May 16, 2010

Does Kagan Support ‘Public Safety’ Exception to Miranda?

Jonathan Adler:
Federal agents were able to interrogate would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad about other potential attacks before giving him Miranda warnings under the “public safety” exception recognized by the Supreme Court in New York v. Quarles. As Tom Grant and John Ullyot note in today’s WSJ, both the justice for whom Elena Kagan clerked (Thurgood Marshall) and the justice she would replace (John Paul Stevens) dissented in that decision. This prompts them to wonder whether SG Kagan feels the same way.