Withrow v. Williams, 507 U.S. 680, 26 (1993)

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Cite as: 507 U. S. 680 (1993)

Opinion of O'Connor, J.

258 (1983) (White, J., concurring in judgment)). That burden is heavier still on collateral review. In light of the meager deterrent benefit it brings and the tremendous costs it imposes, in my view application of Miranda's prophylactic rule on habeas "falls short" of justification. Ante, at 688.

III

The Court identifies a number of differences that, in its view, distinguish this case from Stone v. Powell. Ante, at 691-695. I am sympathetic to the Court's concerns but find them misplaced nonetheless.

The first difference the Court identifies concerns the nature of the right protected. Miranda, the Court correctly points out, fosters Fifth Amendment, rather than Fourth Amendment, values. Ante, at 691. The Court then offers a defense of the Fifth Amendment, reminding us that it is " 'a fundamental trial right' " that reflects " 'principles of humanity and civil liberty' "; that it was secured " 'after years of struggle' "; and that it does not serve "some value necessarily divorced from the correct ascertainment of guilt." Ante, at 691-692 (quoting United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, 494 U. S. 259, 364 (1990), and Bram v. United States, 168 U. S. 532, 544 (1897)). The Court's spirited defense of the Fifth Amendment is, of course, entirely beside the point. The question is not whether true Fifth Amendment claims—the extraction and use of compelled testimony—should be cognizable on habeas. It is whether violations of Miranda's prophylactic rule, which excludes from trial voluntary confessions obtained without the benefit of Miranda's now-familiar warnings, should be. The questions are not the same; nor are their answers.

To say that the Fifth Amendment is a " 'fundamental trial right,' " ante, at 691 (quoting United States v. Verdugo-Urquidez, supra, at 264), is thus both correct and irrelevant. Miranda's warning requirement may bear many labels, but "fundamental trial right" is not among them. Long before

705

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