Miranda rights

plural noun

US, law

: the legal rights of an arrested person to have an attorney and to refuse to answer questions

Examples of Miranda rights in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The interview at the Wright State Campus Police Department began with officers reading the teen her Miranda rights. —Angel Saunders, People.com, 5 Oct. 2024

When he was taken into custody at the airport on Aug. 9, Atha waived his Miranda rights and agreed to speak with federal agents, according to the indictment. —Nicole Acosta, Peoplemag, 17 Aug. 2024

But the federal case fell apart after a judge determined that he hadn’t been informed of his Miranda rights before talking to an investigator. —Sean Emery, Orange County Register, 31 July 2024

The police officer sitting across from the teenager and his mother begins to read the teen his Miranda rights. —Kerry Kennedy, New York Daily News, 24 July 2024

Legal Definition

Miranda rights

noun plural

: the rights (as the right to remain silent, to have an attorney present, and to have an attorney appointed if indigent) of which an arresting officer must advise the person being arrested see also Miranda v. Arizona

Note: A reading of the Miranda rights usually includes a warning that anything said could be used as evidence. No statements made by an arrested person or evidence obtained therefrom may be introduced at trial unless the person was advised of or validly waived these rights. A fresh reading of the Miranda rights may be required by the passage of time after the initial reading, as for example if a previously silent person begins to speak or police interrogate a person more than once.

Etymology

from Miranda v. Arizona, the 1966 U.S. Supreme Court ruling establishing such rights