Section A · Page 7
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, April 18, 2000
Nation
Supreme Court to hear Miranda case
Conservative rulings in court of appeals cause controversy
The Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. — Last year, a federal appeals court came to the startling conclusion that for the past three decades, every real and imaginary cop from Joe Friday to Andy Sipowicz didn't really have to give that speech that begins. "You have the right to remain silent."
With rulings like that, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has gained a reputation as the most boldly conservative appellate circuit in the nation. It also has issued provocative decisions on tobacco and federal-state power.
Tomorrow, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case involving the so-called Miranda warnings and ultimately will decide whether the 4th Circuit went too far.
In 1966, the high court issued its landmark Miranda decision requiring police to inform suspects of their rights. Throughout the past 34 years, the Miranda warnings have become such a basic part of law enforcement that just about anyone who watches TV cop shows can recite them.
Last year, however, the 4th Circuit ruled that an obscure 1968 federal law effectively negated the 1966 Miranda decision.
Legal scholars say the ruling is the latest and most startling example of conservative 4th Circuit decisions that could significantly reshape constitutional law.
"They are willing to test the boundaries of present U.S. Supreme Court doctrine," said A.E.Dick Howard, law professor at the University of Virginia.
Many of the appeals court's other conservative rulings have been aimed at reining in federal power.
In 1998, it struck down a portion of the Violence Against Women Act that allows victims of rape to sue their attackers for damages. The appeals court ruled that Congress overreached when it justified the law by citing the government's authority to regulate interstate commerce.
An appeal of that ruling, which stemmed from a Virginia Tech student's attempt to sue two football players she accused of rape, is pending before the Supreme Court.
The 4th Circuit, based in Richmond, hears appeals from Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III, chief judge for the 13-member court, declined an interview, saying it would be improper to talk just days before the Supreme Court hears the Miranda case.
One reason the 4th Circuit's Miranda decision was so surprising was that neither party in the bank robbery case — neither the U.S. Justice Department nor the defendant — focused on the 1968 federal law, which says the presence or absence of a Miranda warning is just one of several factors in deciding whether statements to police were made voluntarily.
Instead, the issue was raised in a friend-of-the-court brief by the conservative Washington Legal Foundation.
"Some would," that's a bit of,
"Hoarded. Soard," it's unsu-
ous.
MIRANDA WARNING
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense."
Source: www.courttv.com
al."
Suzanne Sherry, law professor at the University of Minnesota, said the court's action was more than a stretch.
"I think it is an extreme case of ignoring the law to reach a particular result," Sherry said. "It seems to me pretty clear that Miranda has to be a constitutional doctrine, and Congress can't overrule it."
the 4th Circuit's rulings limiting federal power mostly have come on the heels of 1995 Supreme Court ruling that said Congress exceeded its authority when it imposed harsher penalties on gun possession near a school.
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