Confessions of Guilt: From Torture to Miranda and Beyond

This book examines the history of the law of interrogation, beginning with England in the late eighteenth century and ending with an examination of American practices in the years following the September 11 terrorist attacks. The authors explore how the law of interrogation has moved from indifference about extreme force to concern about the slightest pressures on suspects, and back again. They argue that a culture’s perception of threats to its existence is an important determinant of the level of interrogation pressure that its legal system will tolerate. The greater the perceived threat, the more coercion a culture will tolerate to eradicate threats to its existence and control. The book concludes with an examination of the future of the law of interrogation, arguing that, in the United States, the law of interrogation will fracture between investigation of ordinary domestic crime and investigation of terrorism.The downloadable document includes the following excerpts from the book: Chapter 1, Introduction; Chapter 4, Early American Interrogation Law; Chapter 7, The Miranda Revolution; Chapter 8, Miranda Changes the Confession World; Chapter 9, Miranda Today; Chapter 10, Interrogation Law: The Future?