Supreme Court to Hear Argument in Miranda Case Wednesday

After shooting him five times, police aggressively interrogated Oliverio Martinez, continuing in the ambulance and then the emergency room, all without reading him his rights. Martinez was never charged, but he brought a civil suit alleging, among other things, "coercive interrogation." The police argue that Miranda does not confer a right not to be interrogated, only a right not to have coerced and un-Mirandized statements used by the prosecution in a criminal trial. The Supreme Court hears arguments December 4, and civil libertarians fear it might lead to an erosion of Miranda rights. Read more about it here.