Supreme Court Softens Criminal Rights

Sonia Sotomayor isn’t the only reason the Supreme Court is in the news today: The Court ruled today that, under certain circumstances, police can interrogate a suspect without a lawyer present. “By a 5-4 vote, the conservative majority overruled a 23-year-old Supreme Court decision that barred the police from initiating questioning after a defendant asserted the right to an attorney at an arraignment or similar proceeding.” The 1986 decision held that, once a defendant invoked the right to counsel, only he or she and not the police could initiate the contact. “The ruling was the latest in a recent string by conservative justices expanding the power of police to question suspects, but it does not change the landmark 1966 ruling barring the police from questioning a suspect who invoked the right to remain silent or have a lawyer present.”