When dealing with the possibility of a police interview, it is important to know your rights. This is where knowledge of your Miranda rights could come in handy.
What are these rights, exactly? How do their protections work?
Remaining silent in an interview
Miranda Warning discusses the impact of your Miranda rights. Generally speaking, your Miranda rights protect two things: your right to remain silent, and your right to legal representation. But what exactly do these rights mean?
Your right to remain silent is likely the one that you have heard the most about. This protects your right to avoid speaking to law enforcement in an interrogation or interview. Police cannot force you to speak in the event that you invoke your Miranda rights.
Note, however, that police can still use what you say against you. Thus, after you invoke your right to remain silent, you must actually remain silent.
Relying on legal aid
Next, your right to legal representation also helps you navigate discussions with authorities. You will likely not know how to handle these conversations, but it is the job of an attorney to know what to do in these situations.
Of course, an attorney is often expensive to hire. This is where your Miranda rights come in handy again. By invoking them, the state must provide you with legal representation if you cannot afford it on your own.
Together, these two protections can go a long way to ensure that you do not accidentally incriminate yourself when discussing matters with the police in an interrogative setting.
