He is not going to outsmart the police interrogator, who has a wealth of experience. Even if the suspect does not end up producing a full confession, he may reveal details which will help the government build a case against him. In the long run, routine deception by the police tears at our social fabric, and undermines the law enforcement system. The more the police lie, the more skeptical juries are going to be, even when police are telling the truth. Moreover, there are about six thousand false convictions for felonies every year in the United States.
False confessions are one of the major reasons for the conviction of innocent persons.
So ironically, Miranda keeps judges and juries from giving any serious consideration to not relying on confessions that are the products of sophisticated deception and psychological coercion. This article, from the Independence Institute staff, fellows and research network, is offered for your use at no charge. Independence Feature Syndicate articles are published for educational purposes only, and the authors speak for themselves. Nothing written here is to be construed as necessarily representing the views of the Independence Institute or as an attempt to influence any election or legislative action. Opinion-editorials from the Institute and from Dave Kopel.