Student Review:

According to the authors, this article assesses the effect of the reading of "Miranda Rights" upon the overall confession rate
of suspects during questioning. The article is based on a statistical assessment of police questioning and suspects'
confessions in Salt Lake County, Utah.

The data gathered during the collected during this study is detailed. Researchers collected data by attending "screening"
sessions held at the Salt Lake County District Attorney's office during a six-month period in the summer of 1994.

The interpretation of the data leaves much to be desired. The authors' bias against Miranda Warnings pervades the article.
It is apparent that the authors began this project with the intention of showing that the balance struck in Miranda between
effective police interrogation and the protection of suspects from abuse unduly favors suspects' rights.

According to the authors, their data shows confession rates have fallen from 55-60%, pre-Miranda, to 33&1/3%,
post-Miranda. However, the authors fail to properly factor in significant variables especially: the effect of the 21% of
suspects never questioned and the 8.8% of suspects that volunteered statements without prompting. This article fails to
assess the effect of the Miranda Warnings upon confession rates. To accomplish this result, the authors should limit their
study to the 9.5% of suspects that invoked Miranda rights and determine if police advisement of those rights precluded a
confession. The statistical analysis of a non-isolated variable is a waste of paper and the reader's time.

Article Summary by: Brett Hanna
Wake Forest University School of Law 1996