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| from uptownmagazine.com |
It may come as no surprise to people that police sometimes lie. When I tell people that law enforcement are "permitted" to do that then they are taken aback. Permitted by whom or what? What do I mean?
This lying, It's NOT in the United States Constitution, nor in the New York State regulations.
THE "ROLE" OF LAW ENFORCEMENT
Actually it is (an unspoken) part of their job duties or description. Their role after all is to investigate crimes, to arrest, and to charge (enforce) crimes under the law. Remember the Steven Seagal movie "Above the Law," well you are considered "Below the Law."
In the performance or context of their duties they interrogate people. In order to interrogate (question) them fully, and successfully they will tell lies. They want people to tell them the truth. They seek admissions of guilt. They seek fault and blame. They want people to basically open up. Can they get a confession?
In order to get what they want in this quest for justice they are permitted to tell people just about anything. They may tell them misstatements of law, factual impossibilities or improbabilities, and even things that never occurred. It might sound strange that to get at the truth we allow the government enforcers to lie. Kinda follows the logic of "the ends justify the means."
THE INVOCATION
To balance out this (police intrusion) conduct you have CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.
BUT YOU must invoke your rights. They will not surface until you state the magic words to the police, "I want a lawyer." Your two main rights of protection against the police (the government) are under Miranda:
1. The right to remain silent. Silence in this context is golden.
2. The right to have counsel present during questions. This balances the playing field, nothing more or less.
These rights came about after decades of police abuses in investigating crimes, and forcing confessions.
They used to Question people for hours and hours under hot lights, deprived of sleep, and without food or drink. This was the norm back in the day. Today the military has shown us the uses and abuses of water boarding, humiliation tactics, and psychological degradation to prisoners.
You stand nothing to gain and much to lose by talking with the police without an attorney present. The power and psychological advantage alone creates a dangerous situation for most people (guilty and innocent).
Lawrence Newman, D.C., Esq.
504 N. Aurora St.
Ithaca, NY 14850
607-229-5184
http://www.ithacadwi.com
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