Yikes! Thanks to Paul Cassell for this lead:
Yesterday I expressed my concern about the decision to Mirandize the Christmas day bomber. Today’s Wall Street Journal has this excellent editorial forcefully criticizing the Administration’s decision to do so. Here’s an excerpt:
(…) As the facts are emerging, it appears that this was a mistake of the first order. Abdulmutallab admitted he was from al Qaeda and was speaking “openly.†But then he was given a break and given Miranda warnings, after which he apparently stopped giving useful information.
It is instructive to compare the solicitude for Abdulmutallab’s Miranda rights with this headline story in today’s news: “Report: Al-Qaeda Aims to Hit U.S. with WMDs: Huge Attack is Top Strategic Goal, Not ‘Empty Rhetoric,’ Ex-CIA Official Says.†Would Abdulmutallab have given us useful leads to pursue in stopping such an attack had he been questioned further rather than Mirandized? Unfortunately, we will never know.
Please continue reading Volokh Conspiracy.
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