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Limits Eased On Questioning Suspects

2009

The U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1986 ruling in Michigan v. Jackson that barred police from questioning a suspect once the suspect had requested a lawyer at a court hearing. In Montejo v. Louisiana, the Court eases those restrictions, saying the previous ruling was “unworkable” and allowed some guilty suspects to go free. The dissenting opinion stresses that the Court’s 1986 decision had protected the fundamental right to counsel.