Only hours after Faisal Shahzad was taken in to custody at Kennedy Airport, John McCain was on the air suggesting we deny him his civil liberties:
It would have been a serious mistake to have read the suspect in the attempted Times Square car bombing his Miranda rights, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Tuesday.
McCain, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a longtime leading Republican on national security issues, said he expected the suspect in the case could face charges that might warrant a death sentence if convicted.
“Obviously that would be a serious mistake…at least until we find out as much information we have,” McCain said during an appearance on “Imus in the Morning” when asked whether the suspect, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.
“Don’t give this guy his miranda rights until we find out what it’s all about,” McCain added.
McCain isn’t alone in jumping the gun:
Rep. Peter King (N.Y.), the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, wants to know whether the Justice Department consulted with the intelligence community.
“I hope that [Attorney General Eric] Holder did discuss this with the intelligence community. If they believe they got enough from him, how much more should they get? Did they Mirandize him? I know he’s an American citizen but still,” King told POLITICO.
“I hope that if they did read him his rights and if they are going for an indictment as opposed to a tribunal that he did discuss it with the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, all the component parts of the intelligence community,” King said.
(…)
King acknowledged that Shahzad’s case is different. “It is different from the Christmas day bombing because one this guy is an American citizen, it appears that most of the work was carried out here in the United States as opposed to Abdulmutallab who was flying in,” King said. “That said, before there’s a rush to indict him, I think they should make an effort to figure out what is the best venue for him.”
That sound you hear is the Constitution of the United States being run through a shredder.
Update: Here’s the video of McCain’s remarks:
Uh, you still have Miranda Rights whether or not cops read you the warning, it’s not something that switches on when the warning is read. Idiots.
So let’s see if I’ve got this right:
-If you’re not a citizen, you have no rights.
-If you’re a citizen, you have rights, but only when the government says you do.
I predict civil rights lawsuits at some point.
IANAL, but I think some of the constitutional protections apply to everyone, not just citizens, such as free speech, and freedom of religion, and so on. Maybe you disagree, and think that non-citizens (tourists, H1B workers, etc.) don’t get these protections and the Government can do whatever they want to them?
Let’s check the wording of the 5th amendment:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Seems it says person, not citizen, and applies to crimes, not acts of war…so if we want to use any self-witnessing in criminal prosecution, the 5th applies. Does “public danger” only apply to the Grand Jury indictment?
And isn’t the Miranda warning for the education of the suspect/arrestee, not to actually limit attempts to get information from them by the government forces…so we can ask all we want, we just can’t use the answers against them.
If we have enough substantial evidence to prosecute without his own testimony, then we don’t need to worry about Miranda at all, do we?
[...] Repost from Doug’s Blog “John McCain Declares War on the Fifth Amendment”: Only hours after Faisal Shahzad was taken in to custody at Kennedy Airport, John McCain was on the air suggesting we deny him his civil liberties: [...]
[...] Lieberman got on the air yesterday and basically took John McCain’s ignore the Fifth Amendment idea one step [...]
“-or at least until we have as much information as we have…” McCain knows about terrorists, a subject that democrats refuse to even utter the words about. McCain should be respected on his knowledge of terrorists and foreign relations. I respect him as a Congressional figure, as a War Hero and as a well informed man of integrity who knows what is best for our Nation. We could spend millions of dollars giving this guy a lawyer and court cases for nothing if he is a terrorist. If he is one, and that was what McCain was stating, if he is a terrorist, he deserves NOTHING. These terrorists are not dumb, they are going to try and take advantage of our court system, knowing that they have a chance of getting off on a far lighter sentence. McCain is respected in AZ and should be respected on this issue. He has my vote and everyone I know is voting for him, we believe in him!