Full Text of HR1072 99th General Assembly
HR1072 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Police interrogation raises challenging legal | 3 | | questions because of the important but competing interests | 4 | | these practices implicate; and | 5 | | WHEREAS, Confessions by guilty suspects aid the police in | 6 | | solving crimes and promoting public safety; but the desire to | 7 | | secure a confession can invite abusive police practices, and | 8 | | these practices can undermine valued individual rights, and | 9 | | even prompt innocent persons to confess; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, The Fifth Amendment to the United States | 11 | | Constitution made applicable to the states by the Fourteenth | 12 | | Amendment provides that (n)o person shall be compelled in any | 13 | | criminal case to be a witness against himself (or herself); and | 14 | | WHEREAS, June 13, 2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the | 15 | | landmark United States Supreme Court decision of Miranda v. | 16 | | Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966); and
| 17 | | WHEREAS, The decision holds that when an individual is | 18 | | taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his or her freedom | 19 | | by the authorities in any significant way and is subjected to | 20 | | questioning, he or she must be warned prior to any questioning | 21 | | that he or she has the right to remain silent, that anything he |
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| 1 | | or she says can be used against him or her in a court of law, | 2 | | that he or she has the right to the presence of an attorney | 3 | | during police questioning, and that if he or she cannot afford | 4 | | an attorney one will be appointed for him or her prior to any | 5 | | questioning if he or she so desires and that he or she must be | 6 | | given the opportunity to exercise these rights throughout the | 7 | | interrogation; after the warnings have been given, and the | 8 | | opportunity afforded him or her, the individual may knowingly | 9 | | and intelligently waive these rights and agree to answer | 10 | | questions or make a statement; but unless and until the | 11 | | warnings and waiver are demonstrated by the prosecution at | 12 | | trial, no evidence obtained as a result of interrogation can be | 13 | | used against him or her; and
| 14 | | WHEREAS, Despite some limitations placed on the | 15 | | applicability of the Miranda decision by the United States | 16 | | Supreme Court over the past 50 years, the ruling remains a | 17 | | significant constitutional decision in our system of criminal | 18 | | justice; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The Miranda ruling checks the power of police to | 20 | | coerce their way to a confession from the suspect; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, The Miranda ruling reinforces the fundamental | 22 | | principle that all individuals retain critical rights when in | 23 | | police custody, and that police must work within these rights |
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| 1 | | when interrogating a suspect; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, This principle reinforces our nation's commitment | 3 | | to the rule of law, even when the State is pursuing interests | 4 | | as important as criminal justice and public safety; therefore, | 5 | | be it
| 6 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 7 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 8 | | celebrate the landmark 1966 United States Supreme Court | 9 | | decision of Miranda v. Arizona.
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