Supreme Court rules out suing police for Miranda violations

In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that a defendant who was questioned and confessed without receiving Miranda warnings did not have a claim against the officer.

"Miranda itself was clear on this point. Miranda did not hold that a violation of the rules it established necessarily constitute a Fifth Amendment violation, and it is difficult to see how it could have held otherwise," Justice Samuel Alito wrote in the Court's opinion, in which he extensively referenced the Miranda decision. "Instead, it claimed only that those rules were needed to safeguard that right during custodial interrogation," he later added.

Tekoh was a nursing assistant at a hospital where he was accused of sexually assaulting a patient. He was not advised of Miranda warnings and later after questioning wrote a statement in which he confessed and apologized for his actions.