http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TIMES_SQUARE_MIRANDA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-05-09-14-22-19

The following is based on the AP article above.

America is under attack. I don’t mean to be an alarmist, but at this point I don’t think I’m telling you anything new. The recently attempted bombing in Times Square, Christmas eve a man attempted to blow up a plane flying into Detroit. Further back, the tragic September 11th attacks. America has always had enemies, but in recent times, those enemies have brought their terrorism to our country. Its difficult to understand all of the different ways this has effected us, but as we try to defend ourselves against an unorthodox attack, we are faced with the challenge of how to allow our system of government to process the legal side of protecting us from this new threat.
Our Constitution written more than 200 years ago was not formed for the specific threats that we face today. And while over the years we have reformed and slightly redefined the rights of liberty that we enjoy, we again need to come together and redefine those rights again, so that we may protect ourselves and have a clearly defined legal system to handle those who would bring their terrorism to our shores.
One of the main purposes of the Government is to protect its citizens. We have come together as a Nation, to pool our money and resources so that we can all be covered under the umbrella of protection that our Government was formed to provide for all citizens.
And we have established rights and liberty for all of our country’s citizens. We have established due process, rights to a speedy trial and we have established the right against unreasonable search and seizure. We have the right against self-incrimination and the Supreme Court has ruled that we must be informed of our legal rights before police officers or other legal authorities can question us. This is all well in good in 1966 when the Supreme Court handing down this landmark ruling. But over time as a society evolves, the laws that govern that society must change with it.
Attorney General Eric Holder has suggested that the law regarding Miranda Rights should be re-examined to fit into the our modern era. However this suggestion brings more questions than answers. This is an issue that many people will feel passionately about, but there is one thing I think most of us can agree on: Our current legal system is ineffective in handling terrorists.
We have The Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation charged with investigation and apprehension of these terrorists. And while many arguments can be made that they aren’t capable of handling the entire task, that is what we have and that isn’t the focus of my post.
The argument for changing Miranda rights or making some type of exception for those classified as terrorist is this; With the right to remain silent and not be questioned by authorities without legal council, many other people are put in danger of a coming attack that a thorough interrogation may discover. Threats against the peace of our society are taken very serious and we will not stand for the coddling of terrorist suspects while the rest of us are in danger.
The argument against any adjustment is a very solid one too. Simply put, every citizen is guaranteed unalienable rights that have been spelled out in the constitution. The right to unreasonable search and seizure, the right to a speedy trial and the right against self-incrimination. Given to much power, our government, or any government will abuse that power. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. If we allow out rights to be eroded a little bit now, what is to stop them from being eroded a little more in the future?
I would love to hear from everyone about his or her opinions on this matter. Which side are you on? Do you have a solution in mind? Lets talk about this and see if we the people can come together and discuss the matter and even if we can find a solution. Because as we can all agree, we need a solution.