, 161
U.S. 591, 596 597, 16 S.Ct. 644, 646, 40 L.Ed. 819 (1896).
7

In stating the obligation of the judiciary to apply these constitutional rights, this
Court declared in Weems v. United States, 217 U.S. 349, 373, 30 S.Ct. 544,
551, 54 L.Ed. 793 (1910):

'* * * our contemplation cannot be only of what has been, but of what may be.
Under any other rule a constitution would indeed be as easy of application as it
would be deficient in efficacy and power. Its general principles would have
little value, and be converted by precedent into importent and lifeless formulas.
Rights declared in words might be lost in reality. And this has been recognized.
The meaning and vitality of the Constitution have developed against narrow
and restrictive construction.'

This was the spirit in which we delineated, in meaningful language, the manner
in which the constitutional rights of the individual could be enforced against
overzealous police practices. It was necessary in Escobedo, as here, to insure
that what was proclaimed in the Constitution had not become but a 'form of
words,' Silverthorn Lumber Co. v. United States, 251 U.S. 385, 392, 40 S.Ct.
182, 64 L.Ed. 319 (1920), in the hands of government officials. And it is in this
spirit, consistent with our role as judges, that we adhere to the principles of
Escobedo today.

10

Our holding will be spelled out with some specificity in the pages which follow
but briefly stated it is this: the prosecution may not use statements, whether
exculpatory or inculpatory, stemming from custodial interrogation of the
defendant unless it demonstrates the use of procedural safeguards effective to
secure the privilege against self-incrimination. By custodial interrogation, we
mean questioning initiated by law enforcement officers after a person has been
taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom of action in any
significant way.4 As for the procedural safeguards to be employed, unless other
fully effective means are devised to inform accused persons of their right of
silence and to assure a continuous opportunity to exercise it, the following
measures are required. Prior to any questioning, the person must be warned that
he has a right to remain silent, that any statement he does make may be used as
evidence against him, and that he has a right to the presence of an attorney,

either retained or appointed. The defendant may waive effectuation of these

rights, provided the waiver is made voluntarily, knowingly and intelligently. If,
however, he indicates in any manner and at any stage of the process that he
wishes to consult with an attorney before speaking there can be no questioning.
Likewise, if the individual is alone and indicates in any manner that he does not
wish to be interrogated, the police may not question him. The mere fact that he
may have answered some questions or volunteered some statements on his own
does not deprive him of the right to refrain from answering any further inquiries
until he has consulted with an attorney and thereafter consents to be questioned.
1.
11

The constitutional issue we decide in each of these cases is the admissibility of

statements obtained from a defendant questioned while in custody or otherwise
deprived of his freedom of action in any significant way. In each, the defendant
was questioned by police officers, detectives, or a prosecuting attorney in a
room in which he was cut off from the outside world. In none of these cases
was the defendant given a full and effective warning of his rights at the outset
of the interrogation process. In all the cases, the questioning elicited oral
admissions, and in three of them, signed statements as well which were
admitted at their trials. They all thus share salient featuresincommunicado
interrogation of individuals in a police-dominated atmosphere, resulting in selfincriminating statements without full warnings of constitutional rights.

12

An understanding of the nature and setting of this in-custody interrogation is

essential to our decisions today. The difficulty in depicting what transpires at
such interrogations stems from the fact that in this country they have largely
taken place incommunicado. From extensive factual studies undertaken in the
early 1930's, including the famous Wickersham Report to Congress by a
Presidential Commission, it is clear that police violence and the 'third degree'
flourished at that time.5 In a series of cases decided by this Court long after
these studies, the police resorted to physical brutalitybeatings, hanging,
whippingand to sustained and protracted questioning incommunicado in
order to extort confessions.6 The Commission on Civil Rights in 1961 found
much evidence to indicate that 'some policemen still resort to physical force to
obtain confessions,' 1961 Comm'n on Civil Rights Rep., Justice, pt. 5, 17. The
use of physical brutality and violence is not, unfortunately, relegated to the past
or to any part of the country. Only recently in Kings County, New York, the
police brutally beat, kicked and placed lighted cigarette butts on the back of a
potential witness under interrogation for the purpose of securing a statement
incriminating a third party. People v. Portelli, 15 N.Y.2d 235, 257 N.Y.S.2d
931, 205 N.E.2d 857 (1965).7

13

The examples given above are undoubtedly the exception now, but they are
sufficiently widespread to be the object of concern. Unless a proper limitation
upon custodial interrogation is achievedsuch as these decisions will advance
there can be no assurance that practices of this nature will be eradicated in
the foreseeable future. The conclusion of the Wickersham Commission Report,
made over 30 years ago, is still pertinent:

14

'To the contention that the third degree is necessary to get the facts, the
reporters aptly reply in the language of the present Lord Chancellor of England
(Lord Sankey): 'It is not admissible to do a great right by doing a little wrong. *
* * It is not sufficient to do justice by obtaining a proper result by irregular or
improper means.' Not only does the use of the third degree involve a flagrant
violation of law by the officers of the law, but it involves also the dangers of
false confessions, and it tends to make police and prosecutors less zealous in
the search for objective evidence. As the New York prosecutor quoted in the
report said, 'It is a short cut and makes the police lazy and unenterprising.' Or,
as another official quoted remarked: 'If you use your fists, you are not so likely
to use your wits.' We agree with the conclusion expressed in the report, that
'The third degree brutalizes the police, hardens the prisoner against society, and
lowers the esteem in which the administration of justice is held by the public."
IV National Commission on Law Observance and Enforcement, Report on
Lawlessness in Law Enforcement 5 (1931).

15

Again we stress that the modern practice of in-custody interrogation is

psychologically rather than physically oriented. As we have stated before,
'Since Chambers v. State of Florida, 309 U.S. 227, 60 S.Ct. 472, 84 L.Ed. 716,
this Court has recognized that coercion can be mental as well as physical, and
that the blood of the accused is not the only hallmark of an unconstitutional
inquisition.' Blackburn v. State of Alabama, 361 U.S. 199, 206, 80 S.Ct. 274,
279, 4 L.Ed.2d 242 (1960). Interrogation still takes place in privacy. Privacy
results in secrecy and this in turn results in a gap in our knowledge as to what in
fact goes on in the interrogation rooms. A valuable source of information about
present police practices, however, may be found in various police manuals and
texts which document procedures employed with success in the past, and which
recommend various other effective tactics.8 These texts are used by law
enforcement agencies themselves as guides.9 It should be noted that these texts
professedly present the most enlightened and effective means presently used to
obtain statements through custodial interrogation. By considering these texts
and other data, it is possible to describe procedures observed and noted around
the country.

16

The officers are told by the manuals that the 'principal psychological factor

contributing to a successful interrogation is privacybeing alone with the

person under interrogation.'10 The efficacy of this tactic has been explained as
follows:
17

'If at all practicable, the interrogation should take place in the investigator's
office or at least in a room of his own choice. The subject should be deprived of
every psychological advantage. In his own home he may be confident,
indignant, or recalcitrant. He is more keenly aware of his rights and more
reluctant to tell of his indiscretions of criminal behavior within the walls of his
home. Moreover his family and other friends are nearby, their presence lending
moral support. In his office, the investigator possesses all the advantages. The
atmosphere suggests the invincibility of the forces of the law.'11

18

To highlight the isolation and unfamiliar surroundings, the manuals instruct the
police to display an air of confidence in the suspect's guilt and from outward
appearance to maintain only an interest in confirming certain details. The guilt
of the subject is to be posited as a fact. The interrogator should direct his
comments toward the reasons why the subject committed the act, rather than
court failure by asking the subject whether he did it. Like other men, perhaps
the subject has had a bad family life, had an unhappy childhood, had too much
to drink, had an unrequited desire for women. The officers are instructed to
minimize the moral seriousness of the offense,12 to cast blame on the victim or
on society.13 These tactics are designed to put the subject in a psychological
state where his story is but an elaboration of what the police purport to know
alreadythat he is guilty. Explanations to the contrary are dismissed and
discouraged.

19

The texts thus stress that the major qualities an interrogator should possess are
patience and perseverance. One writer describes the efficacy of these
characteristics in this manner:

20

'In the preceding paragraphs emphasis has been placed on kindness and
stratagems. The investigator will, however, encounter many situations where
the sheer weight of his personality will be the deciding factor. Where emotional
appeals and tricks are employed to no avail, he must rely on an oppressive
atmosphere of dogged persistence. He must interrogate steadily and without
relent, leaving the subject no prospect of surcease. He must dominate his
subject and overwhelm him with his inexorable will to obtain the truth. He
should interrogate for a spell of several hours pausing only for the subject's
necessities in acknowledgment of the need to avoid a charge of duress that can
be technically substantiated. In a serious case, the interrogation may continue
for days, with the required intervals for food and sleep, but with no respite from

the atmosphere of domination. It is possible in this way to induce the subject to

talk without resorting to duress or coercion. The method should be used only
when the guilt of the subject appears highly probable.'14
21

The manuals suggest that the suspect be offered legal excuses for his actions in
order to obtain an initial admission of guilt. Where there is a suspected revengekilling, for example, the interrogator may say:

22

'Joe, you probably didn't go out looking for this fellow with the purpose of
shooting him. My guess is, however, that you expected something from him
and that's why you carried a gun for your own protection. You knew him for
what he was, no good. Then when you met him he probably started using foul,
abusive language and he gave some indication that he was about to pull a gun
on you, and that's when you had to act to save your own life. That's about it,
isn't it, Joe?'15

23

Having then obtained the admission of shooting, the interrogator is advised to

refer to circumstantial evidence which negates the self-defense explanation.
This should enable him to secure the entire story. One text notes that 'Even if
he fails to do so, the inconsistency between the subject's original denial of the
shooting and his present admission of at least doing the shooting will serve to
deprive him of a self-defense 'out' at the time of trial.'16

24

When the techniques described above prove unavailing, the texts recommend
they be alternated with a show of some hostility. One ploy often used has been
termed the 'friendly-unfriendly' or the 'Mutt and Jeff' act:

25

'* * * In this technique, two agents are employed. Mutt, the relentless
investigator, who knows the subject is guilty and is not going to waste any time.
He's sent a dozen men away for this crime and he's going to send the subject
away for the full term. Jeff, on the other hand, is obviously a kindhearted man.
He has a family himself. He has a brother who was involved in a little scrape
like this. He disapproves of Mutt and his tactics and will arrange to get him off
the case if the subject will cooperate. He can't hold Mutt off for very long. The
subject would be wise to make a quick decision. The technique is applied by
having both investigators present while Mutt acts out his role. Jeff may stand
by quietly and demur at some of Mutt's tactics. When Jeff makes his plea for
cooperation, Mutt is not present in the room.'17

26

The interrogators sometimes are instructed to induce a confession out of

trickery. The technique here is quite effective in crimes which require

identification or which run in series. In the identification situation, the

interrogator may take a break in his questioning to place the subject among a
group of men in a line-up. 'The witness or complainant (previously coached, if
necessary) studies the line-up and confidently points out the subject as the
guilty party.'18 Then the questioning resumes 'as though there were now no
doubt about the guilt of the subject.' A variation on this technique is called the
'reverse line-up':
27

'The accused is placed in a line-up, but this time he is identified by several

fictitious witnesses or victims who associated him with diferent offenses. It is
expected that the subject will become desperate and confess to the offense
under investigation in order to escape from the false accusations.'19

28

The manuals also contain instructions for police on how to handle the
individual who refuses to discuss the matter entirely, or who asks for an
attorney or relatives. The examiner is to concede him the right to remain silent.
'This usually has a very undermining effect. First of all, he is disappointed in his
expectation of an unfavorable reaction on the part of the interrogator. Secondly,
a concession of this right to remain silent impresses the subject with the
apparent fairness of his interrogator.'20 After this psychological conditioning,
however, the officer is told to point out the incriminating significance of the
suspect's refusal to talk:

29

'Joe, you have a right to remain silent. That's your privilege and I'm the last
person in the world who'll try to take it away from you. If that's the way you
want to leave this, O.K. But let me ask you this. Suppose you were in my shoes
and I were in yours and you called me in to ask me about this and I told you, 'I
don't want to answer any of your questions.' You'd think I had something to
hide, and you'd probably be right in thinking that. That's exactly what I'll have
to think about you, and so will everybody else. So let's sit here and talk this
whole thing over.'21

30

Few will persist in their initial refusal to talk, it is said, if this monologue is
employed correctly.

31

In the event that the subject wishes to speak to a relative or an attorney, the
following advice is tendered:

32

'(T)he interrogator should respond by suggesting that the subject first tell the
truth to the interrogator himself rather than get anyone else involved in the
matter. If the request is for an attorney, the interrogator may suggest that the

subject save himself or his family the expense of any such professional service,
particularly if he is innocent of the offense under investigation. The interrogator
may also add, 'Joe, I'm only looking for the truth, and if you're telling the truth,
that's it. You can handle this by yourself."22
33

From these representative samples of interrogation techniques, the setting

prescribed by the manuals and observed in practice becomes clear. In essence,
it is this: To be alone with the subject is essential to prevent distraction and to
deprive him of any outside support. The aura of confidence in his guilt
undermines his will to resist. He merely confirms the preconceived story the
police seek to have him describe. Patience and persistence, at times relentless
questioning, are employed. To obtain a confession, the interrogator must
'patiently maneuver himself or his quarry into a position from which the desired
objective may be attained.'23 When normal procedures fail to produce the
needed result, the police may resort to deceptive stratagems such as giving false
legal advice. It is important to keep the subject off balance, for example, by
trading on his insecurity about himself or his surroundings. The police then
persuade, trick, or cajole him out of exercising his constitutional rights.

34

Even without employing brutality, the 'third degree' or the specific stratagems
described above, the very fact of custodial interrogation exacts a heavy toll on
individual liberty and trades on the weakness of individuals.24 This fact may be
illustrated simply by referring to three confession cases decided by this Court in
the Term immediately preceding our Escobedo decision. In Townsend v. Sain,
372 U.S. 293, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963), the defendant was a 19-yearold heroin addict, described as a 'near mental defective,' id., at 307310, 83
S.Ct. at 754755. The defendant in Lynumn v. State of Illinois, 372 U.S. 528,
83 S.Ct. 917, 9 L.Ed.2d 922 (1963), was a woman who confessed to the
arresting officer after being importuned to 'cooperate' in order to prevent her
children from being taken by relief authorities. This Court as in those cases
reversed the conviction of a defendant in Haynes v. State of Washington, 373
U.S. 503, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 10 L.Ed.2d 513 (1963), whose persistent request
during his interrogation was to phone his wife or attorney.25 In other settings,
these individuals might have exercised their constitutional rights. In the
incommunicado police-dominated atmosphere, they succumbed.

35

In the cases before us today, given this backgound, we concern ourselves

primarily with this interrogation atmosphere and the evils it can bring. In No.
759, Miranda v. Arizona, the police arrested the defendant and took him to a
special interrogation room where they secured a confession. In No. 760,
Vignera v. New York, the defendant made oral admissions to the police after
interrogation in the afternoon, and then signed an inculpatory statement upon

being questioned by an assistant district attorney later the same evening. In No.
761, Westover v. United States, the defendant was handed over to the Federal
Bureau of Investigation by local authorities after they had detained and
interrogated him for a lengthy period, both at night and the following morning.
After some two hours of questioning, the federal officers had obtained signed
statements from the defendant. Lastly, in No. 584, California v. Stewart, the
local police held the defendant five days in the station and interrogated him on
nine separate occasions before they secured his inculpatory statement.
36

In these cases, we might not find the defendants' statements to have been
involuntary in traditional terms. Our concern for adequate safeguards to protect
precious Fifth Amendment rights is, of course, not lessened in the slightest. In
each of the cases, the defendant was thrust into an unfamiliar atmosphere and
run through menacing police interrogation procedures. The potentiality for
compulsion is forcefully apparent, for example, in Miranda, where the indigent
Mexican defendant was a seriously disturbed individual with pronounced
sexual fantasies, and in Stewart, in which the defendant was an indigent Los
Angeles Negro who had dropped out of school in the sixth grade. To be sure,
the records do not evince overt physical coercion or patent psychological ploys.
The fact remains that in none of these cases did the officers undertake to afford
appropriate safeguards at the outset of the interrogation to insure that the
statements were truly the product of free choice.

37

It is obvious that such an interrogation environment is created for no purpose

other than to subjugate the individual to the will of his examiner. This
atmosphere carries its own badge of intimidation. To be sure, this is not
physical intimidation, but it is equally destructive of human dignity.26 The
current practice of incommunicado interrogation is at odds with one of our
Nation's most cherished principlesthat the individual may not be compelled
to incriminate himself. Unless adequate protective devices are employed to
dispel the compulsion inherent in custodial surroundings, no statement obtained
from the defendant can truly be the product of his free choice.

38

From the foregoing, we can readily perceive an intimate connection between

the privilege against self-incrimination and police custodial questioning. It is
fitting to turn to history and precedent and their convenient 'witnesses,' keep her
to determine its applicability in this situation.

II.
39

We sometimes forget how long it has taken to establish the privilege against
self-incrimination, the sources from which it came and the fervor with which it

was defended. Its roots go back into ancient times.27 Perhaps the critical
historical event shedding light on its origins and evolution was the trial of one
John Lilburn, a vocal anti-Stuart Leveller, who was made to take the Star
Chamber Oath in 1637. The oath would have bound him to answer to all
questions posed to him on any subject. The Trial of John Lilburn and John
Wharton, 3 How.St.Tr. 1315 (1637). He resisted the oath and declaimed the
proceedings, stating:
40

'Another fundamental right I then contended for, was, that no man's conscience
ought to be racked by oaths imposed, to answer to questions concerning himself
in matters criminal, or pretended to be so.' Haller & Davies, The Leveller Tracts
16471653, p. 454 (1944).

41

On account of the Lilburn Trial, Parliament abolished the inquisitorial Court of

Star Chamber and went further in giving him generous reparation. The lofty
principles to which Lilburn had appealed during his trial gained popular
acceptance in England.28 These sentiments worked their way over to the
Colonies and were implanted after great struggle into the Bill of Rights.29
Those who framed our Constitution and the Bill of Rights were ever aware of
subtle encroachments on individual liberty. They knew that 'illegitimate and
unconstitutional practices get their first footing * * * by silent approaches and
slight deviations from legal modes of procedure.' Boyd v. United States, 116
U.S. 616, 635, 6 S.Ct. 524, 535, 29 L.Ed. 746 (1886). The privilege was
elevated to constitutional status and has always been 'as broad ad the mischief
against which it seeks to guard.' Counselman v. Hitchcock, 142 U.S. 547, 562,
12 S.Ct. 195, 198, 35 L.Ed. 1110 (1892). We cannot depart from this noble
heritage.

42

Thus we may view the historical development of the privilege as one which
groped for the proper scope of governmental power over the citizen. As a 'noble
principle often transcends its origins,' the privilege has come right-fully to be
recognized in part as an individual's substantive right, a 'right to a private
enclave where he may lead a private life. That right is the hallmark of our
democracy.' United States v. Grunewald, 233 F.2d 556, 579, 581582 (Frank,
J., dissenting), rev'd, 353 U.S. 391, 77 S.Ct. 963, 1 L.Ed.2d 931 (1957). We
have recently noted that the privilege against self-incriminationthe essential
mainstay of our adversary systemis founded on a complex of values, Murphy
v. Waterfront Comm. of New York Harbor, 378 U.S. 52, 5557, n. 5, 84 S.Ct.
1594, 15961597, 12 L.Ed.2d 678 (1964); Tehan v. United States ex rel.
Shott, 382 U.S. 406, 414415, n. 12, 86 S.Ct. 459, 464, 15 L.Ed.2d 453
(1966). All these policies point to one overriding thought: the constitutional
foundation underlying the privilege is the respect a governmentstate or

federalmust accord to the dignity and integrity of its citizens. To maintain a

'fair state-individual balance,' to require the government 'to shoulder the entire
load,' 8 Wigmore, Evidence 317 (McNaughton rev. 1961), to respect the
inviolability of the human personality, our accusatory system of criminal justice
demands that the government seeking to punish an individual produce the
evidence against him by its own independent labors, rather than by the cruel,
simple expedient of compelling it from his own mouth. Chambers v. State of
Florida, 309 U.S. 227, 235238, 60 S.Ct. 472, 476477, 84 L.Ed. 716
(1940). In sum, the privilege is fulfilled only when the person is guaranteed the
right 'to remain silent unless he chooses to speak in the unfettered exercise of
his own will.' Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 8, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 1493, 12 L.Ed.2d
653 (1964).
43

The question in these cases is whether the privilege is fully applicable during a
period of custodial interrogation. In this Court, the privilege has consistently
been accorded a liberal construction. Albertson v. Subversive Activities Control
Board, 382 U.S. 70, 81, 86 S.Ct. 194, 200, 15 L.Ed.2d 165 (1965); Hoffman v.
United States, 341 U.S. 479, 486, 71 S.Ct. 814, 818, 95 L.Ed.2d 1118 (1951);
Arnstein v. McCarthy, 254 U.S. 71, 7273, 41 S.Ct. 26, 65 L.Ed. 138 (1920);
Counselman v. Hitchcock, 142 U.S. 547, 562, 12 S.Ct. 195, 197, 35 L.Ed. 1110
(1892). We are satisfied that all the principles embodied in the privilege apply
to informal compulsion exerted by law-enforcement officers during in-custody
questioning. An individual swept from familiar surroundings into police
custody, surrounded by antagonistic forces, and subjected to the techniques of
persuasion described above cannot be otherwise than under compulsion to
speak. As a practical matter, the compulsion to speak in the isolated setting of
the police station may well be greater than in courts or other official
investigations, where there are often impartial observers to guard against
intimidation or trickery.30

44

This question, in fact, could have been taken as settled in federal courts almost
70 years ago, when, in Bram v. United States, 168 U.S. 532, 542, 18 S.Ct. 183,
187, 42 L.Ed. 568 (1897), this Court held:

45

'In criminal trials, in the courts of the United States, wherever a question arises
whether a confession is incompetent because not voluntary, the issue is
controlled by that portion of the fifth amendment * * * commanding that no
person 'shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself."

46

In Bram, the Court reviewed the British and American history and case law and
set down the Fifth Amendment standard for compulsion which we implement
today:

47

'Much of the confusion which has resulted from the effort to deduce from the
adjudged cases what would be a sufficient quantum of proof to show that a
confession was or was not voluntary has arisen from a misconception of the
subject to which the proof must address itself. The rule is not that, in order to
render a statement admissible, the proof must be adequate to establish that the
particular communications contained in a statement were voluntarily made, but
it must be sufficient to establish that the making of the statement was voluntary;
that is to say, that, from the causes which the law treats as legally sufficient to
engender in the mind of the accused hope or fear in respect to the crime
charged, the accused was not involuntarily impelled to make a statement when
but for the improper influences he would have remained silent. * * *' 168 U.S.,
at 549, 18 S.Ct. at 189. And see, id., at 542, 18 S.Ct. at 186.

48

The Court has adhered to this reasoning. In 1924, Mr. Justice Brandeis wrote
for a unanimous Court in reversing a conviction resting on a compelled
confession, Ziang Sung Wan v. United States, 266 U.S. 1, 45 S.Ct. 1, 69 L.Ed.
131. He stated:

49

'In the federal courts, the requisite of voluntariness is not satisfied by

establishing merely that the confession was not induced by a promise or a
threat. A confession is voluntary in law if, and only if, it was, in fact,
voluntarily made. A confession may have been given voluntarily, although it
was made to police officers, while in custody, and in answer to an examination
conducted by them. But a confession obtained by compulsion must be excluded
whatever may have been the character of the compulsion, and whether the
compulsion was applied in a judicial proceeding or otherwise. Bram v. United
States, 168 U.S. 532, 18 S.Ct. 183, 42 L.Ed. 568.' 266 U.S., at 1415, 45 S.Ct.
at 3.

50

In addition to the expansive historical development of the privilege and the

sound policies which have nurtured its evolution, judicial precedent thus clearly
establishes its application to incommunicado interrogation. In fact, the
Government concedes this point as well established in No. 761, Westover v.
United States, stating: 'We have no doubt * * * that it is possible for a suspect's
Fifth Amendment right to be violated during in-custody questioning by a lawenforcement officer.'31

51

Because of the adoption by Congress of Rule 5(a) of the Federal Rules of

Criminal Procedure, and the Court's effectuation of that Rule in McNabb v.
United States, 318 U.S. 332, 63 S.Ct. 608, 87 L.Ed. 819 (1943), and Mallory v.
United States, 354 U.S. 449, 77 S.Ct. 1356, 1 L.Ed.2d 1479 (1957), we have
had little occasion in the past quarter century to reach the constitutional issues

in dealing with federal interrogations. These supervisory rules, requiring

production of an arrested person before a commissioner 'without unnecessary
delay' and excluding evidence obtained in default of that statutory obligation,
were nonetheless responsive to the same considerations of Fifth Amendment
policy that unavoidably face us now as to the States. In McNabb, 318 U.S., at
343344, 63 S.Ct. at 614, and in Mallory, 354 U.S., at 455456, 77 S.Ct. at
13591360, we recognized both the dangers of interrogation and the
appropriateness of prophylaxis stemming from the very fact of interrogation
itself.32
52

Our decision in Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 12 L.Ed.2d 653
(1964), necessitates an examination of the scope of the privilege in state cases
as well. In Malloy, we squarely held the privilege applicable to the States, and
held that the substantive standards underlying the privilege applied with full
force to state court proceedings. There, as in Murphy v. Waterfront Comm. of
New York Harbor, 378 U.S. 52, 84 S.Ct. 1594, 12 L.Ed.2d 678 (1964), and
Griffin v. State of California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106
(1965), we applied the existing Fifth Amendment standards to the case before
us. Aside from the holding itself, the reasoning in Malloy made clear what had
already become apparentthat the substantive and procedural safeguards
surrounding admissibility of confessions in state cases had become exceedingly
exacting, reflecting all the policies embedded in the privilege, 378 U.S., at 7
8, 84 S.Ct. at 1493. 33 The voluntariness doctrine in the state cases, as Malloy
indicates, encompasses all interrogation practices which are likely to exert such
pressure upon an individual as to disable him from making a free and rational
choice.34 The implications of this proposition were elaborated in our decision in
Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977,
decided one week after Malloy applied the privilege to the States.

53

Our holding there stressed the fact that the police had not advised the defendant
of his constitutional privilege to remain silent at the outset of the interrogation,
and we drew attention to that fact at several points in the decision, 378 U.S., at
483, 485, 491, 84 S.Ct. at 1761, 1762, 1765. This was no isolated factor, but an
essential ingredient in our decision. The entire thrust of police interrogation
there, as in all the cases today, was to put the defendant in such an emotional
state as to impair his capacity for rational judgment. The abdication of the
constitutional privilegethe choice on his part to speak to the policewas not
made knowingly or competently because of the failure to apprise him of his
rights; the compelling atmosphere of the in-custody interrogation, and not an
independent decision on his part, caused the defendant to speak.

54

A different phase of the Escobedo decision was significant in its attention to the

absence of counsel during the questioning. There, as in the cases today, we

sought a protective device to dispel the compelling atmosphere of the
interrogation. In Escobedo, however, the police did not relieve the defendant of
the anxieties which they had created in the interrogation rooms. Rather, they
denied his request for the assistance of counsel, 378 U.S., at 481, 488, 491, 84
S.Ct. at 1760, 1763, 1765. 35 This heightened his dilemma, and made his later
statements the product of this compulsion. Cf. Haynes v. State of Washington,
373 U.S. 503, 514, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 1343 (1963). The denial of the defendant's
request for his attorney thus undermined his ability to exercise the privilegeto
remain silent if he chose or to speak without any intimidation, blatant or subtle.
The presence of counsel, in all the cases before us today, would be the adequate
protective device necessary to make the process of police interrogation conform
to the dictates of the privilege. His presence would insure that statements made
in the government-established atmosphere are not the product of compulsion.
55

It was in this manner that Escobedo explicated another facet of the pre-trial
privilege, noted in many of the Court's prior decisions: the protection of rights
at trial.36 That counsel is present when statements are taken from an individual
during interrogation obviously enhances the integrity of the fact-finding
processes in court. The presence of an attorney, and the warnings delivered to
the individual, enable the defendant under otherwise compelling circumstances
to tell his story without fear, effectively, and in a way that eliminates the evils
in the interrogation process. Without the protections flowing from adequate
warning and the rights of counsel, 'all the careful safeguards erected around the
giving of testimony, whether by an accused or any other witness, would
become empty formalities in a procedure where the most compelling possible
evidence of guilt, a confession, would have already been obtained at the
unsupervised pleasure of the police.' Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 685, 81 S.Ct.
1684, 1707, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081 (1961) (Harlan, J., dissenting). Cf. Pointer v. State
of Texas, 380 U.S. 400, 85 S.Ct. 1065, 13 L.Ed.2d 923 (1965).

III.
56

Today, then, there can be no doubt that the Fifth Amendment privilege is
available outside of criminal court proceedings and serves to protect persons in
all settings in which their freedom of action is curtailed in any significant way
from being compelled to incriminate themselves. We have concluded that
without proper safeguards the process of in-custody interrogation of persons
suspected or accused of crime contains inherently compelling pressures which
work to undermine the individual's will to resist and to compel him to speak
where he would not otherwise do so freely. In order to combat these pressures
and to permit a full opportunity to exercise the privilege against self-

incrimination, the accused must be adequately and effectively apprised of his

rights and the exercise of those rights must be fully honored.
57

It is impossible for us to foresee the potential alternatives for protecting the

privilege which might be devised by Congress or the States in the exercise of
their creative rule-making capacities. Therefore we cannot say that the
Constitution necessarily requires adherence to any particular solution for the
inherent compulsions of the interrogation process as it is presently conducted.
Our decision in no way creates a constitutional straitjacket which will handicap
sound efforts at reform, nor is it intended to have this effect. We encourage
Congress and the States to continue their laudable search for increasingly
effective ways of protecting the rights of the individual while promoting
efficient enforcement of our criminal laws. However, unless we are shown
other procedures which are at least as effective in apprising accused persons of
their right of silence and in assuring a continuous opportunity to exercise it, the
following safeguards must be observed.

58

At the outset, if a person in custody is to be subjected to interrogation, he must

first be informed in clear and unequivocal terms that he has the right to remain
silent. For those unaware of the privilege, the warning is needed simply to
make them aware of itthe threshold requirement for an intelligent decision as
to its exercise. More important, such a warning is an absolute prerequisite in
overcoming the inherent pressures of the interrogation atmosphere. It is not just
the subnormal or woefully ignorant who succumb to an interrogator's
imprecations, whether implied or expressly stated, that the interrogation will
continue until a confession is obtained or that silence in the face of accusation is
itself damning and will bode ill when presented to a jury.37 Further, the warning
will show the individual that his interrogators are prepared to recognize his
privilege should he choose to exercise it.

59

The Fifth Amendment privilege is so fundamental to our system of

constitutional rule and the expedient of giving an adequate warning as to the
availability of the privilege so simple, we will not pause to inquire in individual
cases whether the defendant was aware of his rights without a warning being
given. Assessments of the knowledge the defendant possessed, based on
information as to his age, education, intelligence, or prior contact with
authorities, can never be more than speculation;38 a warning is a clearcut fact.
More important, whatever the background of the person interrogated, a warning
at the time of the interrogation is indispensable to overcome its pressures and to
insure that the individual knows he is free to exercise the privilege at that point
in time.

60

The warning of the right to remain silent must be accompanied by the

explanation that anything said can and will be used against the individual in
court. This warning is needed in order to make him aware not only of the
privilege, but also of the consequences of forgoing it. It is only through an
awareness of these consequences that there can be any assurance of real
understanding and intelligent exercise of the privilege. Moreover, this warning
may serve to make the individual more acutely aware that he is faced with a
phase of the adversary systemthat he is not in the presence of persons acting
solely in his interest.

61

The circumstances surrounding in-custody interrogation can operate very

quickly to overbear the will of one merely made aware of his privilege by his
interrogators. Therefore, the right to have counsel present at the interrogation is
indispensable to the protection of the Fifth Amendment privilege under the
system we delineate today. Our aim is to assure that the individual's right to
choose between silence and speech remains unfettered throughout the
interrogation process. A once-stated warning, delivered by those who will
conduct the interrogation, cannot itself suffice to that end among those who
most require knowledge of their rights. A mere warning given by the
interrogators is not alone sufficient to accomplish that end. Prosecutors
themselves claim that the admonishment of the right to remain silent without
more 'will benefit only the recidivist and the professional.' Brief for the
National District Attorneys Association as amicus curiae, p. 14. Even
preliminary advice given to the accused by his own attorney can be swiftly
overcome by the secret interrogation process. Cf. Escobedo v. State of Illinois,
378 U.S. 478, 485, n. 5, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 1762. Thus, the need for counsel to
protect the Fifth Amendment privilege comprehends not merely a right to
consult with counsel prior to questioning, but also to have counsel present
during any questioning if the defendant so desires.

62

The presence of counsel at the interrogation may serve several significant

subsidiary functions as well. If the accused decides to talk to his interrogators,
the assistance of counsel can mitigate the dangers of untrustworthiness. With a
lawyer present the likelihood that the police will practice coercion is reduced,
and if coercion is nevertheless exercised the lawyer can testify to it in court.
The presence of a lawyer can also help to guarantee that the accused gives a
fully accurate statement to the police and that the statement is rightly reported
by the prosecution at trial. See Crooker v. State of California, 357 U.S. 433,
443448, 78 S.Ct. 1287, 12931296, 2 L.Ed.2d 1448 (1958) (Douglas, J.,
dissenting).

63

An individual need not make a pre-interrogation request for a lawyer. While

63

An individual need not make a pre-interrogation request for a lawyer. While

such request affirmatively secures his right to have one, his failure to ask for a
lawyer does not constitute a waiver. No effective waiver of the right to counsel
during interrogation can be recognized unless specifically made after the
warnings we here delineate have been given. The accused who does not know
his rights and therefore does not make a request may be the person who most
needs counsel. As the California Supreme Court has aptly put it:

64

'Finally, we must recognize that the imposition of the requirement for the
request would discriminate against the defendant who does not know his rights.
The defendant who does not ask for counsel is the very defendant who most
needs counsel. We cannot penalize a defendant who, not understanding his
constitutional rights, does not make the formal request and by such failure
demonstrates his helplessness. To require the request would be to favor the
defendant whose sophistication or status had fortuitously prompted him to
make it.' People v. Dorado, 62 Cal.2d 338, 351, 42 Cal.Rptr. 169, 177178,
398 P.2d 361, 369370, (1965) (Tobriner, J.).

65

In Carnley v. Cochran, 369 U.S. 506, 513, 82 S.Ct. 884, 889, 8 L.Ed.2d 70
(1962), we stated: '(I)t is settled that where the assistance of counsel is a
constitutional requisite, the right to be furnished counsel does not depend on a
request.' This proposition applies with equal force in the context of providing
counsel to protect an accused's Fifth Amendment privilege in the face of
interrogation.39 Although the role of counsel at trial differs from the role during
interrogation, the differences are not relevant to the question whether a request
is a prerequisite.

66

Accordingly we hold that an individual held for interrogation must be clearly

informed that he has the right to consult with a lawyer and to have the lawyer
with him during interrogation under the system for protecting the privilege we
delineate today. As with the warnings of the right to remain silent and that
anything stated can be used in evidence against him, this warning is an absolute
prerequisite to interrogation. No amount of circumstantial evidence that the
person may have been aware of this right will suffice to stand in its stead. Only
through such a warning is there ascertainable assurance that the accused was
aware of this right.

67

If an individual indicates that he wishes the assistance of counsel before any

interrogation occurs, the authorities cannot rationally ignore or deny his request
on the basis that the individual does not have or cannot afford a retained
attorney. The financial ability of the individual has no relationship to the scope
of the rights involved here. The privilege against self-incrimination secured by

the Constitution applies to all individuals. The need for counsel in order to
protect the privilege exists for the indigent as well as the affluent. In fact, were
we to limit these constitutional rights to those who can retain an attorney, our
decisions today would be of little significance. The cases before us as well as
the vast majority of confession cases with which we have dealt in the past
involve those unable to retain counsel.40 While authorities are not required to
relieve the accused of his poverty, they have the obligation not to take
advantage of indigence in the administration of justice.41 Denial of counsel to
the indigent at the time of interrogation while allowing an attorney to those
who can afford one would be no more supportable by reason or logic than the
similar situation at trial and on appeal struck down in Gideon v. Wainwright,
372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799 (1963), and Douglas v. People of
State of California, 372 U.S. 353, 83 S.Ct. 814, 9 L.Ed.2d 811 (1963).
68

In order fully to apprise a person interrogated of the extent of his rights under
this system then, it is necessary to warn him not only that he has the right to
consult with an attorney, but also that if he is indigent a lawyer will be
appointed to represent him. Without this additional warning, the admonition of
the right to consult with counsel would often be understood as meaning only
that he can consult with a lawyer if he has one or has the funds to obtain one.
The warning of a right to counsel would be hollow if not couched in terms that
would convey to the indigentthe person most often subjected to interrogation
the knowledge that he too has a right to have counsel present.42 As with the
warnings of the right to remain silent and of the general right to counsel, only
by effective and express explanation to the indigent of this right can there be
assurance that he was truly in a position to exercise it.43

69

Once warnings have been given, the subsequent procedure is clear. If the
individual indicates in any manner, at any time prior to or during questioning,
that he wishes to remain silent, the interrogation must cease.44 At this point he
has shown that he intends to exercise his Fifth Amendment privilege; any
statement taken after the person invokes his privilege cannot be other than the
product of compulsion, subtle or otherwise. Without the right to cut off
questioning, the setting of in-custody interrogation operates on the individual to
overcome free choice in producing a statement after the privilege has been once
invoked. If the individual states that he wants an attorney, the interrogation
must cease until an attorney is present. At that time, the individual must have an
opportunity to confer with the attorney and to have him present during any
subsequent questioning. If the individual cannot obtain an attorney and he
indicates that he wants one before speaking to police, they must respect his
decision to remain silent.

70

This does not mean, as some have suggested, that each police station must have
a 'station house lawyer' present at all times to advise prisoners. It does mean,
however, that if police propose to interrogate a person they must make known
to him that he is entitled to a lawyer and that if he cannot afford one, a lawyer
will be provided for him prior to any interrogation. If authorities conclude that
they will not provide counsel during a reasonable period of time in which
investigation in the field is carried out, they may refrain from doing so without
violating the person's Fifth Amendment privilege so long as they do not
question him during that time.

71

If the interrogation continues without the presence of an attorney and a

statement is taken, a heavy burden rests on the government to demonstrate that
the defendant knowingly and intelligently waived his privilege against selfincrimination and his right to retained or appointed counsel. Escobedo v. State
of Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 490, n. 14, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 1764, 12 L.Ed.2d 977. This
Court has always set high standards of proof for the waiver of constitutional
rights, Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461 (1938),
and we reassert these standards as applied to incustody interrogation. Since the
State is responsible for establishing the isolated circumstances under which the
interrogation takes place and has the only means of making available
corroborated evidence of warnings given during incommunicado interrogation,
the burden is rightly on its shoulders.

72

An express statement that the individual is willing to make a statement and

does not want an attorney followed closely by a statement could constitute a
waiver. But a valid waiver will not be presumed simply from the silence of the
accused after warnings are given or simply from the fact that a confession was
in fact eventually obtained. A statement we made in Carnley v. Cochran, 369
U.S. 506, 516, 82 S.Ct. 884, 890, 8 L.Ed.2d 70 (1962), is applicable here:

73

'Presuming waiver from a silent record is impermissible. The record must

show, or there must be an allegation and evidence which show, that an accused
was offered counsel but intelligently and understandingly rejected the offer.
Anything less is not waiver.'

74

See also Glasser v. United States, 315 U.S. 60, 62 S.Ct. 457, 86 L.Ed. 680
(1942). Moreover, where in-custody interrogation is involved, there is no room
for the contention that the privilege is waived if the individual answers some
questions or gives some information on his own prior to invoking his right to
remain silent when interrogated.45

75

Whatever the testimony of the authorities as to waiver of rights by an accused,

the fact of lengthy interrogation or incommunicado incarceration before a
statement is made is strong evidence that the accused did not validly waive his
rights. In these circumstances the fact that the individual eventually made a
statement is consistent with the conclusion that the compelling influence of the
interrogation finally forced him to do so. It is inconsistent with any notion of a
voluntary relinquishment of the privilege. Moreover, any evidence that the
accused was threatened, tricked, or cajoled into a waiver will, of course, show
that the defendant did not voluntarily waive his privilege. The requirement of
warnings and waiver of rights is a fundamental with respect to the Fifth
Amendment privilege and not simply a preliminary ritual to existing methods
of interrogation.

76

The warnings required and the waiver necessary in accordance with our opinion
today are, in the absence of a fully effective equivalent, prerequisites to the
admissibility of any statement made by a defendant. No distinction can be
drawn between statements which are direct confessions and statements which
amount to 'admissions' of part or all of an offense. The privilege against selfincrimination protects the individual from being compelled to incriminate
himself in any manner; it does not distinguish degrees of incrimination.
Similarly, for precisely the same reason, no distinction may be drawn between
inculpatory statements and statements alleged to be merely 'exculpatory.' If a
statement made were in fact truly exculpatory it would, of course, never be used
by the prosecution. In fact, statements merely intended to be exculpatory by the
defendant are often used to impeach his testimony at trial or to demonstrate
untruths in the statement given under interrogation and thus to prove guilt by
implication. These statements are incriminating in any meaningful sense of the
word and may not be used without the full warnings and effective waiver
required for any other statement. In Escobedo itself, the defendant fully
intended his accusation of another as the slayer to be exculpatory as to himself.

77

The principles announced today deal with the protection which must be given
to the privilege against self-incrimination when the individual is first subjected
to police interrogation while in custody at the station or otherwise deprived of
his freedom of action in any significant way. It is at this point that our
adversary system of criminal proceedings commences, distinguishing itself at
the outset from the inquisitorial system recognized in some countries. Under
the system of warnings we delineate today or under any other system which
may be devised and found effective, the safeguards to be erected about the
privilege must come into play at this point.

78

Our decision is not intended to hamper the traditional function of police officers

78

Our decision is not intended to hamper the traditional function of police officers
in investigating crime. See Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 492, 84
S.Ct. 1758, 1765. When an individual is in custody on probable cause, the
police may, of course, seek out evidence in the field to be used at trial against
him. Such investigation may include inquiry of persons not under restraint.
General on-the-scene questioning as to facts surrounding a crime or other
general questioning of citizens in the fact-finding process is not affected by our
holding. It is an act of responsible citizenship for individuals to give whatever
information they may have to aid in law enforcement. In such situations the
compelling atmosphere inherent in the process of in-custody interrogation is
not necessarily present.46

79

In dealing with statements obtained through interrogation, we do not purport to

find all confessions inadmissible. Confessions remain a proper element in law
enforcement. Any statement given freely and voluntarily without any
compelling influences is, of course, admissible in evidence. The fundamental
import of the privilege while an individual is in custody is not whether he is
allowed to talk to the police without the benefit of warnings and counsel, but
whether he can be interrogated. There is no requirement that police stop a
person who enters a police station and states that he wishes to confess to a
crime,47 or a person who calls the police to offer a confession or any other
statement he desires to make. Volunteered statements of any kind are not barred
by the Fifth Amendment and their admissibility is not affected by our holding
today.

80

To summarize, we hold that when an individual is taken into custody or

otherwise deprived of his freedom by the authorities in any significant way and
is subjected to questioning, the privilege against self-incrimination is
jeopardized. Procedural safeguards must be employed to protect the privilege
and unless other fully effective means are adopted to notify the person of his
right of silence and to assure that the exercise of the right will be scrupulously
honored, the following measures are required. He must be warned prior to any
questioning that he has the right to remain silent, that anything he says can be
used against him in a court of law, that he has the right to the presence of an
attorney, and that if he cannot afford an attorney one will be appointed for him
prior to any questioning if he so desires. Opportunity to exercise these rights
must be afforded to him throughout the interrogation. After such warnings have
been given, and such opportunity afforded him, the individual may knowingly
and intelligently waive these rights and agree to answer questions or make a
statement. But unless and until such warnings and waiver are demonstrated by
the prosecution at trial, no evidence obtained as a result of interrogation can be
used against him.48

IV.
81

A recurrent argument made in these cases is that society's need for

interrogation outweighs the privilege. This argument is not unfamiliar to this
Court. See, e.g., Chambers v. State of Florida, 309 U.S. 227, 240241, 60
S.Ct. 472, 478479, 84 L.Ed. 716 (1940). The whole thrust of our foregoing
discussion demonstrates that the Constitution has prescribed the rights of the
individual when confronted with the power of government when it provided in
the Fifth Amendment that an individual cannot be compelled to be a witness
against himself. That right cannot be abridged. As Mr. Justice Brandeis once
observed:

82

'Decency, security, and liberty alike demand that government officials shall be
subjected to the same rules of conduct that are commands to the citizen. In a
government of laws, existence of the government will be imperilled if it fails to
observe the law scrupulously. Our government is the potent, the omnipresent
teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. Crime is
contagious. If the government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for
law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To
declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means
* * * would bring terrible retribution. Against that pernicious doctrine this
court should resolutely set its face.' Olmstead v. United States, 277 U.S. 438,
485, 48 S.Ct. 564, 575, 72 L.Ed. 944 (1928) (dissenting opinion).49

83

In this connection, one of our country's distinguished jurists has pointed out:
'The quality of a nation's civilization can be largely measured by the methods it
uses in the enforcement of its criminal law.'50

84

If the individual desires to exercise his privilege, he has the right to do so. This
is not for the authorities to decide. An attorney may advise his client not to talk
to police until he has had an opportunity to investigate the case, or he may wish
to be present with his client during any police questioning. In doing so an
attorney is merely exercising the good professional judgment he has been
taught. This is not cause for considering the attorney a menace to law
enforcement. He is merely carrying out what he is sworn to do under his oath
to protect to the extent of his ability the rights of his client. In fulfilling this
responsibility the attorney plays a vital role in the administration of criminal
justice under our Constitution.

85

In announcing these principles, we are not unmindful of the burdens which law
enforcement officials must bear, often under trying circumstances. We also

fully recognize the obligation of all citizens to aid in enforcing the criminal
laws. This Court, while protecting individual rights, has always given ample
latitude to law enforcement agencies in the legitimate exercise of their duties.
The limits we have placed on the interrogation process should not constitute an
undue interference with a proper system of law enforcement. As we have noted,
our decision does not in any way preclude police from carrying out their
traditional investigatory functions. Although confessions may play an
important role in some convictions, the cases before us present graphic
examples of the overstatement of the 'need' for confessions. In each case
authorities conducted interrogations ranging up to five days in duration despite
the presence, through standard investigating practices, of considerable evidence
against each defendant.51 Further examples are chronicled in our prior cases.
See, e.g., Haynes v. State of Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 518 519, 83 S.Ct. 1336,
1345, 1346, 10 L.Ed.2d 513 (1963); Rogers v. Richmond, 365 U.S. 534, 541,
81 S.Ct. 735, 739, 5 L.Ed.2d 760 (1961); Malinski v. People of State of New
York, 324 U.S. 401, 402, 65 S.Ct. 781, 782 (1945).52
86

It is also urged that an unfettered right to detention for interrogation should be

allowed because it will often redound to the benefit of the person questioned.
When police inquiry determines that there is no reason to believe that the
person has committed any crime, it is said, he will be released without need for
further formal procedures. The person who has committed no offense, however,
will be better able to clear himself after warnings with counsel present than
without. It can be assumed that in such circumstances a lawyer would advise
his client to talk freely to police in order to clear himself.

87

Custodial interrogation, by contrast, does not necessarily afford the innocent an

opportunity to clear themselves. A serious consequence of the present practice
of the interrogation alleged to be beneficial for the innocent is that many arrests
'for investigation' subject large numbers of innocent persons to detention and
interrogation. In one of the cases before us, No. 584, California v. Stewart,
police held four persons, who were in the defendant's house at the time of the
arrest, in jail for five days until defendant confessed. At that time they were
finally released. Police stated that there was 'no evidence to connect them with
any crime.' Available statistics on the extent of this practice where it is
condoned indicate that these four are far from alone in being subjected to
arrest, prolonged detention, and interrogation without the requisite probable
cause. 53

88

Over the years the Federal Bureau of Investigation has compiled an exemplary
record of effective law enforcement while advising any suspect or arrested
person, at the outset of an interview, that he is not required to make a statement,

that any statement may be used against him in court, that the individual may
obtain the services of an attorney of his own choice and, more recently, that he
has a right to free counsel if he is unable to pay.54 A letter received from the
Solicitor General in response to a question from the Bench makes it clear that
the present pattern of warnings and respect for the rights of the individual
followed as a practice by the FBI is consistent with the procedure which we
delineate today. It states:
89

'At the oral argument of the above cause, Mr. Justice Fortas asked whether I
could provide certain information as to the practices followed by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation. I have directed these questions to the attention of the
Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and am submitting herewith a
statement of the questions and of the answers which we have received.

90

"(1) When an individual is interviewed by agents of the Bureau, what warning

is given to him?

91

"The standard warning long given by Special Agents of the FBI to both suspects
and persons under arrest is that the person has a right to say nothing and a right
to counsel, and that any statement he does make may be used against him in
court. Examples of this warning are to be found in the Westover case at 342
F.2d 684 (1965), and Jackson v. U.S., (119 U.S.App.D.C. 100) 337 F.2d 136
(1964), cert. den. 380 U.S. 935, 85 S.Ct. 1353,

92

"After passage of the Criminal Justice Act of 1964, which provides free counsel
for Federal defendants unable to pay, we added to our instructions to Special
Agents the requirement that any person who is under arrest for an offense under
FBI jurisdiction, or whose arrest is contemplated following the interview, must
also be advised of his right to free counsel if he is unable to pay, and the fact
that such counsel will be assigned by the Judge. At the same time, we
broadened the right to counsel warning to read counsel of his own choice, or
anyone else with whom he might wish to speak.

93

"(2) When is the warning given?

94

"The FBI warning is given to a suspect at the very outset of the interview, as
shown in the Westover case, cited above. The warning may be given to a
person arrested as soon as practicable after the arrest, as shown in the Jackson
case, also cited above, and in U.S. v. Konigsberg, 336 F.2d 844 (1964), cert.
den. (Celso v. United States) 379 U.S. 933 (85 S.Ct. 327, 13 L.Ed.2d 342) but
in any event it must precede the interview with the person for a confession or

admission of his own guilt.

95

96

"(3) What is the Bureau's practice in the event that (a) the individual requests
counsel and (b) counsel appears?
"When the person who has been warned of his right to counsel decides that he
wishes to consult with counsel before making a statement, the interview is
terminated at that point, Shultz v. U.S., 351 F.2d 287 ((10 Cir.) 1965). It may
be continued, however, as to all matters other than the person's own guilt or
innocence. If he is indecisive in his request for counsel, there may be some
question on whether he did or did not waive counsel. Situations of this kind
must necessarily be left to the judgment of the interviewing Agent. For
example, in Hiram v. U.S., 354 F.2d 4 ((9 Cir.) 1965), the Agent's conclusion
that the person arrested had waived his right to counsel was upheld by the
courts.

97

"A person being interviewed and desiring to consult counsel by telephone must
be permitted to do so, as shown in Caldwell v. U.S., 351 F.2d 459 ((1 Cir.)
1965). When counsel appears in person, he is permitted to confer with his client
in private.

98

"(4) What is the Bureau's practice if the individual requests counsel, but cannot
afford to retain an attorney?

99

"If any person being interviewed after warning of counsel decides that he
wishes to consult with counsel before proceeding further the interview is
terminated, as shown above. FBI Agents do not pass judgment on the ability of
the person to pay for counsel. They do, however, advise those who have been
arrested for an offense under FBI jurisdiction, or whose arrest is contemplated
following the interview, of a right to free counsel if they are unable to pay, and
the availability of such counsel from the Judge."55

100 The practice of the FBI can readily be emulated by state and local enforcement
agencies. The argument that the FBI deals with different crimes than are dealt
with by state authorities does not mitigate the significance of the FBI
experience.56
101 The experience in some other countries also suggests that the danger to law
enforcement in curbs on interrogation is overplayed. The English procedure
since 1912 under the Judges' Rules is significant. As recently strengthened, the
Rules require that a cautionary warning be given an accused by a police officer

as soon as he has evidence that affords reasonable grounds for suspicion; they
also require that any statement made be given by the accused without
questioning by police.57 The right of the individual to consult with an attorney
during this period is expressly recognized.58
102 The safeguards present under Scottish law may be even greater than in England.
Scottish judicial decisions bar use in evidence of most confessions obtained
through police interrogation.59 In India, confessions made to police not in the
presence of a magistrate have been excluded by rule of evidence since 1872, at
a time when it operated under British law.60 Identical provisions appear in the
Evidence Ordinance of Ceylon, enacted in 1895.61 Similarly, in our country the
Uniform Code of Military Justice has long provided that no suspect may be
interrogated without first being warned of his right not to make a statement and
that any statement he makes may be used against him.62 Denial of the right to
consult counsel during interrogation has also been proscribed by military
tribunals.63 There appears to have been no marked detrimental effect on
criminal law enforcement in these jurisdictions as a result of these rules.
Conditions of law enforcement in our country are sufficiently similar to permit
reference to this experience as assurance that lawlessness will not result from
warning an individual of his rights or allowing him to exercise them. Moreover,
it is consistent with our legal system that we give at least as much protection to
these rights as is given in the jurisdictions described. We deal in our country
with rights grounded in a specific requirement of the Fifth Amendment of the
Constitution, whereas other jurisdictions arrived at their conclusions on the
basis of principles of justice not so specifically defined.64
103 It is also urged upon us that we withhold decision on this issue until state
legislative bodies and advisory groups have had an opportunity to deal with
these problems by rule making.65 We have already pointed out that the
Constitution does not require any specific code of procedures for protecting the
privilege against self-incrimination during custodial interrogation. Congress
and the States are free to develop their own safeguards for the privilege, so long
as they are fully as effective as those described above in informing accused
persons of their right of silence and in affording a continuous opportunity to
exercise it. In any event, however, the issues presented are of constitutional
dimensions and must be determined by the courts. The admissibility of a
statement in the face of a claim that it was obtained in violation of the
defendant's constitutional rights is an issue the resolution of which has long
since been undertaken by this Court. See Hopt v. People of Territory of Utah,
110 U.S. 574, 4 S.Ct. 202, 28 L.Ed. 262 (1884). Judicial solutions to problems
of constitutional dimension have evolved decade by decade. As courts have
been presented with the need to enforce constitutional rights, they have found

means of doing so. That was our responsibility when Escobedo was before us
and it is our responsibility today. Where rights secured by the Constitution are
involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate
them.
V.
104 Because of the nature of the problem and because of its recurrent significance
in numerous cases, we have to this point discussed the relationship of the Fifth
Amendment privilege to police interrogation without specific concentration on
the facts of the cases before us. We turn now to these facts to consider the
application to these cases of the constitutional principles discussed above. In
each instance, we have concluded that statements were obtained from the
defendant under circumstances that did not meet constitutional standards for
protection of the privilege.
No. 759. Miranda v. Arizona.
105
106 On March 13, 1963, petitioner, Ernesto Miranda, was arrested at his home and
taken in custody to a Phoenix police station. He was there identified by the
complaining witness. The police then took him to 'Interrogation Room No. 2' of
the detective bureau. There he was questioned by two police officers. The
officers admitted at trial that Miranda was not advised that he had a right to
have an attorney present.66 Two hours later, the officers emerged from the
interrogation room with a written confession signed by Miranda. At the top of
the statement was a typed paragraph stating that the confession was made
voluntarily, without threats or promises of immunity and 'with full knowledge
of my legal rights, understanding any statement I make may be used against
me.'67
107 At his trial before a jury, the written confession was admitted into evidence
over the objection of defense counsel, and the officers testified to the prior oral
confession made by Miranda during the interrogation. Miranda was found
guilty of kidnapping and rape. He was sentenced to 20 to 30 years'
imprisonment on each count, the sentences to run concurrently. On appeal, the
Supreme Court of Arizona held that Miranda's constitutional rights were not
violated in obtaining the confession and affirmed the conviction. 98 Ariz. 18,
401 P.2d 721. In reaching its decision, the court emphasized heavily the fact
that Miranda did not specifically request counsel.
108 We reverse. From the testimony of the officers and by the admission of
respondent, it is clear that Miranda was not in any way apprised of his right to

consult with an attorney and to have one present during the interrogation, nor
was his right not to be compelled to incriminate himself effectively protected in
any other manner. Without these warnings the statements were inadmissible.
The mere fact that he signed a statement which contained a typed-in clause
stating that he had 'full knowledge' of his 'legal rights' does not approach the
knowing and intelligent waiver required to relinquish constitutional rights. Cf.
Haynes v. State of Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 512513, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 1342,
10 L.Ed.2d 513 (1963); Haley v. State of Ohio, 332 U.S. 596, 601, 68 S.Ct.
302, 304, 92 L.Ed. 224 (1948) (opinion of Mr. Justice Douglas).
No. 760. Vignera v. New York.
109
110 Petitioner, Michael Vignera, was picked up by New York police on October 14,
1960, in connection with the robbery three days earlier of a Brooklyn dress
shop. They took him to the 17th Detective Squad headquarters in Manhattan.
Sometime thereafter he was taken to the 66th Detective Squad. There a
detective questioned Vignera with respect to the robbery. Vignera orally
admitted the robbery to the detective. The detective was asked on crossexamination at trial by defense counsel whether Vignera was warned of his
right to counsel before being interrogated. The prosecution objected to the
question and the trial judge sustained the objection. Thus, the defense was
precluded from making any showing that warnings had not been given. While
at the 66th Detective Squad, Vignera was identified by the store owner and a
saleslady as the man who robbed the dress shop. At about 3 p.m. he was
formally arrested. The police then transported him to still another station, the
70th Precinct in Brooklyn, 'for detention.' At 11 p.m. Vignera was questioned
by an assistant district attorney in the presence of a hearing reporter who
transcribed the questions and Vignera's answers. This verbatim account of these
proceedings contains no statement of any warnings given by the assistant
district attorney. At Vignera's trial on a charge of first degree robbery, the
detective testified as to the oral confession. The transcription of the statement
taken was also introduced in evidence. At the conclusion of the testimony, the
trial judge charged the jury in part as follows:
111 'The law doesn't say that the confession is void or invalidated because the
police officer didn't advise the defendant as to his rights. Did you hear what I
said? I am telling you what the law of the State of New York is.'
112 Vignera was found guilty of first degree robbery. He was subsequently
adjudged a third-felony offender and sentenced to 30 to 60 years'
imprisonment.68 The conviction was affirmed without opinion by the Appellate
Division, Second Department, 21 A.D.2d 752, 252 N.Y.S.2d 19, and by the

Court of Appeals, also without opinion, 15 N.Y.2d 970, 259 N.Y.S.2d 857, 207
N.E.2d 527, remittitur amended, 16 N.y.2d 614, 261 N.Y.S.2d 65, 209 N.E.2d
110. In argument to the Court of Appeals, the State contended that Vignera had
no constitutional right to be advised of his right to counsel or his privilege
against self-incrimination.
113 We reverse. The foregoing indicates that Vignera was not warned of any of his
rights before the questioning by the detective and by the assistant district
attorney. No other steps were taken to protect these rights. Thus he was not
effectively apprised of his Fifth Amendment privilege or of his right to have
counsel present and his statements are inadmissible.
No. 761. Westover v. United States.
114
115 At approximately 9:45 p.m. on March 20, 1963, petitioner, Carl Calvin
Westover, was arrested by local police in Kansas City as a suspect in two
Kansas City robberies. A report was also received from the FBI that he was
wanted on a felony charge in California. The local authorities took him to a
police station and placed him in a line-up on the local charges, and at about
11:45 p.m. he was booked. Kansas City police interrogated Westover on the
night of his arrest. He denied any knowledge of criminal activities. The next
day local officers interrogated him again throughout the morning. Shortly
before noon they informed the FBI that they were through interrogating
Westover and that the FBI could proceed to interrogate him. There is nothing in
the record to indicate that Westover was ever given any warning as to his rights
by local police. At noon, three special agents of the FBI continued the
interrogation in a private interview room of the Kansas City Police Department,
this time with respect to the robbery of a savings and loan association and a
bank in Sacramento, California. After two or two and one-half hours, Westover
signed separate confessions to each of these two robberies which had been
prepared by one of the agents during the interrogation. At trial one of the
agents testified, and a paragraph on each of the statements states, that the agents
advised Westover that he did not have to make a statement, that any statement
he made could be used against him, and that he had the right to see an attorney.
116 Westover was tried by a jury in federal court and convicted of the California
robberies. His statements were introduced at trial. He was sentenced to 15
years' imprisonment on each count, the sentences to run consecutively. On
appeal, the conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals for the Ninth
Circuit. 342 F.2d 684.
117 We reverse. On the facts of this case we cannot find that Westover knowingly

and intelligently waived his right to remain silent and his right to consult with
counsel prior to the time he made the statement.69 At the time the FBI agents
began questioning Westover, he had been in custody for over 14 hours and had
been interrogated at length during that period. The FBI interrogation began
immediately upon the conclusion of the interrogation by Kansas City police
and was conducted in local police headquarters. Although the two law
enforcement authorities are legally distinct and the crimes for which they
interrogated Westover were different, the impact on him was that of a
continuous period of questioning. There is no evidence of any warning given
prior to the FBI interrogation nor is there any evidence of an articulated waiver
of rights after the FBI commenced its interrogation. The record simply shows
that the defendant did in fact confess a short time after being turned over to the
FBI following interrogation by local police. Despite the fact that the FBI agents
gave warnings at the outset of their interview, from Westover's point of view
the warnings came at the end of the interrogation process. In these
circumstances an intelligent waiver of constitutional rights cannot be assumed.
118 We do not suggest that law enforcement authorities are precluded from
questioning any individual who has been held for a period of time by other
authorities and interrogated by them without appropriate warnings. A different
case would be presented if an accused were taken into custody by the second
authority, removed both in time and place from his original surroundings, and
then adequately advised of his rights and given an opportunity to exercise them.
But here the FBI interrogation was conducted immediately following the state
interrogation in the same police stationin the same compelling surroundings.
Thus, in obtaining a confession from Westover the federal authorities were the
beneficiaries of the pressure applied by the local in-custody interrogation. In
these circumstances the giving of warnings alone was not sufficient to protect
the privilege.
No. 584. California v. Stewart.
119
120 In the course of investigating a series of purse-snatch robberies in which one of
the victims had died of injuries inflicted by her assailant, respondent, Roy Allen
Stewart, was pointed out to Los Angeles police as the endorser of dividend
checks taken in one of the robberies. At about 7:15 p.m., January 31, 1963,
police officers went to Stewart's house and arrested him. One of the officers
asked Stewart if they could search the house, to which he replied, 'Go ahead.'
The search turned up various items taken from the five robbery victims. At the
time of Stewart's arrest, police also arrested Stewart's wife and three other
persons who were visiting him. These four were jailed along with Stewart and
were interrogated. Stewart was taken to the University Station of the Los

Angeles Police Department where he was placed in a cell. During the next five
days, police interrogated Stewart on nine different occasions. Except during the
first interrogation session, when he was confronted with an accusing witness,
Stewart was isolated with his interrogators.
121 During the ninth interrogation session, Stewart admitted that he had robbed the
deceased and stated that he had not meant to hurt her. Police then brought
Stewart before a magistrate for the first time. Since there was no evidence to
connect them with any crime, the police then released the other four persons
arrested with him.
122 Nothing in the record specifically indicates whether Stewart was or was not
advised of his right to remain silent or his right to counsel. In a number of
instances, however, the interrogating officers were asked to recount everything
that was said during the interrogations. None indicated that Stewart was ever
advised of his rights.
123 Stewart was charged with kidnapping to commit robbery, rape, and murder. At
his trial, transcripts of the first interrogation and the confession at the last
interrogation were introduced in evidence. The jury found Stewart guilty of
robbery and first degree murder and fixed the penalty as death. On appeal, the
Supreme Court of California reversed. 62 Cal.2d 571, 43 Cal.Rptr. 201, 400
P.2d 97. It held that under this Court's decision in Escobedo, Stewart should
have been advised of his right to remain silent and of his right to counsel and
that it would not presume in the face of a silent record that the police advised
Stewart of his rights.70
124 We affirm.71 In dealing with custodial interrogation, we will not presume that a
defendant has been effectively apprised of his rights and that his privilege
against self-incrimination has been adequately safeguarded on a record that
does not show that any warnings have been given or that any effective
alternative has been employed. Nor can a knowing and intelligent waiver of
these rights be assumed on a silent record. Furthermore, Stewart's steadfast
denial of the alleged offenses through eight of the nine interrogations over a
period of five days is subject to no other construction than that he was
compelled by persistent interrogation to forgo his Fifth Amendment privilege.
125 Therefore, in accordance with the foregoing, the judgments of the Supreme
Court of Arizona in No. 759, of the New York Court of Appeals in No. 760,
and of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in No. 761 are reversed. The
judgment of the Supreme Court of California in No. 584 is affirmed. It is so

ordered.
126 Judgments of Supreme Court of Arizona in No. 759, of New York Court of
Appeals in No. 760, and of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in No.
761 reversed.
127 Judgment of Supreme Court of California in No. 584 affirmed.
Mr. Justice CLARK, dissenting in Nos. 759, 760, and 761, and concurring in
128 the result in No. 584.
129 It is with regret that I find it necessary to write in these cases. However, I am
unable to join the majority because its opinion goes too far on too little, while
my dissenting brethren do not go quite far enough. Nor can I join in the Court's
criticism of the present practices of police and investigatory agencies as to
custodial interrogation. The materials it refers to as 'police manuals'1 are, as I
read them, merely writings in this filed by professors and some police officers.
Not one is shown by the record here to be the official manual of any police
department, much less in universal use in crime detection. Moreover the
examples of police brutality mentioned by the Court2 are rare exceptions to the
thousands of cases that appear every year in the law reports. The police
agenciesall the way from municipal and state forces to the federal bureaus
are responsible for law enforcement and public safety in this country. I am
proud of their efforts, which in my view are not fairly characterized by the
Court's opinion.
I.
130 The ipse dixit of the majority has no support in our cases. Indeed, the Court
admits that 'we might not find the defendants' statements (here) to have been
involuntary in traditional terms.' Ante, p. 457. In short, the Court has added
more to the requirements that the accused is entitled to consult with his lawyer
and that he must be given the traditional warning that he may remain silent and
that anything that he says may be used against him. Escobedo v. State of
Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 490491, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 17641765, 12 L.Ed.2d 977
(1964). Now, the Court fashions a constitutional rule that the police may
engage in no custodial interrogation without additionally advising the accused
that he has a right under the Fifth Amendment to the presence of counsel during
interrogation and that, if he is without funds, counsel will be furnished him.
When at any point during an interrogation the accused seeks affirmatively or
impliedly to invoke his rights to silence or counsel, interrogation must be

forgone or postponed. The Court further holds that failure to follow the new
procedures requires inexorably the exclusion of any statement by the accused,
as well as the fruits thereof. Such a strict constitutional specific inserted at the
nerve center of crime detection may well kill the patient.3 Since there is at this
time a paucity of information and an almost total lack of empirical knowledge
on the practical operation of requirements truly comparable to those announced
by the majority, I would be more restrained lest we go too far too fast.
II.
131 Custodial interrogation has long been recognized as 'undoubtedly an essential
tool in effective law enforcement.' Haynes v. State of Washington, 373 U.S.
503, 515, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 1344, 10 L.Ed.2d 513 (1963). Recognition of this fact
should put us on guard against the promulgation of doctrinaire rules. Especially
is this true where the Court finds that 'the Constitution has prescribed' its
holding and where the light of our past cases, from Hopt v. People of Territory
of Utah, 110 U.S. 574, 4 S.Ct. 202, 28 L.Ed. 262 (1884), down to Haynes v.
State of Washington, supra, is to the contrary. Indeed, even in Escobedo the
Court never hinted that an affirmative 'waiver' was a prerequisite to
questioning; that the burden of proof as to waiver was on the prosecution; that
the presence of counselabsent a waiverduring interrogation was required;
that a waiver can be withdrawn at the will of the accused; that counsel must be
furnished during an accusatory stage to those unable to pay; nor that admissions
and exculpatory statements are 'confessions.' To require all those things at one
gulp should cause the Court to choke over more cases than Crooker v. State of
California, 357 U.S. 433, 78 S.Ct. 1287, 2 L.Ed.2d 1448 (1958), and Cicenia v.
La Gay, 357 U.S. 504, 78 S.Ct. 1297, 2 L.Ed.2d 1523 (1958), which it
expressly overrules today.
132 The rule prior to todayas Mr. Justice Goldberg, the author of the Court's
opinion in Escobedo, stated it in Haynes v. Washingtondepended upon 'a
totality of circumstances evidencing an involuntary * * * adminission of guilt.'
373 U.S., at 514, 83 S.Ct. at 1343. And he concluded:
133 'Of course, detection and solution of crime is, at best, a difficult and arduous
task requiring determination and persistence on the part of all responsible
officers charged with the duty of law enforcement. And, certainly, we do not
mean to suggest that all interrogation of witnesses and suspects is
impermissible. Such questioning is undoubtedly an essential took in effective
law enforcement. The line between proper and permissible police conduct and
techniques and methods offensive to due process is, at best, a difficult one to
draw, particularly in cases such as this where it is necessary to make fine

judgments as to the effect of psychologically coercive pressures and

inducements on the mind and will of an accused. * * * We are here impelled to
the conclusion, from all of the facts presented, that the bounds of due process
have been exceeded.' Id., at 514515, 83 S.Ct. at 1344.
III.
134 I would continue to follow that rule. Under the 'totality of circumstances' rule of
which my Brother Goldberg spoke in Haynes, I would consider in each case
whether the police officer prior to custodial interrogation added the warning
that the suspect might have counsel present at the interrogation and, further,
that a court would appoint one at his request if he was too poor to employ
counsel. In the absence of warnings, the burden would be on the State to prove
that counsel was knowingly and intelligently waived or that in the totality of the
circumstances, including the failure to give the necessary warnings, the
confession was clearly voluntary.
135 Rather than employing the arbitrary Fifth Amendment rule 4 which the Court
lays down I would follow the more pliable dictates of the Due Process Clauses
of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments which we are accustomed to
administering and which we know from our cases are effective instruments in
protecting persons in police custody. In this way we would not be acting in the
dark nor in one full sweep changing the traditional rules of custodial
interrogation which this Court has for so long recognized as a justifiable and
proper tool in balancing individual rights against the rights of society. It will be
soon enough to go further when we are able to appraise with somewhat better
accuracy the effect of such a holding.
136 I would affirm the convictions in Miranda v. Arizona, No. 759; Vignera v. New
York, No. 760; and Westover v. United States, No. 761. In each of those cases I
find from the circumstances no warrant for reversal. In California v. Stewart,
No. 584, I would dismiss the writ of certiorari for want of a final judgment, 28
U.S.C. 1257(3) (1964 ed.); but if the merits are to be reached I would affirm
on the ground that the State failed to fulfill its burden, in the absence of a
showing that appropriate warnings were given, of proving a waiver or a totality
of circumstances showing voluntariness. Should there be a retrial, I would leave
the State free to attempt to prove these elements.
137 Mr. Justice HARLAN, whom Mr. Justice STEWART and Mr. Justice WHITE
join, dissenting.
138 I believe the decision of the Court represents poor constitutional law and entails

138 I believe the decision of the Court represents poor constitutional law and entails
harmful consequences for the country at large. How serious these consequences
may prove to be only time can tell. But the basic flaws in the Court's
justification seem to me readily apparent now once all sides of the problem are
considered.
I. INTRODUCTION
139 At the outset, it is well to note exactly what is required by the Court's new
constitutional code of rules for confessions. The foremost requirement, upon
which later admissibility of a confession depends, is that a fourfold warning be
given to a person in custody before he is questioned, namely, that he has a right
to remain silent, that anything he says may be used against him, that he has a
right to have present an attorney during the questioning, and that if indigent he
has a right to a lawyer without charge. To forgo these rights, some affirmative
statement of rejection is seemingly required, and threats, tricks, or cajolings to
obtain this waiver are forbidden. If before or during questioning the suspect
seeks to invoke his right to remain silent, interrogation must be forgone or
cease; a request for counsel brings about the same result until a lawyer is
procured. Finally, there are a miscellany of minor directives, for example, the
burden of proof of waiver is on the State, admissions and exculpatory
statements are treated just like confessions, withdrawal of a waiver is always
permitted, and so forth.1
140 While the fine points of this scheme are far less clear than the Court admits, the
tenor is quite apparent. The new rules are not designed to guard against police
brutality or other unmistakably banned forms of coercion. Those who use thirddegree tactics and deny them in court are equally able and destined to lie as
skillfully about warnings and waivers. Rather, the thrust of the new rules is to
negate all pressures, to reinforce the nervous or ignorant suspect, and ultimately
to discourage any confession at all. The aim in short is toward 'voluntariness' in
a utopian sense, or to view it from a different angle, voluntariness with a
vengeance.
141 To incorporate this notion into the Constitution requires a strained reading of
history and precedent and a disregard of the very pragmatic concerns that alone
may on occasion justify such strains. I believe that reasoned examination will
show that the Due Process Clauses provide an adequate tool for coping with
confessions and that, even if the Fifth Amendment privilege against selfincrimination be invoked, its precedents taken as a whole do not sustain the
present rules. Viewed as a choice based on pure policy, these new rules prove to
be a highly debatable, if not one-sided, appraisal of the competing interests,
imposed over widespread objection, at the very time when judicial restraint is

most called for by the circumstances.

II. CONSTITUTIONAL PREMISES.
142 It is most fitting to begin an inquiry into the constitutional precedents by
surverying the limits on confessions the Court has evolved under the Due
Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This is so because these cases
show that there exists a workable and effective means of dealing with
confessions in a judicial manner; because the cases are the baseline from which
the Court now departs and so serve to measure the actual as opposed to the
professed distance it travels; and because examination of them helps reveal how
the Court has coasted into its present position.
143 The earliest confession cases in this Court emerged from federal prosecutions
and were settled on a nonconstitutional basis, the Court adopting the commonlaw rule that the absence of inducements, promises, and threats made a
confession voluntary and admissible. Hopt v. People, of Territory of Utah, 110
U.S. 574, 4 S.Ct. 202, 28 L.Ed. 262; Pierce v. United States, 160 U.S. 355, 16
S.Ct. 321, 40 L.Ed. 454. While a later case said the Fifth Amendment privilege
controlled admissibility, this proposition was not itself developed in subsequent
decisions. 2 The Court did, however, heighten the test of admissibility in federal
trials to one of voluntariness 'in fact,' Ziang Sung Wan v. United States, 266
U.S. 1, 14, 45 S.Ct. 1, 3, 69 L.Ed. 131 (quoted, ante, p. 462), and then by and
large left federal judges to apply the same standards the Court began to derive
in a string of state court cases.
144 This new line of decisions, testing admissibility by the Due Process Clause,
began in 1936 with Brown v. State of Mississippi, 297 U.S. 278, 56 S.Ct. 461,
80 L.Ed. 682, and must now embrace somewhat more than 30 full opinions of
the Court.3 While the voluntariness rubric was repeated in many instances, e.g.,
Lyons v. State of Oklahoma, 322 U.S. 596, 64 S.Ct. 1208, 88 L.Ed. 1481, the
Court never pinned it down to a single meaning but on the contrary infused it
with a number of different values. To travel quickly over the main themes, there
was an initial emphasis on reliability, e.g., Ward v. State of Texas, 316 U.S.
547, 62 S.Ct. 1139, 86 L.Ed. 1663, supplemented by concern over the legality
and fairness of the police practices, e.g., Ashcraft v. State of Tennessee, 322
U.S. 143, 64 S.Ct. 921, 88 L.Ed. 1192, in an 'accusatorial' system of law
enforcement, Watts v. State of Indiana, 338 U.S. 49, 54, 69 S.Ct. 1347, 1350,
93 L.Ed. 1801, and eventually by close attention to the individual's state of
mind and capacity for effective choice, e.g., Gallegos v. State of Colorado, 370
U.S. 49, 82 S.Ct. 1209, 8 L.Ed.2d 325. The outcome was a continuing reevaluation on the facts of each case of how much pressure on the suspect was

permissible.4
145 Among the criteria often taken into account were threats or imminent danger,
e.g., Payne v. State of Arkansas, 356 U.S. 560, 78 S.Ct. 844, 2 L.Ed.2d 975,
physical deprivations such as lack of sleep or food, e.g., Reck v. Pate, 367 U.S.
433, 81 S.Ct. 1541, 6 L.Ed.2d 948, repeated or extended interrogation, e.g.,
Chambers v. State of Florida, 309 U.S. 227, 60 S.Ct. 472, 84 L.Ed. 716, limits
on access to counsel or friends, Crooker v. State of California, 357 U.S. 433, 78
S.Ct. 1287, 2 L.Ed.2d 1448; Cicenia v. La. Gay, 357 U.S. 504, 78 S.Ct. 1297, 2
L.Ed.2d 1523, length and illegality of detention under state law, e.g., Haynes v.
State of Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 10 L.Ed.2d 513, and
individual weakness or incapacities, Lynumn v. State of Illinois, 372 U.S. 528,
83 S.Ct. 917, 9 L.Ed.2d 922. Apart from direct physical coercion, however, no
single default or fixed combination of defaults guaranteed exclusion, and
synopses of the cases would serve little use because the overall gauge has been
steadily changing, usually in the direction of restricting admissibility. But to
mark just what point had been reached before the Court jumped the rails in
Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378 U.S. 478, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 12 L.Ed.2d 977, it is
worth capsulizing the then-recent case of Haynes v. State of Washington, 373
U.S. 503, 83 S.Ct. 1336. There, Haynes had been held some 16 or more hours
in violation of state law before signing the disputed confession, had received no
warnings of any kind, and despite requests had been refused access to his wife
or to counsel, the police indicating that access would be allowed after a
confession. Emphasizing especially this last inducement and rejecting some
contrary indicia of voluntariness, the Court in a 5-to-4 decision held the
confession inadmissible.
146 There are several relevant lessons to be drawn from this constitutional history.
The first is that with over 25 years of precedent the Court has developed an
elaborate, sophisticated, and sensitive approach to admissibility of confessions.
It is 'judicial' in its treatment of one case at a time, see Culombe v. Connecticut,
367 U.S. 568, 635, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 1896, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037 (concurring opinion of
The Chief Justice), flexible in its ability to respond to the endless mutations of
fact presented, and ever more familiar to the lower courts. Of course, strict
certainty is not obtained in this developing process, but this is often so with
constitutional principles, and disagreement is usually confined to that
borderland of close cases where it matters least.
147 The second point is that in practice and from time to time in principle, the Court
has given ample recognition to society's interest in suspect questioning as an
instrument of law enforcement. Cases countenancing quite significant pressures
can be cited without difficulty,5 and the lower courts may often have been yet

more tolerant. Of course the limitations imposed today were rejected by

necessary implication in case after case, the right to warnings having been
explicitly rebuffed in this Court many years ago. Powers v. United States, 223
U.S. 303, 32 S.Ct. 281, 56 L.Ed. 448; Wilson v. United States, 162 U.S. 613, 16
S.Ct. 895, 40 L.Ed. 1090. As recently as Haynes v. State of Washington, 373
U.S. 503, 515, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 1344, the Court openly acknowledged that
questioning of witnesses and suspects 'is undoubtedly an essential tool in
effective law enforcement.' Accord, Crooker v. State of California, 357 U.S.
433, 441, 78 S.Ct. 1287, 1292.
148 Finally, the cases disclose that the language in many of the opinions overstates
the actual course of decision. It has been said, for example, that an admissible
confession must be made by the suspect 'in the unfettered exercise of his own
will,' Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 8, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 1493, 12 L.Ed.2d 653, and
that 'a prisoner is not 'to be made the deluded instrument of his own
coniviction," Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 581, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 1867,
6 L.Ed.2d 1037 (Frankfurter, J., announcing the Court's judgment and an
opinion). Though often repeated, such principles are rarely observed in full
measure. Even the word 'voluntary' may be deemed somewhat misleading,
especially when one considers many of the confessions that have been brought
under its umbrella. See, e.g., supra, n. 5. The tendency to overstate may be laid
in part to the flagrant facts often before the Court; but in any event one must
recognize how it has tempered attitudes and lent some color of authority to the
approach now taken by the Court.
149 I turn now to the Court's asserted reliance on the Fifth Amendment, an
approach which I frankly regard as a trompe l'oeil. The Court's opinion in my
view reveals no adequate basis for extending the Fifth Amendment's privilege
against self-incrimination to the police station. Far more important, it fails to
show that the Court's new rules are well supported, let alone compelled, by
Fifth Amendment precedents. Instead, the new rules actually derive from
quotation and analogy drawn from precedents under the Sixth Amendment,
which should properly have no bearing on police interrogation.
150 The Court's opening contention, that the Fifth Amendment governs police
station confessions, is perhaps not an impermissible extension of the law but it
has little to commend itself in the present circumstances. Historically, the
privilege against self-incrimination did not bear at all on the use of extra-legal
confessions, for which distinct standards evolved; indeed, 'the history of the
two principles is wide apart, differing by one hundred years in origin, and
derived through separate lines of precedents. * * *' 8 Wigmore, Evidence
2266, at 401 (McNaughton rev. 1961). Practice under the two doctrines has also

differed in a number of important respects.6 Even those who would readily

enlarge the privilege must concede some linguistic difficulties since the Fifth
Amendment in terms proscribes only compelling any person 'in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself.' Cf. Kamisar, Equal Justice in the
Gatehouses and Mansions of American Criminal Procedure, in Criminal Justice
in Our Time 1, 2526 (1965).
151 Though weighty, I do not say these points and similar ones are conclusive, for,
as the Court reiterates, the privilege embodies basic principles always capable
of expansion.7 Certainly the privilege does represent a protective concern for
the accused and an emphasis upon accusatorial rather than inquisitorial values
in law enforcement, although this is similarly true of other limitations such as
the grand jury requirement and the reasonable doubt standard. Accusatorial
values, however, have openly been absorbed into the due process standard
governing confessions; this indeed is why at present 'the kinship of the two
rules (governing confessions and self-incrimination) is too apparent for denial.'
McCormick, Evidence 155 (1954). Since extension of the general principle has
already occurred, to insist that the privilege applies as such serves only to carry
over inapposite historical details and engaging rhetoric and to obscure the
policy choices to be made in regulating confessions.
152 Having decided that the Fifth Amendment privilege does apply in the police
station, the Court reveals that the privilege imposes more exacting restrictions
than does the Fourteenth Amendment's voluntariness test.8 It then emerges
from a discussion of Escobedo that the Fifth Amendment requires for an
admissible confession that it be given by one distinctly aware of his right not to
speak and shielded from 'the compelling atmosphere' of interrogation. See ante,
pp. 465466. From these key premises, the Court finally develops the
safeguards of warning, counsel, and so forth. I do not believe these premises are
sustained by precedents under the Fifth Amendment.9
153 The more important premise is that pressure on the suspect must be eliminated
though it be only the subtle influence of the atmosphere and surroundings. The
Fifth Amendment, however, has never been thought to forbid all pressure to
incriminate one's self in the situations covered by it. On the contrary, it has
been held that failure to incriminate one's self can result in denial of removal of
one's case from state to federal court, State of Maryland v. Soper, 270 U.S. 9,
46 S.Ct. 185, 70 L.Ed. 449; in refusal of a military commission, Orloff v.
Willoughby, 345 U.S 83, 73 S.Ct. 534, 97 L.Ed. 842; in denial of a discharge in
bankruptcy, Kaufman v. Hurwitz, 4 Cir., 176 F.2d 210; and in numerous other
adverse consequences. See 8 Wigmore, Evidence 2272, at 441444, n. 18
(McNaughton rev. 1961); Maguire, Evidence of Guilt 2.062 (1959). This is

not to say that short of jail or torture any sanction is permissible in any case;
policy and history alike may impose sharp limits. See, e.g., Griffin v. State of
California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106. However, the Court's
unspoken assumption that any pressure violates the privilege is not supported
by the precedents and it has failed to show why the Fifth Amendment prohibits
that relatively mild pressure the Due Process Clause permits.
154 The Court appears similarly wrong in thinking that precise knowledge of one's
rights is a settled prerequisite under the Fifth Amendment to the loss of its
protections. A number of lower federal court cases have held that grand jury
witnesses need not always be warned of their privilege, e.g., United States v.
Scully, 2 Cir., 225 F.2d 113, 116, and Wigmore states this to be the better rule
for trial witnesses. See 8 Wigmore, Evidence 2269 (McNaughton rev. 1961).
Cf. Henry v. State of Mississippi, 379 U.S. 443, 451452, 85 S.Ct. 564, 569,
13 L.Ed.2d 408 (waiver of constitutional rights by counsel despite defendant's
ignorance held allowable). No Fifth Amendment precedent is cited for the
Court's contrary view. There might of course be reasons apart from Fifth
Amendment precedent for requiring warning or any other safeguard on
questioning but that is a different matter entirely. See infra, pp. 516517.
155 A closing word must be said about the Assistance of Counsel Clause of the
Sixth Amendment, which is never expressly relied on by the Court but whose
judicial precedents turn out to be linchpins of the confession rules announced
today. To support its requirement of a knowing and intelligent waiver, the
Court cites Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461,
ante, p. 475; appointment of counsel for the indigent suspect is tied to Gideon
v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799, and Douglas v.
People of State of California, 372 U.S. 353, 83 S.Ct. 814, 9 L.Ed.2d 811, ante,
p. 473; the silent-record doctrine is borrowed from Carnley v. Cochran, 369
U.S. 506, 82 S.Ct. 884, 8 L.Ed.2d 70, ante, p. 475, as is the right to an express
offer of counsel, ante, p. 471. All these cases imparting glosses to the Sixth
Amendment concerned counsel at trial or on appeal. While the Court finds no
petinent difference between judicial proceedings and police interrogation, I
believe the differences are so vast as to disqualify wholly the Sixth Amendment
precedents as suitable analogies in the present cases.10
156 The only attempt in this Court to carry the right to counsel into the station
house occurred in Escobedo, the Court repeating several times that that stage
was no less 'critical' than trial itself. See 378 U.S. 485488, 84 S.Ct. 1762
1763. This is hardly persuasive when we consider that a grand jury inquiry, the
filing of a certiorari petition, and certainly the purchase of narcotics by an
undercover agent from a prospective defendant may all be equally 'critical' yet

provision of counsel and advice on the score have never been thought
compelled by the Constitution in such cases. The sound reason why this right is
so freely extended for a criminal trial is the severe injustice risked by
confronting an untrained defendant with a range of technical points of law,
evidence, and tactics familiar to the prosecutor but not to himself. This danger
shrinks markedly in the police station where indeed the lawyer in fulfilling his
professional responsibilities of necessity may become an obstacle to
truthfinding. See infra, n. 12. The Court's summary citation of the Sixth
Amendment cases here seems to me best described as 'the domino method of
constitutional adjudication * * * wherein every explanatory statement in a
previous opinion is made the basis for extension to a wholly different situation.'
Friendly, supra, n. 10, at 950.
III. POLICY CONSIDERATIONS.
157
158 Examined as an expression of public policy, the Court's new regime proves so
dubious that there can be no due compensation for its weakness in
constitutional law. The foregoing discussion has shown, I think, how mistaken
is the Court in implying that the Constitution has struck the balance in favor of
the approach the Court takes. Ante, p. 479. Rather, precedent reveals that the
Fourteenth Amendment in practice has been construed to strike a different
balance, that the Fifth Amendment gives the Court little solid support in this
context, and that the Sixth Amendment should have no bearing at all. Legal
history has been stretched before to satisfy deep needs of society. In this
instance, however, the Court has not and cannot make the powerful showing
that its new rules are plainly desirable in the context of our society, something
which is surely demanded before those rules are engrafted onto the Constitution
and imposed on every State and county in the land.
159 Without at all subscribing to the generally black picture of police conduct
painted by the Court, I think it must be frankly recognized at the outset that
police questioning allowable under due process precedents may inherently
entail some pressure on the suspect and may seek advantage in his ignorance or
weaknesses. The atmosphere and questioning techniques, proper and fair
though they be, can in themselves exert a tug on the suspect to confess, and in
this light '(t)o speak of any confessions of crime made after arrest as being
'voluntary' or 'uncoerced' is somewhat inaccurate, although traditional. A
confession is wholly and incontestably voluntary only if a guilty person gives
himself up to the law and becomes his own accuser.' Ashcraft v. State of
Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143, 161, 64 S.Ct. 921, 929, 88 L.Ed. 1192 (Jackson, J.,
dissenting). Until today, the role of the Constitution has been only to sift out
undue pressure, not to assure spontaneous confessions.11

160 The Court's new rules aim to offset these minor pressures and disadvantages
intrinsic to any kind of police interrogation. The rules do not serve due process
interests in preventing blatant coercion since, as I noted earlier, they do nothing
to contain the policeman who is prepared to lie from the start. The rules work
for reliability in confessions almost only in the Pickwickian sense that they can
prevent some from being given at all.12 In short, the benefit of this new regime
is simply to lessen or wipe out the inherent compulsion and inequalities to
which the Court devotes some nine pages of description. Ante, pp. 448456.
161 What the Court largely ignores is that its rules impair, if they will not
eventually serve wholly to frustrate, an instrument of law enforcement that has
long and quite reasonably been thought worth the price paid for it.13 There can
be little doubt that the Court's new code would markedly decrease the number
of confessions. To warn the suspect that he may remain silent and remind him
that his confession may be used in court are minor obstructions. To require also
an express waiver by the suspect and an end to questioning whenever he
demurs must heavily handicap questioning. And to suggest or provide counsel
for the suspect simply invites the end of the interrogation. See, supra, n. 12.
162 How much harm this decision will inflict on law enforcement cannot fairly be
predicted with accuracy. Evidence on the role of confessions is notoriously
incomplete, see Developments, supra, n. 2, at 941944, and little is added by
the Court's reference to the FBI experience and the resources believed wasted in
interrogation. See infra, n. 19, and text. We do know that some crimes cannot
be solved without confessions, that ample expert testimony attests to their
importance in crime control,14 and that the Court is taking a real risk with
society's welfare in imposing its new regime on the country. The social costs of
crime are too great to call the new rules anything but a hazardous
experimentation.
163 While passing over the costs and risks of its experiment, the Court portrays the
evils of normal police questioning in terms which I think are exaggerated.
Albeit stringently confined by the due process standards interrogation is no
doubt often inconvenient and unpleasant for the suspect. However, it is no less
so for a man to be arrested and jailed, to have his house searched, or to stand
trial in court, yet all this may properly happen to the most innocent given
probable cause, a warrant, or an indictment. Society has always paid a stiff
price for law and order, and peaceful interrogation is not one of the dark
moments of the law.
164 This brief statement of the competing considerations seems to me ample proof
that the Court's preference is highly debatable at best and therefore not to be

read into the Constitution. However, it may make the analysis more graphic to
consider the actual facts of one of the four cases reversed by the Court. Miranda
v. Arizona serves best, being neither the hardest nor easiest of the four under
the Court's standards.15
165 On March 3, 1963, an 18-year-old girl was kidnapped and forcibly raped near
Phoenix, Arizona. Ten days later, on the morning of March 13, petitioner
Miranda was arrested and taken to the police station. At this time Miranda was
23 years old, indigent, and educated to the extent of completing half the ninth
grade. He had 'an emotional illness' of the schizophrenic type, according to the
doctor who eventually examined him; the doctor's report also stated that
Miranda was 'alert and oriented as to time, place, and person,' intelligent within
normal limits, competent to stand trial, and sane within the legal definitoin. At
the police station, the victim picked Miranda out of a lineup, and two officers
then took him into a separate room to interrogate him, starting about 11:30 a.m.
Though at first denying his guilt, within a short time Miranda gave a detailed
oral confession and then wrote out in his own hand and signed a brief statement
admitting and describing the crime. All this was accomplished in two hours or
less without any force, threats or promises andI will assume this though the
record is uncertain, ante, 491492 and nn. 6667without any effective
warnings at all.
166 Miranda's oral and written confessions are now held inadmissible under the
Court's new rules. One is entitled to feel astonished that the Constitution can be
read to produce this result. These confessions were obtained during brief,
daytime questioning conducted by two officers and unmarked by any of the
traditional indicia of coercion. They assured a conviction for a brutal and
unsettling crime, for which the police had and quite possibly could obtain little
evidence other than the victim's identifications, evidence which is frequently
unreliable. There was, in sum, a legitimate purpose, no perceptible unfairness,
and certainly little risk of injustice in the interrogation. Yet the resulting
confessions, and the responsible course of police practice they represent, are to
be sacrificed to the Court's own finespun conception of fairness which I
seriously doubt is shared by many thinking citizens in this country.16
167 The tenor of judicial opinion also falls well short of supporting the Court's new
approach. Although Escobedo has widely been interpreted as an open invitation
to lower courts to rewrite the law of confessions, a significant heavy majority of
the state and federal decisions in point have sought quite narrow
interpretations.17 Of the courts that have accepted the invitation, it is hard to
know how many have felt compelled by their best guess as to this Court's likely
construction; but none of the state decisions saw fit to rely on the state privilege

against self-incrimination, and no decision at all has gone as far as this Court
goes today.18
168 It is also instructive to compare the attitude in this case of those responsible for
law enforcement with the official views that existed when the Court undertook
three major revisions of prosecutorial practice prior to this case, Johnson v.
Zerbst, 304 U.S. 458, 58 S.Ct. 1019, 82 L.Ed. 1461; Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S.
643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081, and Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335,
83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799. In Johnson, which established that appointed
counsel must be offered the indigent in federal criminal trials, the Federal
Government all but conceded the basic issue, which had in fact been recently
fixed as Department of Justice policy. See Beaney, Right to Counsel 2930,
3642 (1955). In Mapp, which imposed the exclusionary rule on the States for
Fourth Amendment violations, more than half of the States had themselves
already adopted some such rule. See 367 U.S., at 651, 81 S.Ct., at 1689. In
Gideon, which extended Johnson v. Zerbst to the States, an amicus brief was
filed by 22 States and Commonwealths urging that course; only two States
besides that of the respondent came forward to protest. See 372 U.S., at 345, 83
S.Ct., at 797. By contrast, in this case new restrictions on police questioning
have been opposed by the United States and in an amicus brief signed by 27
States and Commonwealths, not including the three other States which are
parties. No State in the country has urged this Court to impose the newly
announced rules, nor has any State chosen to go nearly so far on its own.
169 The Court in closing its general discussion invokes the practice in federal and
foreign jurisdictions as lending weight to its new curbs on confessions for all
the States. A brief re sume will suffice to show that none of these jurisdictions
has struck so one-sided a balance as the Court does today. Heaviest reliance is
placed on the FBI practice. Differing circumstances may make this comparison
quite untrustworthy,19 but in any event the FBI falls sensibly short of the
Court's formalistic rules. For example, there is no indication that FBI agents
must obtain an affirmative 'waiver' before they pursue their questioning. Nor is
it clear that one invoking his right to silence may not be prevailed upon to
change his mind. And the warning as to appointed counsel apparently indicates
only that one will be assigned by the judge when the suspect appears before
him; the thrust of the Court's rules is to induce the suspect to obtain appointed
counsel before continuing the interview. See ante, pp. 484486. Apparently
American military practice, briefly mentioned by the Court, has these same
limits and is still less favorable to the suspect than the FBI warning, making no
mention of appointed counsel. Developments, supra, n. 2, at 10841089.
170 The law of the foreign countries described by the Court also reflects a more

moderate conception of the rights of the accused as against those of society

when other data are considered. Concededly, the English experience is most
relevant. In that country, a caution as to silence but not counsel has long been
mandated by the 'Judges' Rules,' which also place other somewhat imprecise
limits on police cross-examination o suspects. However, in the courts discretion
confessions can be and apparently quite frequently are admitted in evidence
despite disregard of the Judges' Rules, so long as they are found voluntary
under the common-law test. Moreover, the check that exists on the use of
pretrial statements is counterbalanced by the evident admissibility of fruits of
an illegal confession and by the judge's often-used authority to comment
adversely on the defendant's failure to testify.20
171 India, Ceylon and Scotland are the other examples chosen by the Court. In
India and Ceylon the general ban on police-adduced confessions cited by the
Court is subject to a major exception: if evidence is uncovered by police
questioning, it is fully admissible at trial along with the confession itself, so far
as it relates to the evidence and is not blatantly coerced. See Developments,
supra, n. 2, at 11061110; Reg. v. Ramasamy (1965) A.C. 1 (P.C.). Scotland's
limits on interrogation do measure up to the Court's; however, restrained
comment at trial on the defendant's failure to take the stand is allowed the
judge, and in many other respects Scotch law redresses the prosecutor's
disadvantage in ways not permitted in this country.21 The Court ends its survey
by imputing added strength to our privilege against self-incrimination since, by
contrast to other countries, it is embodied in a written Constitution. Considering
the liberties the Court has today taken with constitutional history and precedent,
few will find this emphasis persuasive.
172 In closing this necessarily truncated discussion of policy considerations
attending the new confession rules, some reference must be made to their ironic
untimeliness. There is now in progress in this country a massive re-examination
of criminal law enforcement procedures on a scale never before witnessed.
Participants in this undertaking include a Special Committee of the American
Bar Association, under the chairmanship of Chief Judge Lumbard of the Court
of Appeals for the Second Circuit; a distinguished study group of the American
Law Institute, headed by Professors Vorenberg and Bator of the Harvard Law
School; and the President's Commission on Law Enforcement and
Administration of Justice, under the leadership of the Attorney General of the
United States.22 Studies are also being conducted by the District of Columbia
Crime Commission, the Georgetown Law Center, and by others equipped to do
practical research.23 There are also signs that legislatures in some of the States
may be preparing to re-examine the problem before us.24

173 It is no secret that concern has been expressed lest long-range and lasting
reforms be frustrated by this Court's too rapid departure from existing
constitutional standards. Despite the Court's disclaimer, the practical effect of
the decision made today must inevitably be to handicap seriously sound efforts
at reform, not least by removing options necessary to a just compromise of
competing interests. Of course legislative reform is rarely speedy or
unanimous, though this Court has been more patient in the past.25 But the
legislative reforms when they come would have the vast advantage of empirical
data and comprehensive study, they would allow experimentation and use of
solutions not open to the courts, and they would restore the initiative in
criminal law reform to those forums where it truly belongs.
IV. CONCLUSIONS.
174
175 All four of the cases involved here present express claims that confessions were
inadmissible, not because of coercion in the traditional due process sense, but
solely because of lack of counsel or lack of warnings concerning counsel and
silence. For the reasons stated in this opinion, I would adhere to the due process
test and reject the new requirements inaugurated by the Court. On this premise
my disposition of each of these cases can be stated briefly.
176 In two of the three cases coming from state courts, Miranda v. Arizona (No.
759) and Vignera v. New York (No. 760), the confessions were held admissible
and no other errors worth comment are alleged by petitioners. I would affirm in
these two cases. The other state case is California v. Stewart (No. 584), where
the state supreme court held the confession inadmissible and reversed the
conviction. In that case I would dismiss the writ of certiorari on the ground that
no final judgment is before us, 28 U.S.C. 1257 (1964 ed.); putting aside the
new trial open to the State in any event, the confession itself has not even been
finally excluded since the California Supreme Court left the State free to show
proof of a waiver. If the merits of the decision in Stewart be reached, then I
believe it should be reversed and the case remanded so the state supreme court
may pass on the other claims available to respondent.
177 In the federal case, Westover v. United States (No. 761), a number of issues are
raised by petitioner apart from the one already dealt with in this dissent. None
of these other claims appears to me tenable, nor in this context to warrant
extended discussion. It is urged that the confession was also inadmissible
because not voluntary even measured by due process standards and because
federal-state cooperation brought the McNabb-Mallory rule into play under
Anderson v. United States, 318 U.S. 350, 63 S.Ct. 599, 87 L.Ed. 829. However,
the facts alleged fall well short of coercion in my view, and I believe the

involvement of federal agents in pettioner's arrest and detention by the State too
slight to invoke Anderson. I agree with the Government that the admission of
the evidence now protested by petitioner was at most harmless error, and two
final contentionsone involving weight of the evidence and another improper
prosecutor commentseem to me without merit. I would therefore affirm
Westover's conviction.
178 In conclusion: Nothing in the letter or the spirit of the Constitution or in the
precedents squares with the heavy-handed and one-sided action that is so
precipitously taken by the Court in the name of fulfulling its constitutional
responsibilities. The foray which the Court makes today brings to mind the
wise and farsighted words of Mr. Justice Jackson in Douglas v. City of
Jeannette, 319 U.S. 157, 181, 63 S.Ct. 877, 889, 87 L.Ed. 1324 (separate
opinion): 'This Court is forever adding new stories to the temples of
constitutional law, and the temples have a way of collapsing when one story too
many is added.'
179 Mr. Justice WHITE, with whom Mr. Justice HARLAN and Mr. Justice
STEWART join, dissenting.
I.
180 The proposition that the privilege against self-incrimination forbids incustody
interrogation without the warnings specified in the majority opinion and
without a clear waiver of counsel has no significant support in the history of the
privilege or in the language of the Fifth Amendment. As for the English
authorities and the common-law history, the privilege, firmly established in the
second half of the seventeenth century, was never applied except to prohibit
compelled judicial interrogations. The rule excluding coerced confessions
matured about 100 years later, '(b)ut there is nothing in the reports to suggest
that the theory has its roots in the privilege against self-incrimination. And so
far as the cases reveal, the privilege, as such, seems to have been given effect
only in judicial proceedings, including the preliminary examinations by
authorized magistrates.' Morgan, The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, 34
Minn.L.Rev. 1, 18 (1949).
181 Our own constitutional provision provides that no person 'shall be compelled in
any criminal case to be a witness against himself.' These words, when '(c)
onsidered in the light to be shed by grammar and the dictionary * * * appear to
signify simply that nobody shall be compelled to give oral testimony against
himself in a criminal proceeding under way in which he is defendant.' Corwin,
The Supreme Court's Construction of the Self-Incrimination Clause, 29

Mich.L.Rev. 1, 2. And there is very little in the surrounding circumstances of

the adoption of the Fifth Amendment or in the provisions of the then existing
state constitutions or in state practice which would give the constitutional
provision any broader meaning. Mayers, The Federal Witness' Privilege
Against Self-Incrimination: Constitutional or Common-Law? 4 American
Journal of Legal History 107 (1960). Such a construction, however, was
considerably narrower than the privilege at common law, and when eventually
faced with the issues, the Court extended the constitutional privilege to the
compulsory production of books and papers, to the ordinary witness before the
grand jury and to witnesses generally. Boyd v. United States, 116 U.S. 616, 6
S.Ct. 524, 29 L.Ed. 746, and Counselman v. Hitchcock, 142 U.S. 547, 12 S.Ct.
195, 35 L.Ed. 1110. Both rules had solid support in common-law history, if not
in the history of our own constitutional provision.
182 A few years later the Fifth Amendment privilege was similarly extended to
encompass the then well-established rule against coerced confessions: 'In
criminal trials, in the courts of the United States, wherever a question arises
whether a confession is incompetent because not voluntary, the issue is
controlled by that portion of the fifth amendment to the constitution of the
United States, commanding that no person 'shall be compelled in any criminal
case to be a witness against himself." Bram v. United States, 168 U.S. 532, 542,
18 S.Ct. 183, 187, 42 L.Ed. 568. Although this view has found approval in
other cases, Burdeau v. McDowell, 256 U.S. 465, 475, 41 S.Ct. 574, 576, 65
L.Ed. 1048; Powers v. United States, 223 U.S. 303, 313, 32 S.Ct. 281, 283, 56
L.Ed. 448; Shotwell Mfg. Co. v. United States, 371 U.S. 341, 347, 83 S.Ct.
448, 453, 9 L.Ed.2d 357, it has also been questioned, see Brown v. State of
Mississippi, 297 U.S. 278, 285, 56 S.Ct. 461, 464, 80 L.Ed. 682; United States
v. Carignan, 342 U.S. 36, 41, 72 S.Ct. 97, 100, 96 L.Ed. 48; Stein v. People of
State of New York, 346 U.S. 156, 191, n. 35, 73 S.Ct. 1077, 1095, 97 L.Ed.
1522, and finds scant support in either the English or American authorities, see
generally Regina v. Scott, Dears. & Bell 47; 3 Wigmore, Evidence 823 (3d ed.
1940), at 249 ('a confession is not rejected because of any connection with the
privilege against self-crimination'), and 250, n. 5 (particularly criticizing Bram);
8 Wigmore, Evidence 2266, at 400401 (McNaughton rev. 1961). Whatever
the source of the rule excluding coerced confessions, it is clear that prior to the
application of the privilege itself to state courts, Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1,
84 S.Ct. 1489, 12 L.Ed.2d 653, the admissibility of a confession in a state
criminal prosecution was tested by the same standards as were applied in
federal prosecutions. Id., at 67, 10, 84 S.Ct., at 14921493, 1494.
183 Bram, however, itself rejected the proposition which the Court now espouses.
The question in Bram was whether a confession, obtained during custodial

interrogation, had been compelled, and if such interrogation was to be deemed

inherently vulnerable the Court's inquiry could have ended there. After
examining the English and American authorities, however, the Court declared
that:
184 'In this court also it has been settled that the mere fact that the confession is
made to a police officer, while the accused was under arrest in or out of prison,
or was drawn out by his questions, does not necessarily render the confession
involuntary; but, as one of the circumstances, such imprisonment or
interrogation may be taken into account in determining whether or not the
statements of the prisoner were voluntary.' 168 U.S., at 558, 18 S.Ct., at 192.
185 In this respect the Court was wholly consistent with prior and subsequent
pronouncements in this Court.
186 Thus prior to Bram the Court, in Hopt v. People of Territory of Utah, 110 U.S.
574, 583587, 4 S.Ct. 202, 206, 28 L.Ed. 262, had upheld the admissibility of
a confession made to police officers following arrest, the record being silent
concerning what conversation had occurred between the officers and the
defendant in the short period preceding the confession. Relying on Hopt, the
Court ruled squarely on the issue in Sparf and Hansen v. United States, 156
U.S. 51, 55, 15 S.Ct. 273, 275, 39 L.Ed. 343:
187 'Counsel for the accused insist that there cannot be a voluntary statement, a
free, open confession, while a defendant is confined and in irons, under an
accusation of having committed a capital offence. We have not been referred to
any authority in support of that position. It is true that the fact of a prisoner
being in custody at the time he makes a confession is a circumstance not to be
overlooked, because it bears upon the inquiry whether the confession was
voluntarily made, or was extorted by threats or violence or made under the
influence of fear. But confinement or imprisonment is not in itself sufficient to
justify the exclusion of a confession, if it appears to have been voluntary and
was not obtained by putting the prisoner in fear or by promises. Whart(on's)
Cr.Ev. (9th Ed.) 661, 663, and authorities cited.'
188 Accord, Pierce v. United States, 160 U.S. 355, 357, 16 S.Ct. 321, 322, 40 L.Ed.
454.
189 And in Wilson v. United States, 162 U.S. 613, 623, 16 S.Ct. 895, 899, 40 L.Ed.
1090, the Court had considered the significance of custodial interrogation
without any antecedent warnings regarding the right to remain silent or the right

to counsel. There the defendant had answered questions posed by a

Commissioner, who had filed to advise him of his rights, and his answers were
held admissible over his claim of involuntariness. 'The fact that (a defendant) is
in custody and manacled does not necessarily render his statement involuntary,
nor is that necessarily the effect of popular excitement shortly preceding. * * *
And it is laid down that it is not essential to the admissibility of a confession
that it should appear that the person was warned that what he said would be
used against him; but, on the contrary, if the confession was voluntary, it is
sufficient, though it appear that he was not so warned.'
190 Since Bram, the admissibility of statements made during custodial
interrogation has been frequently reiterated. Powers v. United States, 223 U.S.
303, 32 S.Ct. 281, cited Wilson approvingly and held admissible as voluntary
statements the accused's testimony at a preliminary hearing even though he was
not warned that what he said might be used against him. Without any discussion
of the presence or absence of warnings, presumably because such discussion
was deemed unnecessary, numerous other cases have declared that '(t) he mere
fact that a confession was made while in the custody of the police does not
render it inadmissible,' McNabb v. United States, 318 U.S. 332, 346, 63 S.Ct.
608, 615, 87 L.Ed. 819; accord, United States v. Mitchell, 322 U.S. 65, 64 S.Ct.
896, 88 L.Ed. 1140, despite its having been elicited by police examination.
Ziang Sung Wan v. United States, 266 U.S. 1, 14, 45 S.Ct. 3; United States v.
Carignan, 342 U.S. 36, 39, 72 S.Ct. 97, 99. Likewise, in Crooker v. State of
California, 357 U.S. 433, 437, 78 S.Ct. 1287, 1290, 2 L.Ed.2d 1448, the Court
said that '(t)he bare fact of police 'detention and police examination in private of
one in official state custody' does not render involuntary a confession by the
one so detained.' And finally, in Cicenia v. La Gay, 357 U.S. 504, 78 S.Ct.
1297, 2 L.Ed.2d 1523, a confession obtained by police interrogation after arrest
was held voluntary even though the authorities refused to permit the defendant
to consult with his attorney. See generally Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S.
568, 587 602, 81 S.Ct. 1860, 1870, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037 (opinion of Frankfurter, J.);
3 Wigmore, Evidence 851, at 313 (3d ed. 1940); see also Joy, Admissibility
of Confessions 38, 46 (1842).
191 Only a tiny minority of our judges who have dealt with the question, including
today's majority, have considered incustody interrogation, without more, to be a
violation of the Fifth Amendment. And this Court, as every member knows, has
left standing literally thousands of criminal convictions that rested at least in
part on confessions taken in the course of interrogation by the police after
arrest.
II.

192 That the Court's holding today is neither compelled nor even strongly suggested
by the language of the Fifth Amendment, is at odds with American and English
legal history, and involves a departure from a long line of precedent does not
prove either that the Court has exceeded its powers or that the Court is wrong or
unwise in its present reinter-pretation of the Fifth Amendment. It does,
however, underscore the obviousthat the Court has not discovered or found
the law in making today's decision, nor has it derived it from some irrefutable
sources; what it has done is to make new law and new public policy in much
the same way that it has in the course of interpreting other great clauses of the
Constitution.1 This is what the Court historically has done. Indeed, it is what it
must do and will continue to do until and unless there is some fundamental
change in the constitutional distribution of governmental powers.
193

But if the Court is here and now to announce new and fundamental policy to
govern certain aspects of our affairs, it is wholly legitimate to examine the
mode of this or any other constitutional decision in this Court and to inquire
into the advisability of its end product in terms of the long-range interest of the
country. At the very least, the Court's text and reasoning should withstand
analysis and be a fair exposition of the constitutional provision which its
opinion interprets. Decisions like these cannot rest alone on syllogism,
metaphysics or some ill-defined notions of natural justice, although each will
perhaps play its part. In proceeding to such constructions as it now announces,
the Court should also duly consider all the factors and interests bearing upon
the cases, at least insofar as the relevant materials are available; and if the
necessary considerations are not treated in the record or obtainable from some
other reliable source, the Court should not proceed to formulate fundamental
policies based on speculation alone.

III.
194 First, we may inquire what are the textual and factual bases of this new
fundamental rule. To reach the result announced on the grounds it does, the
Court must stay within the confines of the Fifth Amendment, which forbids
self-incrimination only if compelled. Hence the core of the Court's opinion is
that because of the 'compulsion inherent in custodial surroundings, no
statement obtained from (a) defendant (in custody) can truly be the product of
his free choice,' ante, at 458, absent the use of adequate protective devices as
described by the Court. However, the Court does not point to any sudden inrush
of new knowledge requiring the rejection of 70 years' experience. Nor does it
assert that its novel conclusion reflects a changing consensus among state
courts, see Mapp v. Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081, or that
a succession of cases had steadily eroded the old rule and proved it unworkable,

see Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335, 83 S.Ct. 792, 9 L.Ed.2d 799. Rather
than asserting new knowledge, the Court concedes that it cannot truly know
what occurs during custodial questioning, because of the innate secrecy of such
proceedings. It extrapolates a picture of what it conceives to be the norm from
police investigatorial manuals, published in 1959 and 1962 or earlier, without
any attempt to allow for adjustments in police practices that may have occurred
in the wake of more recent decisions of state appellate tribunals or this Court.
But even if the relentless application of the described procedures could lead to
involuntary confessions, it most assuredly does not follow that each and every
case will disclose this kind of interrogation or this kind of consequence.2
Insofar as appears from the Court's opinion, it has not examined a single
transcript of any police interrogation, let alone the interrogation that took place
in any one of these cases which it decides today. Judged by any of the standards
for empirical investigation utilized in the social sciences the factual basis for
the Court's premise is patently inadequate.
195 Although in the Court's view in-custody interrogation is inherently coercive,
the Court says that the spontaneous product of the coercion of arrest and
detention is still to be deemed voluntary. An accused, arrested on probable
cause, may blurt out a confession which will be admissible despite the fact that
he is alone and in custody, without any showing that he had any notion of his
right to remain silent or of the consequences of his admission. Yet, under the
Court's rule, if the police ask him a single question such as 'Do you have
anything to say?' or 'Did you kill your wife?' his response, if there is one, has
somehow been compelled, even if the accused has been clearly warned of his
right to remain silent. Common sense informs us to the contrary. While one
may say that the response was 'involuntary' in the sense the question provoked
or was the occasion for the response and thus the defendant was induced to
speak out when he might have remained silent if not arrested and not
questioned, it is patently unsound to say the response is compelled.
196 Today's result would not follow even if it were agreed that to some extent
custodial interrogation is inherently coercive. See Ashcraft v. State of
Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143, 161, 64 S.Ct. 921, 929, 88 L.Ed. 1192 (Jackson, J.,
dissenting). The test has been whether the totality of circumstances deprived
the defendant of a 'free choice to admit, to deny, or to refuse to answer,' Lisenba
v. People of State of California, 314 U.S. 219, 241, 62 S.Ct. 280, 292, 86 L.Ed.
166, and whether physical or psychological coercion was of such a degree that
'the defendant's will was overborne at the time he confessed,' Haynes v. State of
Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 513, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 1343, 10 L.Ed.2d 513; Lynumn
v. State of Illinois, 372 U.S. 528, 534, 83 S.Ct. 917, 920, 9 L.Ed.2d 922. The
duration and nature of incommunicado custody, the presence or absence of

advice concerning the defendant's constitutional rights, and the granting or

refusal of requests to communicate with lawyers, relatives or friends have all
been rightly regarded as important data bearing on the basic inquiry. See, e.g.,
Ashcraft v. State of Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143, 64 S.Ct. 921; Haynes v. State of
Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 83 S.Ct. 1336.3 But it has never been suggested,
until today, that such questioning was so coercive and accused persons so
lacking in hardihood that the very first response to the very first question
following the commencement of custody must be conclusively presumed to be
the product of an overborne will.
197 If the rule announced today were truly based on a conclusion that all
confessions resulting from custodial interrogation are coerced, then it would
simply have no rational foundation. Compare Tot v. United States, 319 U.S.
463, 466, 63 S.Ct. 1241, 1244, 87 L.Ed. 1519; United States v. Romano, 382
U.S. 136, 86 S.Ct. 279, 15 L.Ed.2d 210. A fortiori that would be true of the
extension of the rule to exculpatory statements, which the Court effects after a
brief discussion of why, in the Court's view, they must be deemed
incriminatory but without any discussion of why they must be deemed coerced.
See Wilson v. United States, 162 U.S. 613, 624, 16 S.Ct. 895, 900, 40 L.Ed.
1090. Even if one were to postulate that the Court's concern is not that all
confessions induced by police interrogation are coerced but rather that some
such confessions are coerced and present judicial procedures are believed to be
inadequate to identify the confessions that are coerced and those that are not, it
would still not be essential to impose the rule that the Court has now fashioned.
Transcripts or observers could be required, specific time limits, tailored to fit
the cause, could be imposed, or other devices could be utilized to reduce the
chances that otherwise indiscernible coercion will produce an inadmissible
confession.
198 On the other hand, even if one assumed that there was an adequate factual basis
for the conclusion that all confessions obtained during in-custody interrogation
are the product of compulsion, the rule propounded by the Court will still be
irrational, for, apparently, it is only if the accused is also warned of his right to
counsel and waives both that right and the right against self-incrimination that
the inherent compulsiveness of interrogation disappears. But if the defendant
may not answer without a warning a question such as 'Where were you last
night?' without having his answer be a compelled one, how can the Court ever
accept his negative answer to the question of whether he wants to consult his
retained counsel or counsel whom the court will appoint? And why if counsel
is present and the accused nevertheless confesses, or counsel tells the accused
to tell the truth, and that is what the accused does, is the situation any less
coercive insofar as the accused is concerned? The Court apparently realizes its

dilemma of foreclosing questioning without the necessary warnings but at the

same time permitting the accused, sitting in the same chair in front of the same
policemen, to waive his right to consult an attorney. It expects, however, that
the accused will not often waive the right; and if it is claimed that he has, the
State faces a severe, if not impossible burden of proof.
199 All of this makes very little sense in terms of the compulsion which the Fifth
Amendment proscribes. That amendment deals with compelling the accused
himself. It is his free will that is involved. Confessions and incriminating
admissions, as such, are not forbidden evidence; only those which are
compelled are banned. I doubt that the Court observes these distinctions today.
By considering any answers to any interrogation to be compelled regardless of
the content and course of examination and by escalating the requirements to
prove waiver, the Court not only prevents the use of compelled confessions but
for all practical purposes forbids interrogation except in the presence of
counsel. That is, instead of confining itself to protection of the right against
compelled self-incrimination the Court has created a limited Fifth Amendment
right to counselor, as the Court expresses it, a 'need for counsel to protect the
Fifth Amendment privilege * * *.' Ante, at 470. The focus then is not on the
will of the accused but on the will of counsel and how much influence he can
have on the accused. Obviously there is no warrant in the Fifth Amendment for
thus installing counsel as the arbiter of the privilege.
200 In sum, for all the Court's expounding on the menacing atmosphere of police
interrogation procedures, it has failed to supply any foundation for the
conclusions it draws or the measures it adopts.
IV.
201 Criticism of the Court's opinion, however, cannot stop with a demonstration
that the factual and textual bases for the rule it proponds are, at best, less than
compelling. Equally relevant is an assessment of the rule's consequences
measured against community values. The Court's duty to assess the
consequences of its action is not satisfied by the utterance of the truth that a
value of our system of criminal justice is 'to respect the inviolability of the
human personality' and to require government to produce the evidence against
the accused by its own independent labors. Ante, at 460. More than the human
dignity of the accused is involved; the human personality of others in the
society must also be preserved. Thus the values reflected by the privilege are
not the sole desideratum; society's interest in the general security is of equal
weight.

202 The obvious underpinning of the Court's decision is a deep-seated distrust of all
confessions. As the Court declares that the accused may not be interrogated
without counsel present, absent a waiver of the right to counsel, and as the
Court all but admonishes the lawyer to advise the accused to remain silent, the
result adds up to a judicial judgment that evidence from the accused should not
be used against him in any way, whether compelled or not. This is the not so
subtle overtone of the opinionthat it is inherently wrong for the police to
gather evidence from the accused himself. And this is precisely the nub of this
dissent. I see nothing wrong or immoral, and certainly nothing unconstitutional,
in the police's asking a suspect whom they have reasonable cause to arrest
whether or not he killed his wife or in confronting him with the evidence on
which the arrest was based, at least where he has been plainly advised that he
may remain completely silent, see Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378 U.S. 478,
499, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 1769, 12 L.Ed.2d 977 (dissenting opinion). Until today, 'the
admissions or confessions of the prisoner, when voluntarily and freely made,
have always ranked high in the scale of incriminating evidence.' Brown v.
Walker, 161 U.S. 591, 596, 16 S.Ct. 644, 646, 40 L.Ed. 819, see also Hopt v.
People of Territory of Utah, 110 U.S. 574, 584585, 4 S.Ct. 202, 207.
Particularly when corroborated, as where the police have confirmed the
accused's disclosure of the hiding place of implements or fruits of the crime,
such confessions have the highest reliability and significantly contribute to the
certitude with which we may believe the accused is guilty. Moreover, it is by
no means certain that the process of confessing is injurious to the accused. To
the contrary it may provide psychological relief and enhance the prospects for
rehabilitation.
203 This is not to say that the value of respect for the inviolability of the accused's
individual personality should be accorded no weight or that all confessions
should be indiscriminately admitted. This Court has long read the Constitution
to proscribe compelled confessions, a salutary rule from which there should be
no retreat. But I see no sound basis, factual or otherwise, and the Court gives
none, for concluding that the present rule against the receipt of coerced
confessions is inadequate for the task of sorting out inadmissible evidence and
must be replaced by the per se rule which is now imposed. Even if the new
concept can be said to have advantages of some sort over the present law, they
are far outweighed by its likely undesirable impact on other very relevant and
important interests.
204 The most basic function of any government is to provide for the security of the
individual and of his property. Lanzetta v. State of New Jersey, 306 U.S. 451,
455, 59 S.Ct. 618, 619, 83 L.Ed. 888. These ends of society are served by the
criminal laws which for the most part are aimed at the prevention of crime.

Without the reasonably effective performance of the task of preventing private

violence and retaliation, it is idle to talk about human dignity and civilized
values.
205 The modes by which the criminal laws serve the interest in general security are
many. First the murderer who has taken the life of another is removed from the
streets, deprived of his liberty and thereby prevented from repeating his
offense. In view of the statistics on recidivism in this country4 and of the
number of instances in which apprehension occurs only after repeated offenses,
no one can sensibly claim that this aspect of the criminal law does not prevent
crime or contribute significantly to the personal security of the ordinary citizen.
206 Secondly, the swift and sure apprehension of those who refuse to respect the
personal security and dignity of their neighbor unquestionably has its impact on
others who might be similarly tempted. That the criminal law is wholly or
partly ineffective with a segment of the population or with many of those who
have been apprehended and convicted is a very faulty basis for concluding that
it is not effective with respect to the great bulk of our citizens or for thinking
that without the criminal laws, or in the absence of their enforcement, there
would be no increase in crime. Arguments of this nature are not borne out by
any kind of reliable evidence that I have been to this date.
207 Thirdly, the law concerns itself with those whom it has confined. The hope and
aim of modern penology, fortunately, is as soon as possible to return the convict
to society a better and more law-abiding man than when he left. Sometimes
there is success, sometimes failure. But at least the effort is made, and it should
be made to the very maximum extent of our present and future capabilities.
208 The rule announced today will measurably weaken the ability of the criminal
law to perform these tasks. It is a deliberate calculus to prevent interrogations,
to reduce the incidence of confessions and pleas of guilty and to increase the
number of trials.5 Criminal trials, no matter how efficient the police are, are not
sure bets for the prosecution, nor should they be if the evidence is not
forthcoming. Under the present law, the prosecution fails to prove its case in
about 30% of the criminal cases actually tried in the federal courts. See Federal
Offenders: 1964, supra, note 4, at 6 (Table 4), 59 (Table 1); Federal Offenders;
1963, supra, note 4, at 5 (Table 3); District of Columbia Offenders: 1963,
supra, note 4, at 2 (Table 1). But it is something else again to remove from the
ordinary criminal case all those confessions which heretofore have been held to
be free and voluntary acts of the accused and to thus establish a new
constitutional barrier to the ascertainment of truth by the judicial process. There
is, in my view, every reason to believe that a good many criminal defendants

who otherwise would have been convicted on what this Court has previously
thought to be the most satisfactory kind of evidence will now under this new
version of the Fifth Amendment, either not be tried at all or will be acquitted if
the State's evidence, minus the confession, is put to the test of litigation.
209 I have no desire whatsoever to share the responsibility for any such impact on
the present criminal process.
210 In some unknown number of cases the Court's rule will return a killer, a rapist
or other criminal to the streets and to the environment which produced him, to
repeat his crime whenever it pleases him. As a consequence, there will not be a
gain, but a loss, in human dignity. The real concern is not the unfortunate
consequences of this new decision on the criminal law as an abstract,
disembodied series of authoritative proscriptions, but the impact on those who
rely on the public authority for protection and who without it can only engage
in violent self-help with guns, knives and the help of their neighbors similarly
inclined. There is, of course, a saving factor: the next victims are uncertain,
unnamed and unrepresented in this case.
211 Nor can this decision do other than have a corrosive effect on the criminal laws
as an effective device to prevent crime. A major component in its effectiveness
in this regard is its swift and sure enforcement. The easier it is to get away with
rape and murder, the less the deterrent effect on those who are inclined to
attempt it. This is still good common sense. If it were not, we should posthaste
liquidate the whole law enforcement establishment as a useless, misguided
effort to control human conduct.
212 And what about the accused who has confessed or would confess in response to
simple, noncoercive questioning and whose guilt could not otherwise be
proved? Is it so clear that release is the best thing for him in every case? Has it
so unquestionably been resolved that in each and every case it would be better
for him not to confess and to return to his environment with no attempt
whatsoever to help him? I think not. It may well be that in many cases it will be
no less than a callous disregard for his own welfare as well as for the interests
of his next victim.
213 There is another aspect to the effect of the Court's rule on the person whom the
police have arrested on probable cause. The fact is that he may not be guilty at
all and may be able to extricate himself quickly and simply if he were told the
circumstances of his arrest and were asked to explain. This effort, and his
release, must now await the hiring of a lawyer or his appointment by the court,

consultation with counsel and then a session with the police or the prosecutor.
Similarly, where probable cause exists to arrest several suspects, as where the
body of the victim is discovered in a house having several residents, compare
Johnson v. State, 238 Md. 140, 207 A.2d 643 (1965), cert. denied, 382 U.S.
1013, 86 S.Ct. 623, 15 L.Ed.2d 528, it will often be true that a suspect may be
cleared only through the results of interrogation of other suspects. Here too the
release of the innocent may be delayed by the Court's rule.
214 Much of the trouble with the Court's new rule is that it will operate
indiscriminately in all criminal cases, regardless of the severity of the crime or
the circumstances involved. It applies to every defendant, whether the
professional criminal or one committing a crime of momentary passion who is
not part and parcel of organized crime. It will slow down the investigation and
the apprehension of confederates in those cases where time is of the essence,
such as kidnapping, see Brinegar v. United States, 338 U.S. 160, 183, 69 S.Ct.
1302, 1314, 93 L.Ed. 1879 (Jackson, J., dissenting); People v. Modesto, 62
Cal.2d 436, 446, 42 Cal.Rptr. 417, 423, 398 P.2d 753, 759 (1965), those
involving the national security, see United States v. Drummond, 354 F.2d 132,
147 (C.A.2d Cir. 1965) (en banc) (espionage case), pet. for cert. pending, No.
1203, Misc., O.T. 1965; cf. Gessner v. United States, 354 F.2d 726, 730, n. 10
(C.A.10th Cir. 1965) (upholding, in espionage case, trial ruling that
Government need not submit classified portions of interrogation transcript), and
some of those involving organized crime. In the latter context the lawyer who
arrives may also be the lawyer for the defendant's colleagues and can be relied
upon to insure that no breach of the organization's security takes place even
though the accused may feel that the best thing he can do is to cooperate.
215 At the same time, the Court's per se approach may not be justified on the
ground that it provides a 'bright line' permitting the authorities to judge in
advance whether interrogation may safely be pursued without jeopardizing the
admissibility of any information obtained as a consequence. Nor can it be
claimed that judicial time and effort, assuming that is a relevant consideration,
will be conserved because of the ease of application of the new rule. Today's
decision leaves open such questions as whether the accused was in custody,
whether his statements were spontaneous or the product of interrogation,
whether the accused has effectively waived his rights, and whether
nontestimonial evidence introduced at trial is the fruit of statements made
during a prohibited interrogation, all of which are certain to prove productive of
uncertainty during investigation and litigation during prosecution. For all these
reasons, if further restrictions on police interrogation are desirable at this time,
a more flexible approach makes much more sense than the Court's
constitutional straitjacket which forecloses more discriminating treatment by

legislative or rule-making pronouncements.

216 Applying the traditional standards to the cases before the Court, I would hold
these confessions voluntary. I would therefore affirm in Nos. 759, 760, and
761, and reverse in No. 584.

Compare United States v. Childress, 347 F.2d 448 (C.A.7th Cir. 1965), with
Collins v. Beto, 348 F.2d 823 (C.A.5th Cir. 1965). Compare People v. Dorado,
62 Cal.2d 338, 42 Cal.Rptr. 169, 398 P.2d 361 (1964) with People v.
Hartgraves, 31 Ill.2d 375, 202 N.E.2d 3'3 (1964).

See, e.g., Enker & Elsen, Counsel for the Suspect: Massiah v. United States,
377 U.S. 201, 84 S.Ct. 1199, 12 L.Ed.2d 246 and Escobedo v. State of Illinois,
49 Minn.L.Rev. 47 (1964); Herman, The Supreme Court and Restrictions on
Police Interrogation, 25 Ohio St.L.J. 449 (1964); Kamisar, Equal Justice in the
Gatehouses and Mansions of American Criminal Procedure, in Criminal Justice
in Our Time 1 (1965); Dowling, Escobedo and Beyond: The Need for a
Fourteenth Amendment Code of Criminal Procedure, 56 J.Crim.L., C. & P.S.
143, 156 (1965).
The complex problems also prompted discussions by jurists. Compare Bazelon,
Law, Morality, and Civil Liberties, 12 U.C.L.A.L.Rev. 13 (1964), with
Friendly, The Bill of Rights as a Code of Criminal Procedure, 53 Calif.L.Rev.
929 (1965).

For example, the Los Angeles Police Chief stated that 'If the police are required
* * * to * * * establish that the defendant was apprised of his constitutional
guarantees of silence and legal counsel prior to the uttering of any admission or
confession, and that he intelligently waived these guarantees * * * a whole
Pandora's box is opened as to under what circumstances * * * can a defendant
intelligently waive these rights. * * * Allegations that modern criminal
investigation can compensate for the lack of a confession of admission in every
criminal case is totally absurd!' Parker, 40 L.A.Bar Bull. 603, 607, 642 (1965).
His prosecutorial counterpart, District Attorney Younger, stated that '(I)t begins
to appear that many of these seemingly restrictive decisions are going to
contribute directly to a more effective, efficient and professional level of law
enforcement.' L.A. Times, Oct. 2, 1965, p. 1. The former Police Commissioner
of New York, Michael J. Murphy, stated of Escobedo: 'What the Court is doing
is akin to requiring one boxer to fight by Marquis of Queensbury rules while
permitting the other to butt, gouge and bite.' N.Y. Times, May 14, 1965, p. 39.
The former United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, David C.

Acheson, who is presently Special Assistant to the Secretary of the Treasury

(for Enforcement), and directly in charge of the Secret Service and the Bureau
of Narcotics, observed that 'Prosecution procedure has, at most, only the most
remote causal connection with crime. Changes in court decisions and
prosecution procedure would have about the same effect on the crime rate as an
aspirin would have on a tumor of the brain.' Quoted in Herman, supra, n. 2, at
500, n. 270. Other views on the subject in general are collected in Weisberg,
Police Interrogation of Arrested Persons: A Skeptical View, 52 J.Crim.L., C. &
P.S. 21 (1961).
4

This is what we meant in Escobedo when we spoke of an investigation which

had focused on an accused.

See, for example, IV National Commission on Law Observance and

Enforcement, Report on Lawlessness in Law Enforcement (1931) (Wickersham
Report); Booth, Confessions and Methods Employed in Procuring Them, 4
So.Calif.L.Rev. 83 (1930); Kauper, Judicial Examination of the AccusedA
Remedy for the Third Degree, 30 Mich.L.Rev. 1224 (1932). It is significant
that instances of third-degree treatment of prisoners almost invariably took
place during the period between arrest and preliminary examination.
Wickersham Report, at 169; Hall, The Law of Arrest in Relation to
Contemporary Social Problems, 3 U.Chi.L.Rev. 345, 357 (1936). See also
Foote, Law and Polio Practice: Safeguards in the Law of Arrest, 52
Nw.U.L.Rev. 16 (1957).

Brown v. State of Mississippi, 297 U.S. 278, 56 S.Ct. 461, 80 L.Ed. 682
(1936); Chambers v. State of Florida, 309 U.S. 227, 60 S.Ct. 472, 84 L.Ed. 716
(1940); Canty v. State of Alabama, 309 U.S. 629, 60 S.Ct. 612, 84 L.Ed. 988
(1940); White v. State of Texas, 310 U.S. 530, 60 S.Ct. 1032, 84 L.Ed. 1342
(1940); Vernon v. State of Alabama, 313 U.S. 547, 61 S.Ct. 1092, 85 L.Ed.
1513 (1941); Ward v. State of Texas, 316 U.S. 547, 62 S.Ct. 1139, 86 L.Ed.
1663 (1942); Ashcraft v. State of Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143, 64 S.Ct. 921, 88
L.Ed. 1192 (1944); Malinski v. People of State of New York, 324 U.S. 401, 65
S.Ct. 781, 89 L.Ed. 1029 (1945); Leyra v. Denno, 347 U.S. 556, 74 S.Ct. 716,
98 L.Ed. 948 (1954). See also Williams v. United States, 341 U.S. 97, 71 S.Ct.
576, 95 L.Ed. 774 (1951).

In addition, see People v. Wakat, 415 Ill. 610, 114 N.E.2d 706 (1953); Wakat v.
Harlib, 253 F.2d 59 (C.A.7th Cir.1958) (defendant suffering from broken
bones, multiple bruises and injuries sufficiently serious to require eight months'
medical treatment after being manhandled by five policemen); Kier v. State,
213 Md. 556, 132 A.2d 494 (1957) (police doctor told accused, who was
strapped to a chair completely nude, that he proposed to take hair and skin

scrapings from anything that looked like blood or sperm from various parts of
his body); Bruner v. People, 113 Colo. 194, 156 P.2d 111 (1945) (defendant
held in custody over two months, deprived of food for 15 hours, forced to
submit to a lie detector test when he wanted to go to the toilet); People v.
Matlock, 51 Cal.2d 682, 336 P.2d 505, 71 A.L.R.2d 605 (1959) (defendant
questioned incessantly over an evening's time, made to lie on cold board and to
answer questions whenever it appeared he was getting sleepy). Other cases are
documented in American Civil Liberties Union, Illinois Division, Secret
Detention by the Chicago Police (1959); Potts, The Preliminary Examination
and 'The Third Degree,' 2 Baylor L.Rev. 131 (1950); Sterling, Police
Interrogation and the Psychology of Confession, 14 J.Pub.L. 25 (1965).
8

The manuals quoted in the text following are the most recent and representative
of the texts currently available. Material of the same nature appeals in Kidd,
Police Interrogation (1940); Mulbar, Interrogation (1951); Dienstein, Technics
for the Crime Investigator 97115 (1952). Studies concerning the observed
practices of the police appear in LaFave, Arrest: The Decision To Take a
Suspect Into Custody 244437, 490521 (1965); LaFave, Detention for
Investigation by the Police: An Analysis of Current Practices, 1962
Wash.U.L.Q. 331; Barrett, Police Practices and the LawFrom Arrest to
Release or Charge, 50 Calif.L.Rev. 11 (1962); Sterling, supra, n. 7, at 4765.

The methods described in Inbau & Reid Criminal Interrogation and Confessions
(1962), are a revision and enlargement of material presented in three prior
editions of a predecessor text, Lie Detection and Criminal Interrogation (3d ed.
1953). The authors and their associates are officers of the Chicago Police
Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory and have had extensive experience in
writing, lecturing and speaking to law enforcement authorities over a 20-year
period. They say that the techniques portrayed in their manuals reflect their
experiences and are the most effective psychological stratagems to employ
during interrogations. Similarly, the techniques described in O'Hara,
Fundamentals of Criminal Investigation (1956), were gleaned from long service
as observer, lecturer in police science, and work as a federal criminal
investigator. All these texts have had rather extensive use among law
enforcement agencies and among students of police science, with total sales and
circulation of over 44,000.

10

Inbau & Reid, Criminal Interrogation and Confessions (1962), at 1.

11

O'Hara, supra, at 99.

12

Inbau & Reid, supra, at 3443, 87. For example, in Leyra v. Denno, 347 U.S.
556, 74 S.Ct. 716, 98 L.Ed. 948 (1954), the interrogator-psychiatrist told the

accused, 'We do sometimes things that are not right, but in a fit of temper or
anger we sometimes do things we aren't really responsible for,' id., at 562, 74
S.Ct. at 719, and again, 'We know that morally you were just in anger. Morally,
you are not to be condemned,' id., at 582, 74 S.Ct. at 729.
13

Inbau & Reid, supra, at 4355.

14

O'Hara, supra, at 112.

15

Inbau & Reid, supra, at 40.

16

Ibid.

17

O'Hara, supra, at 104, Inbau & Reid, supra, at 5859. See Spano v. People of
State of New York, 360 U.S. 315, 79 S.Ct. 1202, 3 L.Ed.2d 1265 (1959). A
variant on the technique of creating hostility is one of engendering fear. This is
perhaps best described by the prosecuting attorney in Malinski v. People of
State of New York, 324 U.S. 401, 407, 65 S.Ct. 781, 784, 89 L.Ed. 1029
(1945): 'Why this talk about being undressed? Of course, they had a right to
undress him to look for bullet scars, and keep the clothes off him. That was
quite proper police procedure. That is some more psychologylet him sit
around with a blanket on him, humiliate him there for a while; let him sit in the
corner, let him think he is going to get a shellacking.'

18

O'Hara, supra, at 105106.

19

Id., at 106.

20

Inbau & Reid, supra, at 111.

21

Ibid.

22

Inbau & Reid, supra, at 112.

23

Inbau & Reid, Lie Detection and Criminal Interrogation 185 (3d ed. 1953).

24

Interrogation procedures may even give rise to a false confession. The most
recent conspicuous example occurred in New York, in 1964, when a Negro of
limited intelligence confessed to two brutal murders and a rape which he had
not committed. When this was discovered, the prosecutor was reported as
saying: 'Call it what you wantbrain-washing, hypnosis, fright. They made
him give an untrue confession. The only thing I don't believe is that Whitmore
was beaten.' N.Y. Times, Jan. 28, 1965, p. 1, col. 5. In two other instances,
similar events had occurred. N.Y. Times, Oct. 20, 1964, p. 22, col. 1; N.Y.

Times, Aug. 25, 1965, p. 1, col. 1. In general, see Borchard, Convicting the
Innocent (1932); Frank & Frank, Not Guilty (1957).
25

In the fourth confession case decided by the Court in the 1962 Term, Fay v.
Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963), our disposition made
it unnecessary to delve at length into the facts. The facts of the defendant's case
there, however, paralleled those of his co-defendants, whose confessions were
found to have resulted from continuous and coercive interrogation for 27 hours,
with denial of requests for friends or attorney. See United States ex rel.
Caminito v. Murphy, 222 F.2d 698 (C.A.2d Cir. 1955) (Frank, J.); People v.
Bonino, 1 N.Y.2d 752, 152 N.Y.S.2d 298, 135 N.E.2d 51 (1956).

26

The absurdity of denying that a confession obtained under these circumstances

is compelled is aptly portrayed by an example in Professor Sutherland's recent
article, Crime and Confession, 79 Harv.L.Rev. 21, 37 (1965):
'Suppose a well-to-do testatrix says she intends to will her property to Elizabeth.
John and James want her to bequeath it to them instead. They capture the
testatrix, put her in a carefully designed room, out of touch with everyone but
themselves and their convenient 'withnesses,' keep her secluded there for hours
while they make insistent demands, weary her with contradictions of her
assertions that she wants to leave her money to Elizabeth, and finally induce her
to execute the will in their favor. Assume that John and James are deeply and
correctly convinced that Elizabeth is unworthy and will make base use of the
property if she gets her hands on it, whereas John and James have the noblest
and most righteous intentions. Would any judge of probate accept the will so
procured as the 'voluntary' act of the testatrix?'

27

Thirteenth century commentators found an analogue to the privilege grounded

in the Bible. 'To sum up the matter, the principle that no man is to be declared
guilty on his own admission is a divine decree.' Maimonides, Mishneh Torah
(Code of Jewish Law), Book of Judges, Laws of the Sanhedrin, c. 18, 6, III
Yale Judaica Series 5253. See also Lamm, The Fifth Amendment and Its
Equivalent in the Halakhan, 5 Judaism 53 (Winter 1956).

28

See Morgan, The Privilege Against Self-Incrimination, 34 Minn.L.Rev. 1, 9

11 (1949); 8 Wigmore, Evidence 285295 (McNaughton rev. 1961). See also
Lowell, The Judicial Use of Torture, Parts I and II, 11 Harv.L.Rev. 220, 290
(1897).

29

See Pittman, The Colonial and Constitutional History of the Privilege Against
Self-Incrimination in America, 21 Va.L.Rev. 763 (1935); Ullmann v. United
States, 350 U.S. 422, 445449, 76 S.Ct. 497, 510512, 100 L.Ed. 511 (1956)
(Douglas, J., dissenting).

30

Compare Brown v. Walker, 161 U.S. 591, 16 S.Ct. 644, 40 L.Ed. 819 (1896);
Quinn v. United States, 349 U.S. 155, 75 S.Ct. 668, 99 L.Ed. 964 (1955).

31

Brief for the United States, p. 28. To the same effect, see Brief for the United
States, pp. 4049, n. 44, Anderson v. United States, 318 U.S. 350, 63 S.Ct.
599, 87 L.Ed. 829 (1943); Brief for the United States, pp. 1718, McNabb v.
United States, 318 U.S. 332, 63 S.Ct. 608 (1943).

32

Our decision today does not indicate in any manner, of course, that these rules
can be disregarded. When federal officials arrest an individual, they must as
always comply with the dictates of the congressional legislation and cases
thereunder. See generally, Hogan & Snee, The McNabb-Mallory Rule: Its Rise,
Rationale and Rescue, 47 Geo.L.J. 1 (1958).

33

The decisions of this Court have guaranteed the same procedural protection for
the defendant whether his confession was used in a federal or state court. It is
now axiomatic that the defendant's constitutional rights have been violated if
his conviction is based, in whole or in part, on an involuntary confession,
regardless of its truth or falsity. Rogers v. Richmond, 365 U.S. 534, 544, 81
S.Ct. 735, 741, 5 L.Ed.2d 760 (1961); Siang Sung Wan v. United States, 266
U.S. 1, 45 S.Ct. 1, 69 L.Ed. 131 (1924). This is so even if there is ample
evidence aside from the confession to support the conviction, e.g., Malinski v.
People of State of New York, 324 U.S. 401, 404, 65 S.Ct. 781, 783, 89 L.Ed.
1029 (1945); Bram v. United States, 168 U.S. 532, 540542, 18 S.Ct. 183,
185186 (1897). Both state and federal courts now adhere to trial procedures
which seek to assure a reliable and clear-cut determination of the voluntariness
of the confession offered at trial, Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct.
1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 904 (1964); United States v. Carignan, 342 U.S. 36, 38, 72
S.Ct. 97, 98, 96 L.Ed. 48 (1951); see also Wilson v. United States, 162 U.S.
613, 624, 16 S.Ct. 895, 900, 40 L.Ed. 1090 (1896). Appellate review is
exacting, see Haynes v. State of Washington, 373 U.S. 503, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 10
L.Ed.2d 513 (1963); Blackburn v. State of Alabama, 361 U.S. 199, 80 S.Ct.
274, 4 L.Ed.2d 242 (1960). Whether his conviction was in a federal or state
court, the defendant may secure a post-conviction hearing based on the alleged
involuntary character of his confession, provided he meets the procedural
requirements, Fay v. Noia, 372 U.S. 391, 83 S.Ct. 822, 9 L.Ed.2d 837 (1963);
Townsend v. Sain, 372 U.S. 293, 83 S.Ct. 745, 9 L.Ed.2d 770 (1963). In
addition, see Murphy v. Waterfront Comm. of New York Harbor, 378 U.S. 52,
84 S.Ct. 1594 (1964).

34

See Lisenba v. People of State of California, 314 U.S. 219, 241, 62 S.Ct. 280,
292, 86 L.Ed. 166 (1941); Ashcraft v. State of Tennessee, 322 U.S. 143, 64
S.Ct. 921, 88 L.Ed. 1192 (1944); Malinski v. People of State of New York, 324

U.S. 401, 65 S.Ct. 781 (1945); Spano v. People of State of New York, 360 U.S.
315, 79 S.Ct. 1202, 3 L.Ed.2d 1265 (1959); Lynumn v. State of Illinois, 372
U.S. 528, 83 S.Ct. 917, 9 L.Ed.2d 922 (1963); Haynes v. State of Washington,
373 U.S. 503, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 10 L.Ed.2d 513 (1963).
35

The police also prevented the attorney from consulting with his client.
Independent of any other constitutional proscription, this action constitutes a
violation of the Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel and
excludes any statement obtained in its wake. See People v. Donovan, 13
N.Y.2d 148, 243 N.Y.S.2d 841, 193 N.E.2d 628 (1963) (Fuld, J.).

36

In re Groban, 352 U.S. 330, 340352, 77 S.Ct. 510, 517 523, 1 L.Ed.2d 376
(1957) (Black, J., dissenting); Note, 73 Yale L.J. 1000, 10481051 (1964);
Comment, 31 U.Chi.L.Rev. 313, 320 (1964) and authorities cited.

37

See p. 454, supra. Lord Devlin has commented:

'It is probable that even today, when there is much less ignorance about these
matters than formerly, there is still a general belief that you must answer all
questions put to you by a policeman, or at least that it will be the worse for you
if you do not.' Devlin, The Criminal Prosecution in England 32 (1958).
In accord with our decision today, it is impermissible to penalize an individual
for exercising his Fifth Amendment privilege when he is under police custodial
interrogation. The prosecution may not, therefore, use at trial the fact that he
stood mute or claimed his privilege in the face of accusation. Cf. Griffin v.
State of California, 380 U.S. 609, 85 S.Ct. 1229, 14 L.Ed.2d 106 (1965);
Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 8, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 1493, 12 L.Ed.2d 653 (1964);
Comment, 31 U.Chi.L.Rev. 556 (1964); Developments in the Law
Confessions, 79 Harv.L.Rev. 935, 10411044 (1966). See also Bram v.
United States, 168 U.S. 532, 562, 18 S.Ct. 183, 194, 42 L.Ed. 568 (1897).

38

Cf. Betts v. Brady, 316 U.S. 455, 62 S.Ct. 1252, 86 L.Ed. 1595 (1942), and the
recurrent inquiry into special circumstances it necessitated. See generally,
Kamisar, Betts v. Brady Twenty Years Later: The Right to Counsel and Due
Process Values, 61 Mich.L.Rev. 219 (1962).

39

See Herman, The Supreme Court and Restrictions on Police Interrogation, 25

Ohio St.L.J. 449, 480 (1964).

40

Estimates of 5090% indigency among felony defendants have been reported.

Pollock, Equal Justice in Practice, 45 Minn.L.Rev. 737, 738739 (1961);
Birzon, Kasanof & Forma, The Right to Counsel and the Indigent Accused in
Courts of Criminal Jurisdiction in New York State, 14 Buffalo L.Rev. 428, 433

(1965).
41

See Kamisar, Equal Justice in the Gatehouses and Mansions of American

Criminal Procedure, in Criminal Justice in Our Time 1, 6481 (1965). As was
stated in the Report of the Attorney General's Committee on Poverty and the
Administration of Federal Criminal Justice 9 (1963):
'When government chooses to exert its powers in the criminal area, its
obligation is surely no less than that of taking reasonable measures to eliminate
those factors that are irrelevant to just administration of the law but which,
nevertheless, may occasionally affect determinations of the accused's liability
or penalty. While government may not be required to relieve the accused of his
proverty, it may properly be required to minimize the influence of poverty on
its administration of justice.'

42

Cf. United States ex rel. Brown v. Fay, 242 F.Supp. 273, 277
(D.C.S.D.N.Y.1965); People v. Witenski, 15 N.Y.2d 392, 259 N.Y.S.2d 413,
207 N.E.2d 358 (1965).

43

While a warning that the indigent may have counsel appointed need not be
given to the person who is known to have an attorney or is known to have
ample funds to secure one, the expedient of giving a warning is too simple and
the rights involved too important to engage in ex post facto inquiries into
financial ability when there is any doubt at all on that score.

44

If an individual indicates his desire to remain silent, but has an attorney present,
there may be some circumstances in which further questioning would be
permissible. In the absence of evidence of overbearing, statements them made
in the presence of counsel might be free of the compelling influence of the
interrogation process and might fairly be construed as a waiver of the privilege
for purposes of these statements.

45

Although this Court held in Rogers v. United States, 340 U.S. 367, 71 S.Ct.
438, 95 L.Ed. 344 (1951), over strong dissent, that a witness before a grand jury
may not in certain circumstanes decide to answer some questions and then
refuse to answer others, that decision has no application to the interrogation
situation we deal with today. No legislative or judicial fact-finding authority is
involved here, nor is there a possibility that the individual might make selfserving statements of which he could make use at trial while refusing to answer
incriminating statements.

46

The distinction and its significance has been aptly described in the opinion of a
Scottish court:

'In former times such questioning, if undertaken, would be conducted by police

officers visiting the house or place of business of the suspect and there
questioning him, probably in the presence of a relation or friend. However
convenient the modern practice may be, it must normally create a situation very
unfavourable to the suspect.' Chalmers v. H. M. Advocate, (1954) Sess.Cas. 66,
78 (J.C.).
47

See People v. Dorado, 62 Cal.2d 338, 354, 42 Cal.Rptr. 169, 179, 398 P.2d
361, 371 (1965).

48

In accordance with our holdings today and in Escobedo v. State of Illinois, 378
U.S. 478, 492, 84 S.Ct. 1758, 1765; Crooker v. State of California, 357 U.S.
433, 78 S.Ct. 1287, 2 L.Ed.2d 1448 (1958) and Cicenia v. La Gay, 357 U.S.
504, 78 S.Ct. 1297, 2 L.Ed.2d 1523 (1958) are not to be followed.

49

In quoting the above from the dissenting opinion of Mr. Justice Brandeis we, of
course, do not intend to pass on the constitutional questions involved in the
Olmstead case.

50

Schaefer, Federalism and State Criminal Procedure, 70 Harv.L.Rev. 1, 26

(1956).

51

Miranda, Vignera, and Westover were identified by eyewitnesses. Marked bills

from the bank robbed were found in Westover's car. Articles stolen from the
victim as well as from several other robbery victims were found in Stewart's
home at the outset of the investigation.

52

Dealing as we do here with constitutional standards in relation to statements

made, the existence of independent corroborating evidence produced at trial is,
of course, irrelevant to our decisions. Haynes v. State of Washington, 373 U.S.
503, 518 519, 83 S.Ct. 1336, 13451346 (1963); Lynumn v. State of Illinois,
372 U.S. 528, 537538, 83 S.Ct. 917, 922, 9 L.Ed.2d 922 (1963); Rogers v.
Richmond, 365 U.S. 534, 541, 81 S.Ct. 735, 739 (1961); Blackburn v. State of
Alabama, 361 U.S. 199, 206, 80 S.Ct. 274, 279, 4 L.Ed.2d 242 (1960).

53

See, e.g., Report and Recommendations of the (District of Columbia)

Commissioners' Committee on Police Arrests for Investigation (1962);
American Civil Liberties Union, Secret Detention by the Chicago Police
(1959). An extreme example of this practice occurred in the District of
Columbia in 1958. Seeking three 'stocky' young Negroes who had robbed a
restaurant, police rounded up 90 persons of that general description. Sixth-three
were held overnight before being released for lack of evidence. A man not
among the 90 arrested was ultimately charged with the crime. Washington
Daily News, January 21, 1958, p. 5, col. 1; Hearings before a Subcommittee of

the Senate Judiciary Committee on H.R. 11477, S. 2970, S. 3325, and S. 3355,
85th Cong., 2d Sess. (July 1958), pp. 40, 78.
54

In 1952, J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,

stated:
'Law enforcement, however, in defeating the criminal, must maintain inviolate
the historic liberties of the individual. To turn back the criminal, yet, by so
doing, destroy the dignity of the individual, would be a hollow victory.
'We can have the Constitution, the best laws in the land, and the most honest
reviews by courtsbut unless the law enforcement profession is steeped in the
democratic tradition, maintains the highest in ethics, and makes its work a
career of honor, civil liberties will continuallyand without end be violated. *
* * The best protection of civil liberties is an alert, intelligent and honest law
enforcement agency. There can be no alternative.
'* * * Special Agents are taught that any suspect or arrested person, at the
outset of an interview, must be advised that he is not required to make a
statement and that any statement given can be used against him in court.
Moreover, the individual must be informed that, if he desires, he may obtain
the services of an attorney of his own choice.'
Hoover, Civil Liberties and Law Enforcement: The Role of the FBI, 37 Iowa
L.Rev. 175, 177182 (1952).

55

We agree that the interviewing agent must exercise his judgment in determining
whether the individual waives his right to counsel. Because of the constitutional
basis of the right, however, the standard for waiver iis necessarily high. And, of
course, the ultimate responsibility for resolving this constitutional question lies
with the courts.

56

Among the crimes within the enforcement jurisdiction of the FBI are
kidnapping, 18 U.S.C. 1201 (1964 ed.), white slavery, 18 U.S.C. 2421
2423 (1964 ed.), bank robbery, 18 U.S.C. 2113 (1964 ed.), interstate
transportation and sale of stolen property, 18 U.S.C. 23112317 (1964 ed.),
all manner of conspiracies, 18 U.S.C. 371 (1964 ed.), and violations of civil
rights, 18 U.S.C. 241242 (1964 ed.). See also 18 U.S.C. 1114 (1964 ed.)
(murder of officer or employee of the United States).

57

(1964) Crim.L.Rev., at 166170. These Rules provide in part:

'II. As soon as a police officer has evidence which would afford reasonable
grounds for suspecting that a person has committed an offence, he shall caution

that person or cause him to be cautioned before putting to him any questions, or
further questions, relating to that offence.
'The caution shall be in the following terms:
"You are not obliged to say anything unless you wish to do so but what you say
may be put into writing and given in evidence.'
'When after being cantioned a person is being questioned, or elects to make a
statement, a record shall be kept of the time and place at which any such
questioning or statement began and ended and of the persons present.
'III. * * *
'(b) It is only in exceptional cases that questions relating to the offence should
be put to the accused person after he has been charged or informed that he may
be prosecuted.
'IV. All written statements made after caution shall be taken in the following
manner:
'(a) If a person says that he wants to make a statement he shall be told that it is
intended to make a written record of what he says.
'He shall always be asked whether he wishes to write down himself what he
wants to say; if he says that he cannot write or that he would like someone to
write it for him, a police officer may offer to write the statement for him. * * *
'(b) Any person writing his own statement shall be allowed to do so without
any prompting as distinct from indicating to him what matters are material.
'(d) Whenever a police officer writes the statement, he shall take down the
exact words spoken by the person making the statement, without putting any
questions other than such as may be needed to make the statement coherent,
intelligible and relevant to the material matters: he shall not prompt him.'
The prior Rules appear in Devlin, The Criminal Prosecution in England 137
141 (1958).
Despite suggestions of some laxity in enforcement of the Rules and despite the
fact some discretion as to admissibility is invested in the trial judge, the Rules
are a significant influence in the English criminal law enforcement system. See,
e.g., (1964) Crim.L.Rev., at 182; and articles collected in (1960) Crim.L.Rev.,
at 298356.

58

The introduction to the Judges' Rules states in part:

These Rules do not affect the principles
'(c) That every person at any stage of an investigation should be able to
communicate and to consult privately with a solicitor. This is so even if he is in
custody provided that in such a case no unreasonable delay or hindrance is
caused to the processes of investigation or the administration of justice by his
doing so. * * *' (1964) Crim.L.Rev., at 166167.

59

As stated by the Lord Justice General in Chalmers v. H. M. Advocate, (1954)

Sess.Cas. 66, 78 (J.C.):
'The theory of our law is that at the stage of initial investigation the police may
question anyone with a view to acquiring information which may lead to the
detection of the criminal; but that, when the stage has been reached at which
suspicion, or more than suspicion, has in their view centred upon some person
as the likely perpetrator of the crime, further interrogation of that person
becomes very dangerous, and, if carried too far, e.g., to the point of extracting a
confession by what amounts to cross-examination, the evidence of that
confession will almost certainly be excluded. Once the accused has been
apprehended and charged he has the statutory right to a private interview with a
solicitor and to be brought before a magistrate with all convenient speed so that
he may, if so advised, emit a declaration in presence of his solicitor under
conditions which safeguard him against prejudice.'

60

'No confession made to a police officer shall be provided as against a person

accused of any offense.' Indian Evidence Act 25.
'No confession made by any person whilst he is in the custody of a police
officer unless it be made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate, shall be
proved as against such person.' Indian Evidence Act 26. See 1 Ramaswami &
Rajagopalan, Law of Evidence in India 553569 (1962). To avoid any
continuing effect of police pressure or inducement, the Indian Supreme Court
has invalidated a confession made shortly after police brought a suspect before
a magistrate, suggesting: '(I)t would, we think, be reasonable to insist upon
giving an accused person at least 24 hours to decide whether or not he should
make a confession.' Sarwan Singh v. State of Punjab, 44 All India Rep. 1957,
Sup.Ct. 637, 644.

61

I Legislative Enactments of Ceylon 211 (1958).

62

10 U.S.C. 831(b) (1964 ed.).

63

United States v. Rose, 24 CMR 251 (1957); United States v. Gunnels, 23 CMR
354 (1957).

64

Although no constitution existed at the time confessions were excluded by rule

of evidence in 1872, India now has a written constitution which includes the
provision that 'No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a
witness against himself.' Constitution of India, Article 20(3). See Tope, The
Constitution of India 6367 (1960).

65

Brief for United States in No. 761, Westover v. United States, pp. 4447;
Brief for the State of New York as amicus curiae, pp. 3539. See also Brief
for the National District Attorneys Association as amicus curiae, pp. 2326.

66

Miranda was also convicted in a separate trial on an unrelated robbery charge

not presented here for review. A statement introduced at that trial was obtained
from Miranda during the same interrogation which resulted in the confession
involved here. At the robbery trial, one officer testified that during the
interrogation he did not tell Miranda that anything he said would be held
against him or that he could consult with an attorney. The other officer stated
that they had both told Miranda that anything he said would be used against
him and that he was not required by law to tell them anything.

67

One of the officers testified that he read this paragraph to Miranda. Apparently,
however, he did not do so until after Miranda had confessed orally.

68

Vignera thereafter successfully attacked the validity of one of the prior

convictions, Vignera v. Wilkins, Civ. 9901 (D.C.W.D.N.Y. Dec. 31, 1961)
(unreported), but was then resentenced as a second-felony offender to the same
term of imprisonment as the original sentence. R. 3133.

69

The failure of defense counsel to object to the introduction of the confession at

trial, noted by the Court of Appeals and emphasized by the Solicitor General,
does not preclude our consideration of the issue. Since the trial was held prior
to our decision in Escobedo and, of course, prior to our decision today making
the objection available, the failure to object at trial does not constitute a waiver
of the claim. See, e.g., United States ex rel. Angelet v. Fay, 333 F.2d 12, 16
(C.A.2d Cir. 1964), aff'd, 381 U.S. 654, 85 S.Ct. 1750, 14 L.Ed.2d 623 (1965).
Cf. Ziffrin, Inc. v. United States, 318 U.S. 73, 78, 63 S.Ct. 465, 87 L.Ed. 621
(1943).

70

Because of this disposition of the case, the California Supreme Court did not
reach the claims that the confession was coerced by police threats to hold his
ailing wife in custody until he confessed, that there was no hearing as required
by Jackson v. Denno, 378 U.S. 368, 84 S.Ct. 1774, 12 L.Ed.2d 908 (1964), and

that the trial judge gave an instruction condemned by the California Supreme
Court's decision in People v. Morse, 60 Cal.2d 631, 36 Cal.Rptr. 201, 388 P.2d
33 (1964).
71

After certiorari was granted in this case, respondent moved to dismiss on the
ground that there was no final judgment from which the State could appeal
since the judgment below directed that he be retried. In the event respondent
was successful in obtaining an acquittal on retrial, however, under California
law the State would have no appeal. Satisfied that in these circumstances the
decision below constituted a final judgment under 28 U.S.C. 1257(3) (1964
ed.), we denied the motion. 383 U.S. 903, 86 S.Ct. 885.

E.g., Inbau & Reid, Criminal Interrogation and Confessions (1962); O'Hara,
Fundamentals of Criminal Investigation (1956); Dienstein, Technics for the
Crime Investigator (1952); Mulbar, Interrogation (1951); Kidd, Police
Interrogation (1940).

As developed by my Brother HARLAN, post, pp. 506514, such cases, with

the exception of the long-discredited decision in Bram v. United States, 168
U.S. 532, 18 S.Ct. 183, 42 L.Ed. 568 (1897), were adequately treated in terms
of due process.

The Court points to England, Scotland, Ceylon and India as having equally
rigid rules. As my Brother Harlan points out, post, pp. 521523, the Court is
mistaken in this regard, for it overlooks counterbalancing prosecutorial
advantages. Moreover, the requirements of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
do not appear from the Solicitor General's latter, ante, pp. 484486, to be as
strict as those imposed today in at least two respects: (1) The offer of counsel is
articulated only as 'a right to counsel'; nothing is said about a right to have
counsel present at the custodial interrogation. (See also the examples cited by
the Solicitor General, Westover v. United States, 342 F.2d 684, 685 (9 Cir.,
1965) ('right to consult counsel'); Jackson v. United States, 119 U.S.App.D.C.
100, 337 F.2d 136, 138 (1964) (accused 'entitled to an attorney').) Indeed, the
practice is that whenever the suspect 'decides that he wishes to consult with
counsel before making a statement, the interview is terminated at that point. * *
* When counsel appears in person, he is permitted to confer with his client in
private.' This clearly indicates that the FBI does not warn that counsel may be
present during custodial interrogation. (2) The Solicitor General's letter states:
'(T)hose who have been arrested for an offense under FBI jurisdiction, or
whose arrest is contemplated following the interview, (are advised) of a right to
free counsel if they are unable to pay, and the availability of such counsel from
the Judge.' So phrased, this warning does not indicate that the agent will secure
counsel. Rather, the statement may well be interpreted by the suspect to mean

that the burden is placed upon himself and that he may have counsel appointed
only when brought before the judge or at trial but not at custodial interrogation.
As I view the FBI practice, it is not as broad as the one laid down today by the
Court.
4

In my view there is 'no significant support' in our cases for the holding of the
Court today that the Fifth Amendment privilege, in effect, forbids custodial
interrogation. For a discussion of this point see the dissenting opinion of my
Brother WHITE, post, pp. 526531.

My discussion in this opinion is directed to the main questions decided by the

Court and necessary to its decision; in ignoring some of the collateral points, I
do not mean to imply agreement.

The case was Bram v. United States, 168 U.S. 532, 18 S.Ct. 183, 42 L.Ed. 568
(quoted, ante, p. 461). Its historical premises were afterwards disproved by
Wigmore, who concluded 'that no assertions could be more unfounded.' 3
Wigmore, Evidence 823, at 250, n. 5 (3d ed. 1940). The Court in United
States v. Carignan, 342 U.S. 36, 41, 72 S.Ct. 97, 100, 96 L.Ed. 48, declined to
choose between Bram and Wigmore, and Stein v. People of State of New York,
346 U.S. 156, 191, n. 35, 73 S.Ct. 1077, 1095, 97 L.Ed. 1522, cast further
doubt on Bram. There are, however, several Court opinions which assume in
dicta the relevance of the Fifth Amendment privilege to confessions. Burdeau
v. McDowell, 256 U.S. 465, 475, 41 S.Ct. 574, 576, 65 L.Ed. 1048; see
Shotwell Mfg. Co. v. United States, 371 U.S. 341, 347, 83 S.Ct. 448, 453, 9
L.Ed.2d 357. On Bram and the federal confession cases generally, see
Developments in the LawConfessions, 79 Harv.L.Rev. 935, 959961
(1966).

Comment, 31 U.Chi.L.Rev. 313 & n. 1 (1964), states that by the 1963 Term 33
state coerced-confession cases had been decided by this Court, apart from per
curiams. Spano v. People of State of New York, 360 U.S. 315, 321, n. 2, 79
S.Ct. 1202, 1206, 3 L.Ed.2d 1265, collects 28 cases.

Bator & Vorenberg, Arrest, Detention, Interrogation and the Right to Counsel,
66 Col.L.Rev. 62, 73 (1966): 'In fact, the concept of involuntariness seems to
be used by the courts as a shorthand to refer to practices which are repellent to
civilized standards of decency or which, under the circumstances, are thought to
apply a degree of pressure to an individual which unfairly impairs his capacity
to make a rational choice.' See Herman, The Supreme Court and Restrictions on
Police Interrogation, 25 Ohio St.L.J. 449, 452458 (1964); Developments,
supra, n. 2, at 964984.

See the cases synopsized in Herman, supra, n. 4, at 456, nn. 3639. One not

too distant example is Stroble v. State of California, 343 U.S. 181, 72 S.Ct. 599,
96 L.Ed. 872, in which the suspect was kicked and threatened after his arrest,
questioned a little later for two hours, and isolated from a lawyer trying to see
him; the resulting confession was held admissible.
6

Among the examples given in 8 Wigmore, Evidence 2266, at 401

(McNaughton rev. 1961), are these: the privilege applies to any witness, civil or
criminal, but the confession rule protects only criminal defendants; the
privilege deals only with compulsion, while the confession rule may exclude
statements obtained by trick or promise; and where the privilege has been
nullifiedas by the English Bankruptcy Actthe confession rule may still
operate.

Additionally, there are precedents and even historical arguments that can be
arrayed in favor of bringing extra-legal questioning within the privilege. See
generally Maguire, Evidence of Guilt 2.03 at 1516 (1959).

This, of course, is implicit in the Court's introductory announcement that '(o)ur

decision in Malloy v. Hogan, 378 U.S. 1, 84 S.Ct. 1489, 12 L.Ed.2d 653 (1964)
(extending the Fifth Amendment privilege to the States) necessitates an
examination of the scope of the privilege in state cases as well.' Ante, p. 463. It
is also inconsistent with Malloy itself, in which extension of the Fifth
Amendment to the States rested in part on the view that the Due Process Clause
restriction on state confessions has in recent years been 'the same standard' as
that imposed in federal prosecutions assertedly by the Fifth Amendment. 378
U.S., at 7, 84 S.Ct., at 1493.

I lay aside Escobedo itself; it contains no reasoning or even general conclusions

addressed to the Fifth Amendment and indeed its citation in this regard seems
surprising in view of Escobedo's primary reliance on the Sixth Amendment.

10

Since the Court conspicuously does not assert that the Sixth Amendment itself
warrants its new police-interrogation rules, there is no reason now to draw out
the extremely powerful historical and precedential evidence that the
Amendment will bear no such meaning. See generally Friendly, The Bill of
Rights as a Code of Criminal Procedure, 53 Calif.L.Rev. 929, 943948
(1965).

11

See supra, n. 4, and text. Of course, the use of terms like voluntariness involves
questions of law and terminology quite as much as questions of fact. See
Collins v. Beto, 5 Cir., 348 F.2d 823, 832 (concurring opinion); Bator &
Vorenberg, supra, n. 4, at 7273.

12

The Court's vision of a lawyer 'mitigat(ing) the dangers of untrustworthiness'

ante, p. 470) by witnessing coercion and assisting accuracy in the confession is

largely a fancy; for if counsel arrives, there is rarely going to be a police station
confession. Watts v. State of Indiana, 338 U.S. 49, 59, 69 S.Ct. 1347, 1358, 93
L.Ed. 1801 (separate opinion of Jackson, J.): '(A)ny lawyer worth his salt will
tell the suspect in no uncertain terms to make no statement to police under any
circumstances.' See Enker & Elsen, Counsel for the Suspect, 49 Minn.L.Rev.
47, 6668 (1964).
13

This need is, of course, what makes so misleading the Court's comparison of a
probate judge readily setting aside as involuntary the will of an old lady
badgered and beleaguered by the new heirs. Ante, pp. 457-458, n. 26. With
wills, there is no public interest save in a totally free choice; with confessions,
the solution of crime is a countervailing gain, however the balance is resolved.

14

See, e.g., the voluminous citations to congressional committee testimony and

other sources collected in Culombe v. Connecticut, 367 U.S. 568, 578579, 81
S.Ct. 1860, 1865, 1866, 6 L.Ed.2d 1037, (Frankfurter, J., announcing the
Court's judgment and an opinion).

15

In Westover, a seasoned criminal was practically given the Court's full

complement of warnings and did not heed them. The Stewart case, on the other
hand, involves long detention and successive questioning. In Vignera, the facts
are complicated and the record somewhat incomplete.

16

'(J)ustice, though due to the accused, is due to the accuser also. The concept of
fairness must not be strained till it is narrowed to a filament. We are to keep the
balance true.' Snyder v. Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 291 U.S. 97, 122, 54
S.Ct. 330, 338, 78 L.Ed. 674 (Cardozo, J.).

17

A narrow reading is given in: United States v. Robinson, 354 F.2d 109 (C.A.2d
Cir.); Davis v. State of North Carolina, 339 F.2d 770 (C.A.4th Cir.); Edwards v.
Holman, 342 F.2d 679 (C.A.5th Cir.); United States ex rel. Townsend v.
Ogilvie, 334 F.2d 837 (C.A.7th Cir.); People v. Hartgraves, 31 Ill.2d 375, 202
N.E.2d 33; State v. Fox, 131 N.W.2d 684 (Iowa); Rowe v. Commonwealth, 394
S.W.2d 751 (Ky.); Parker v. Warden, 236 Md. 236, 203 A.2d 418; State v.
Howard, 383 S.W.2d 701 (Mo.); Bean v. State, 398 P.2d 251 (Nev.); State of
New Jersey v. Hodgson, 44 N.J. 151, 207 A.2d 542; People v. Gunner, 15
N.Y.2d 226, 257 N.Y.S.2d 924, 205 N.E.2d 852; Commonwealth ex rel. Linde
v. Maroney, 416 Pa. 331, 206 A.2d 288; Browne v. State, 24 Wis.2d 491, 129
N.W.2d 175, 131 N.W.2d 169.
An ample reading is given in: United States ex rel. Russo v. State of New
Jersey, 351 F.2d 429 (C.A.3d Cir.); Wright v. Dickson, 336 F.2d 878 (C.A.9th
Cir.); People v. Dorado, 62 Cal.2d 338, 42 Cal.Rptr. 169, 398 P.2d 361; State v.

Dufour, 206 A.2d 82 (R.I.); State v. Neely, 239 Or. 487, 395 P.2d 557,
modified 398 P.2d 482.
The cases in both categories are those readily available; there are certainly
many others.
18

For instance, compare the requirements of the catalytic case of People v.

Dorado, 62 Cal.2d 338, 42 Cal.Rptr. 169, 398 P.2d 361, with those laid down
today. See also Traynor, The Devils of Due Process in Criminal Detection,
Detention, and Trial, 33 U.Chi.L.Rev. 657, 670.

19

The Court's obiter dictum notwithstanding ante, p. 486, there is some basis for
believing that the staple of FBI criminal work differs importantly from much
crime within the ken of local police. The skill and resources of the FBI may
also be unusual.

20

For citations and discussion covering each of these points, see Developments,
supra, n. 2, at 10911097, and Enker & Elsen, supra, n. 12, at 80 & n. 94.

21

On Comment, see Hardin, Other Answers: Search and Seizure, Coerced

Confession, and Criminal Trial in Scotland, 113 U.Pa.L.Rev. 165, 181 and nn.
9697 (1964). Other examples are less stringent search and seizure rules and
no automatic exclusion for violation of them, id., at 167169; guilt based on
majority jury verdicts, id., at 185; and pre-trial discovery of evidence on both
sides, id., at 175.

22

Of particular relevance is the ALI's drafting of a Model Code of PreArraignment Procedure, now in its first tentative draft. While the ABA and
National Commission studies have wider scope, the former is lending its advice
to the ALI project and the executive director of the latter is one of the reporters
for the Model Code.

23

See Brief for the United States in Westover, p. 45. The N.Y. Times, June 3,
1966, p. 41 (late city ed.) reported that the Ford Foundation has awarded
$1,100,000 for a five-year study of arrests and confessions in New York.

24

The New York Assembly recently passed a bill to require certain warnings
before an admissible confession is taken, though the rules are less strict than
are the Court's. N.Y. Times, May 24, 1966, p. 35 (late city ed.).

25

The Court waited 12 years after Wolf v. People of State of Colorado, 338 U.S.
25, 69 S.Ct. 1359, 93 L.Ed. 1782, declared privacy against improper state
intrusions to be constitutionally safeguarded before it concluded in Mapp v.
Ohio, 367 U.S. 643, 81 S.Ct. 1684, 6 L.Ed.2d 1081, that adequate state

remedies had not been provided to protect this interest so the exclusionary rule
was necessary.
1

Of course the Court does not deny that it is departing from prior precedent; it
expressly overrules Crooker and Cicenia, ante, at 479, n. 48, and it
acknowledges that in the instant 'cases we might not find the defendants'
statements to have been involuntary in traditional terms,' ante, at 457.

In fact, the type of sustained interrogation described by the Court appears to be

the exception rather than the rule. A survey of 399 cases in one city found that
in almost half of the cases the interrogation lasted less than 30 minutes. Barrett,
Police Practices and the LawFrom Arrest to Release or Charge, 50
Calif.L.Rev. 11, 4145 (1962). Questioning tends to be confused and sporadic
and is usually concentrated on confrontations with witnesses or new items of
evidence, as these are obtained by officers conducting the investigation. See
generally LaFave, Arrest: The Decision to Take a Suspect into Custody 386
(1965); ALI, A Model Code of Pre-Arraignment Procedure, Commentary
5.01, at 170, n. 4 (Tent.Draft No. 1, 1966).

By contrast, the Court indicates that in applying this new rule it 'will not pause
to inquire in individual cases whether the defendant was aware of his rights
without a warning being given.' Ante, at 468. The reason given is that
assessment of the knowledge of the defendant based on information as to age,
education, intelligence, or prior contact with authorities can never be more than
speculation, while a warning is a clear-cut fact. But the officers' claim that they
gave the requisite warnings may be disputed, and facts respecting the
defendant's prior experience may be undisputed and be of such a nature as to
virtually preclude any doubt that the defendant knew of his rights. See United
States v. Bolden, 355 F.2d 453 (C.A.7th Cir.1965), petition for cert. pending
No. 1146, O.T. 1965 (Secret Service agent); People v. Du Bont, 235
Cal.App.2d 844, 45 Cal.Rptr. 717, pet. for cert. pending No. 1053, Misc., O.T.
1965 (former police officer).

Precise statistics on the extent of recidivism are unavailable, in part because not
all crimes are solved and in part because criminal records of convictions in
different jurisdictions are not brought together by a central data collection
agency. Beginning in 1963, however, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began
collating data on 'Careers in Crime,' which it publishes in its Uniform Crime
Reports. Of 92,869 offenders processed in 1963 and 1964, 76% had a prior
arrest record on some charge. Over a period of 10 years the group had
accumulated 434,000 charges. FBI, Uniform Crime Reports1964, 2728. In
1963 and 1964 between 23% and 25% of all offenders sentenced in 88 federal
district courts (excluding the District Court for the District of Columbia) whose

criminal records were reported had previously been sentenced to a term of

imprisonment of 13 months or more. Approximately an additional 40% had a
prior record less than prison (juvenile record, probation record, etc.).
Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Federal Offenders in the
United States District Courts: 1964, x, 36 (hereinafter cited as Federal
Offenders: 1964); Administrative
Office of the United States Courts, Federal Offenders in the United States
District Courts: 1963, 2527 (hereinafter cited as Federal Offenders: 1963).
During the same two years in the District Court for the District of Columbia
between 28% and 35% of those sentenced had prior prison records and from
37% to 40% had a prior record less than prison. Federal Offenders: 1964, xii,
64, 66; Administrative Office of the United States Courts, Federal Offenders in
the United States District Court for the District of Columbia: 1963, 8, 10
(hereinafter cited as District of Columbia Offenders: 1963).
A similar picture is obtained if one looks at the subsequent records of those
released from confinement. In 1964, 12.3% of persons on federal probation had
their probation revoked because of the commission of major violations (defined
as one in which the probationer has been committed to imprisonment for a
period of 90 days or more, been placed on probation for over one year on a new
offense, or has absconded with felony charges outstanding). Twenty-three and
two-tenths percent of parolees and 16.9% of those who had been mandatorily
released after service of a portion of their sentence likewise committed major
violations. Reports of the Proceedings of the Judicial Conference of the United
States and Annual Report of the Director of the Administrative Office of the
United States Courts: 1965, 138. See also Mandel et al., Recidivism Studied
and Defined, 56 J. Crim.L., C. & P.S. 59 (1965) (within five years of release
62.33% of sample had committed offenses placing them in recidivist category).
5

Eighty-eight federal district courts (excluding the District Court for the District
of Columbia) disposed of the cases of 33,381 criminal defendants in 1964. Only
12.5% of those cases were actually tried. Of the remaining cases, 89.9% were
terminated by convictions upon pleas of guilty and 10.1% were dismissed.
Stated differently, approximately 90% of all convictions resulted from guilty
pleas. Federal Offenders: 1964, supra, note 4, 36. In the District Court for the
District of Columbia a higher percentage, 27%, went to trial, and the defendant
pleaded guilty in approximately 78% of the cases terminated prior to trial. Id.,
at 5859. No reliable statistics are available concerning the percentage of
cases in which guilty pleas are induced because of the existence of a confession
or of physical evidence unearthed as a result of a confession. Undoubtedly the
number of such cases is substantial.

Perhaps of equal significance is the number of instances of known crimes

which are not solved. In 1964, only 388,946, or 23.9% of 1,626,574 serious
known offenses were cleared. The clearance rate ranged from 89.8% for
homicides to 18.7% for larceny. FBI, Uniform Crime Reports1964, 2022,
101. Those who would replace interrogation as an investigatorial tool by
modern scientific investigation techniques significantly overestimate the
effectiveness of present procedures, even when interrogation is included.