Court hears case over deputy who didn’t read Miranda rights

By MARK SHERMAN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — You have the right to remain silent. Everyone knows police aren’t supposed to question suspects without reading them their Miranda rights. But what happens when law enforcement officers don’t first read suspects their rights? The Supreme Court on Wednesday wrestled with whether a sheriff’s deputy can be sued for money damages for violating the rights of a hospital employee who was accused of sexually assaulting a patient. At issue is whether the familiar Miranda warning, which the court recognized in its Miranda v. Arizona decision in 1966 and reaffirmed 34 years later, is a constitutional right or has a lesser and less-defined status.