Handcuffing the Cops? A Thirty Year Perspective on Miranda’s Effects on Law Enforcement

Abstract

Critics charged that the Supreme Court’s 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona would “handcuff the cops.” Were critics’ concerns justified? This Article, using FBI data, finds that national crime clearance rates fell precipitously in the two years immediately after Miranda and have remained at lower levels in the decades since. Multiple regression analysis further reveals that rising crime rates and the aging baby-boom generation do not account for much of this decline in clearance rates. Rather, as this Article concludes, Miranda has in fact “handcuffed” the police, and society should begin to explore ways of loosening these shackles.

Keywords: Victim, Crime Victim, Impact Statements, Criminal Justice, Sentencing

JEL Classification: K14, K41, K42