Miranda and Beyond: Competencies Related to Police Investigations

The United States Constitution recognizes a variety of individual rights that pertain directly to the criminal justice system. These include the right of the people “to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures” (U.S. Constitution, Amendment IV); not to be “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself” (U.S. Constitution, Amendment V). Additional constitutional rights include “[in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense]” (U.S. Constitution, Amendment VI). This chapter addresses 4th, 5th, and 6th amendment rights as they relate to police investigations.