Cite as: 512 U. S. 452 (1994)
Souter, J., concurring in judgment
see further objection as futile and confession (true or not) as the only way to end his interrogation.5
Nor is it enough to say that a " 'statement either is . . . an assertion of the right to counsel or it is not.' " Ante, at 459 (quoting Smith v. Illinois, 469 U. S., at 97-98) (omitting brackets and internal quotation marks). In Smith, we neither denied the possibility that a reference to counsel could be ambiguous, see id., at 98; accord, id., at 101 (Rehnquist, J., dissenting), nor suggested that particular statements should be considered in isolation, id., at 98.6 While it might be fair to say that every statement is meant either to express a desire to deal with police through counsel or not, this fact does not dictate the rule that interrogators who hear a statement consistent with either possibility may presume the latter and forge ahead; on the contrary, clarification is the intuitively sensible course.
The other justifications offered for the "requisite level of clarity" rule, ante, at 459, are that, whatever its costs, it will further society's strong interest in "effective law enforcement," ante, at 461, and maintain the "ease of application,"
5 See People v. Harper, 94 Ill. App. 3d 298, 300, 418 N. E. 2d 894, 896 (1981) (defendant who asked interrogator to retrieve an attorney's business card from his wallet but was told that it " 'wouldn't be necessary' " held not to have "availed himself" of right to counsel); see also Cooper v. Dupnik, 963 F. 2d 1220, 1225 (CA9 1992) (en banc) (describing elaborate police Task Force plan to ignore systematically a suspect's requests for counsel, on the theory that such would induce hopelessness and thereby elicit an admission, which would then be used to keep the suspect off the witness stand, see Oregon v. Hass, 420 U. S. 714 (1975) (statements obtained in violation of Miranda rules admissible for impeachment purposes)).
6 Indeed, our Smith decision was quoting from the dissent below, which adverts in the same sentence to the possibility of "bona fide doubt the officer may still have as to whether the defendant desires counsel," in which case "strictly" limited questioning is prescribed. See People v. Smith, 102 Ill. 2d 365, 375, 466 N. E. 2d 236, 241 (1984) (opinion of Simon, J.).
473
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