Withrow v. Williams, 507 U.S. 680, 23 (1993)

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702

WITHROW v. WILLIAMS

Opinion of O'Connor, J.

sources, intrudes on the interest in finality, creates friction between the state and federal systems of justice, and upsets the " 'constitutional balance upon which the doctrine of federalism is founded.' " Id., at 490, 491, n. 31 (quoting Schneckloth v. Bustamonte, 412 U. S. 218, 259 (1973) (Powell, J., concurring)). Because application of the exclusionary rule on habeas "offend[s] important principles of federalism and finality in the criminal law which have long informed the federal courts' exercise of habeas jurisdiction," Duckworth, 492 U. S., at 208 (O'Connor, J., concurring), we held in Stone that such claims would no longer be cognizable on habeas so long as the State already had provided the defendant with a full and fair opportunity to litigate.

I continue to believe that these same considerations apply to Miranda claims with equal, if not greater, force. See Duckworth, supra, at 209 (O'Connor, J., concurring). Like the suppression of the fruits of an illegal search or seizure, the exclusion of statements obtained in violation of Miranda is not constitutionally required. This Court repeatedly has held that Miranda's warning requirement is not a dictate of the Fifth Amendment itself, but a prophylactic rule. See, e. g., McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U. S. 171, 176 (1991); Michigan v. Harvey, 494 U. S. 344, 350 (1990); Duckworth, supra, at 203; New York v. Quarles, 467 U. S. 649, 654 (1984); Michigan v. Tucker, 417 U. S. 433, 442-446 (1974). Because Miranda "sweeps more broadly than the Fifth Amendment itself," it excludes some confessions even though the Constitution would not. Oregon v. Elstad, 470 U. S. 298, 306 (1985). Indeed, "in the individual case, Miranda's preventive medicine [often] provides a remedy even to the defendant who has suffered no identifiable constitutional harm." Id., at 307.

Miranda's overbreadth, of course, is not without justification. The exclusion of unwarned statements provides a strong incentive for the police to adopt "procedural safeguards," Miranda, 384 U. S., at 444, against the exaction of

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