> cHat wrote: > Did I get that right? Am I understanding that Obama wants to > basically give police the ability to "chat" with a defendant whenever > they want, without allowing them counsel?
Yeah, I think that's not exactly true - but maybe. And it's hard to say what they want as you can only go by what they argue and then we have to remember there's 2 parties here: Obama/US/Louisana and SCOTUS. First here's my read of the circumstances, (I'll make up the details for simplicity): 1.) Suspect is arrested, read Miranda. 2.) Suspect is brought to the station, told he's been assigned a public defender who's walking down the hall and will be here in 2 minutes. 3.) Thus far the suspect has been silent. -- Question -- Has Jackson been triggered? (i.e., must wait for counsel before questions can be asked OR testimony be admitted) * USA: No. Unless the suspect declares "I want counsel" the default is that testimony can be admissible as the suspect may wish to represent themselves and therefore be considered to have counsel present. * ACLU: Yes. Jackson's rules are implicit under silence. As SCOTUS is considering this case, THEY'VE asked on the side for briefings on whether Jackson should be overturned; this is rare for them to do that (asking about another case while hearing a case). Bottom line is this case, IMO, really isn't about giving police new rights or taking away rights from suspects - it's about the "rules of engagement" in the grey area that results from silence about who your counsel is. The government wants to default with the police, the ACLU wants to default to the suspect. But, again, this is only when nothing has been declared ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:296243 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
