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Vol. 74/No. 22      June 7, 2010

 
Letters
 
Due process rights
There is a lot of misinformation about due process rights of people in the U.S. Both the 5th Amendment (with regard to federal jurisdiction) and the 14th Amendment (regarding all other jurisdictions such as states, counties, local cops, etc.) refer to all persons, whether or not they are citizens, who are arrested in the United States.

When a person is arrested or in custody of the state (cops, FBI, DEA, etc.) he or she is to be afforded all the rights of due process, including Miranda warnings. Unless explicitly knowingly and intentionally waived (given up), statements can be excluded from evidence against that person because it is a violation of due process. Citizenship has nothing to do with it. If you are arrested in the U.S. you must be given due process.

Of course, the best course of action is not to say anything to the cops, ICE, FBI or other police agencies. That point is made again and again by Farrell Dobbs in the four volumes about the Teamsters.

Robin Maisel
Lebanon, Pennsylvania

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