Should terrorist have miranda rights based on the constitution Essay

Should terrorist have miranda rights based on the constitution - Essay Example Seen in a political and historical context, since times immemorial, constitutions around the world though being sacrosanct tend to be dependent on a plethora of factors in terms of the extension of rights and their interpretation. Historically speaking right from the times of the Greeks, the city states drafted and exercised their constitutions in the light of the geo-political environment amongst which they were placed and the consequent friends and enemies they had to contend with (Manferedi 127). In a post 9/11 scenario, America has found itself in a precarious and unique situation where it happens to be the choicest target of international terrorist organizations. Hence, the constitution should aptly respond to these peculiar circumstances by denying all democratic rights to the terrorists, including the Miranda Rights. One major aspect of Miranda Rights is that the Constitution does recognize the fact that there may be exceptional circumstances, posing a grave threat to public safety, where the extension of Miranda Rights to a suspect may not be pragmatic and safe. In New York v. Quarles (1984), the US Supreme Court did recognize the fact that in circumstances where there is a clear and imminent danger to public safety, exceptions to Mirada Rights are constitutionally relevant. Now, after the gargantuan loss and bloodshed America had to bear with in the 9/11 terror attacks, the very existence of a terrorist pose a clear and imminent threat to public safety. So automatically the terrorists should be excluded from the ambit of safety extended by the Miranda Rights. Terrorists are not like regular criminals to whom the Miranda Rights are extended by the Constitution. At the basis of most of the regular crimes lie two reasons, either need or some form of mental illness. However, terrorists do not kill people because they are in need or are mentally challenged. Rather, most of the