Cite as: 512 U. S. 452 (1994)
Souter, J., concurring in judgment
enforcement officials 2 are to the contrary. All argue against the Court's approach today, which draws a sharp line between interrogated suspects who "clearly" assert their right to counsel, ante, at 461, and those who say something that may, but may not, express a desire for counsel's presence, the former suspects being assured that questioning will not resume without counsel present, see Miranda, supra, at 474, Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U. S. 477, 484-485 (1981); Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U. S. 146 (1990), the latter being left to fend for themselves. The concerns of fairness and practicality that have long anchored our Miranda case law point to a different response: when law enforcement officials "reasonably do not know whether or not the suspect wants a lawyer," ante, at 460, they should stop their interrogation and ask him to make his choice clear.
I
A
While the question we address today is an open one,3 its answer requires coherence with nearly three decades of case
456, 461-462 (CA10 1993); United States v. Mendoza-Cecelia, 963 F. 2d 1467, 1472 (CA11 1992); see also Howard v. Pung, 862 F. 2d 1348 (CA8 1988). The weight of state-court authority is similarly lopsided, see, e. g., People v. Benjamin, 732 P. 2d 1167, 1171 (Colo. 1987); Crawford v. State, 580 A. 2d 571, 576-577 (Del. 1990); Martinez v. State, 564 So. 2d 1071, 1074 (Fla. 1990); State v. Robinson, 427 N. W. 2d 217, 223 (Minn. 1988).
2 See Brief for Americans for Effective Law Enforcement, Inc., International Association of Chiefs of Police, Inc., National District Attorneys Association, and National Sheriffs' Association as Amici Curiae 5 (The approach advocated here "is a common sense resolution of the problem. It fully accommodates the rights of the subject, while at the same time preserv[ing] the interests of law enforcement and of the public welfare"); see also Brief for United States 20 (approach taken by the Court does not "fulfill the fundamental purpose of Miranda") (internal quotation marks omitted).
3 The majority acknowledges, ante, at 456, that we have declined (despite the persistence of divergent approaches in the lower courts) to decide the operative rule for such ambiguous statements, see, e. g., Connecticut v. Barrett, 479 U. S. 523, 529, n. 3 (1987); Mueller v. Virginia, 507 U. S. 1043
467
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