Another Word For It Patrick Durusau on Topic Maps and Semantic Diversity

December 24, 2013

A Salinas Card

Filed under: Government,Law — Patrick Durusau @ 1:51 pm

Salinas v. Texas

The Scotusblog has this summary of Salinas v. Texas:

When petitioner had not yet been placed in custody or received Miranda warnings, and voluntarily responded to some questions by police about a murder, the prosecution’s use of his silence in response to another question as evidence of his guilty at trial did not violate the Fifth Amendment because petitioner failed to expressly invoke his privilege not to incriminate himself in response to the officer’s question.

A lay translation: If the police ask you questions, before you have been arrested or read your rights, your silence can and will be used against you in court.

I could go on for thousands of words about why Salinas v. Texas was wrongly decided, but that won’t help in an interaction with the police.

I have a simpler and perhaps even effective course of action, the Salinas Card.

My name is: (insert your name).

I invoke my right against self-incrimination and refuse to answer any and all questions, verbal, written or otherwise communicated.

I invoke my right to counsel and cannot afford counsel. I request counsel be appointed and to be present for any questioning, lineups or other identification procedures, and/or any legal proceedings.

I do not consent to any searches of my person, my immediate surroundings or any vehicles or structures that I may own, rent or otherwise occupy.

Date: ___________________________
Police Officer

Get a local criminal defense attorney to approve the language for your state (some states have more protections than the U.S. Constitution). Print the card up on standard 3″ x 5″ index card stock.

When approached by the police, read your Salinas Card to them, date it and ask for their signature on it. (Keep the original, give them a copy.)

Personally I would keep four (4) or (5) 2-card sets on hand at all times.

PS: This is not legal advice but a suggestion that you get legal advice. Show this post to your local public defender and ask them to approve a Salinas card.

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Powered by WordPress