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Confessions And Interrogations The Fourteenth Amendment To Essay

Confessions and Interrogations The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees, under its "due process" clause, protection from the use of involuntary confessions. A confession is considered to be involuntary if the confession was not obtained from a rational intellect and a free will. ("Confessions") In other words, a person must consciously know what they are confessing to as well as freely admit to it. This definition includes a prohibition on confessions that are physically coerced (such as torture), but also against psychological ploys that are deemed to be coercive. In fact, coercion by the police is the necessary factor in determining whether or not a confession is involuntary. This means that the circumstances of the confession are the main issue, and if they are found to be coercive, then the confession is not admissible. ("Confessions")

There are too many cases of forced confessions being overturned years later and innocent people being set free after years of imprisonment. While it is important to convict the guilty, it is even more important to protect the innocent. If an innocent person is forced to confess to a crime they did not commit, then two crimes have taken place with no justice.
Part 2

The Miranda warning is a statement that the police must give a person which informs them of their constitutional rights against self-incrimination. (Salzburg 2009) In other words, a person has the right to remain silent. While it also maintains other rights, the right to an attorney for…

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Works Cited

"Confessions." Lexis Nexis. Web 26 Nov. 2012. http://www.lexisnexis.com/lawschool/study/outlines/html/crimpro/crimpro10.htm

Salzburg, Steven. "Miranda, the Functional Equivalent of Interrogation, and Taint."

Criminal Justice 24.3 (Fall 2009). Web. 27 Nov. 2012.

http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/publishing/criminal_justice_section
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