Those Were the Days
- Subsection II is all about history.
- Warren focuses on the constitutional right against self-incrimination, and how that right has been applied (or not) in history.
- According to the court's research, one of the earliest examples of someone claiming a legal right to not self-incriminate goes back to the year 1637, with a guy named John Lilburn in Britain.
- (Remember—our U.S. Constitution was written by people who were heavily influenced by England's rules and laws.)
- Warren goes on to explain the evolution of the right against self-incrimination in the U.S., with cases such as Boyd v. United States in 1886, and Counselman v. Hitchcock in 1892. What's the point here? That there's a history of these rights being followed in the U.S.
- Warren makes an important observation about this whole right against self-incrimination thing: it's about preserving someone's dignity. It's about finding the truth through fair means, rather than taking a shortcut.
- Next Warren focuses specifically on a case called Bram v. United States, which included the precedent that any confession gained by the police through compulsory (forced) means has to be thrown out and not used in court.
- Warren connects this last point to Miranda v. Arizona by saying that a confession could be forced through psychological pressures as well, so those have to be thrown out, too.
- We see a handful of other court cases referenced next, all having to do with the Fifth Amendment, confessions, and police pressure. Warren's building a base of historical precedent for this current case.
- Warren returns to Escobedo v. Illinois, which allowed a defendant to speak to a lawyer to help with the psychological strain of being interrogated in custody.