January 23, 2002 - Miranda This

Much to the consternation of French policemen, a common scene is occurring more and more in France. Local gendarmes stop a man to check his vehicle registration. The indignant Frenchman demands his Miranda rights and a lawyer for his defense. When he is informed that he does not have these rights, he is outraged. He knows the law by heart.

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can’t afford an attorney, one will be provided…”

Of course every American knows it by heart. Its on television every night and practically every movie quotes it. But why do the French think they have Miranda rights?

There is a whole generation of French who grew up watching Kojak, Columbo and hundreds of other American programs and movies where policemen speaking French read suspects their Miranda rights. Since American television programs and films are dubbed in French, the viewers assume that the programs and films are taking place in France.

Most Americans are opposed to mollycoddling criminals with things like Miranda rights and somehow it does seem unpatriotic. Everybody ought to cooperate with the police but recent events have shown that Americans will confess to anything even if they are innocent. All it takes is for a policeman to say “You know that it will go easier on you if you confess” to get someone to confess that he shot Lincoln from a grassy knoll in Dallas.

The student living in the hotel next to the World Trade Center confessed three times to being involved in something that he didn’t do. Of course he was kept in solitary confinement for a month which is something akin to torture, but in general confessions come easy. Policemen tell me that people blurt out confessions before they have a chance to ask their names. Next to eyewitness identification, confessions are becoming the most unreliable evidence presented in courtrooms.

But false confessions are not a problem in France. The French know their rights and how to claim them. America has swamped France with its cultural exports and now they can add Miranda to the list.