704
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
the voluntariness question directly. See Johnson, supra, at 730-731. And, to the extent exclusion of voluntary but unwarned confessions serves a deterrent function, "[t]he awarding of habeas relief years after conviction will often strike like lightning, and it is absurd to think that this added possibility . . . will have any appreciable effect on police training or behavior." Duckworth, supra, at 211 (O'Connor, J., concurring). Judge Friendly made precisely the same point 18 years earlier: "[T]he deterrent value of permitting collateral attack," he explained, "goes beyond the point of diminishing returns." Friendly, Is Innocence Irrelevant? Collateral Attack on Criminal Judgments, 38 U. Chi. L. Rev. 142, 163 (1970).
Despite its meager benefits, the relitigation of Miranda
claims on habeas imposes substantial costs. Just like the application of the exclusionary rule, application of Miranda's prophylactic rule on habeas consumes scarce judicial resources on an issue unrelated to guilt or innocence. No less than the exclusionary rule, it undercuts finality. It creates tension between the state and federal courts. And it upsets the division of responsibilities that underlies our federal system. But most troubling of all, Miranda's application on habeas sometimes precludes the just application of law altogether. The order excluding the statement will often be issued "years after trial, when a new trial may be a practical impossibility." Duckworth, 492 U. S., at 211 (O'Connor, J., concurring). Whether the Court admits it or not, the grim result of applying Miranda on habeas will be, time and time again, "the release of an admittedly guilty individual who may pose a continuing threat to society." Ibid.
Any rule that so demonstrably renders truth and society "the loser," McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U. S., at 181, " 'bear[s] a heavy burden of justification, and must be carefully limited to the circumstances in which it will pay its way by deterring official lawlessness,' " United States v. Leon, 468 U. S. 897, 908, n. 6 (1984) (quoting Illinois v. Gates, 462 U. S. 213, 257-
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