has peeled away an important protection enjoyed by those accused of crimes for years.
Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U.S. 625, protected defendants by holding that "if police initiate interrogation after a defendant's assertion, at an arraignment or similar proceeding, of his right to counsel, any waiver of the defendant's right to counsel for that police interrogation is invalid" (page 636). Basically, defendants were off limits - without the protection of their counsel - after arraignment and the government's chance to get the isolated defendant to say things that would be used against them would end.
Not anymore. In Montejo v. Louisiana, by a five to four vote, the Supreme Court overruled Michigan v. Jackson. The majority complained that the rule of Michigan v. Jackson interfered with the State's efforts to "obtain voluntary confessions" which efforts the majority called an "unmitigated good." The majority figures that police can be trusted to properly advise defendants of their Miranda rights and if the defendant waives those rights, including the right to counsel, then the cops are good to go. Basically, the Montejo case takes the counsel out of the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel. The majority noted that "any suspect subject to custodial interrogation has the right to have a lawyer present if he so requests." But the defendant will face that question without the assistance of counsel now and "if he so requests" is not so cut and dry as I wrote here.
