Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Voluntary confessions given without police coercion are not protected by the Fifth Amendment.
In plain terms
You can speak to police freely if you choose to.
What can you take from it?
The right to remain silent applies to interrogation, not voluntary talks.

Where it applies

  • criminal investigations
  • legal counsel
  • police stations

Putting it to work

  • understanding Miranda rights
  • deciding when to speak

Questions to consider

  • When is it safe to talk to police?
  • What are your legal rights?

Another view

Volunteering info can still harm a case.

More from Earl Warren

  1. The police must obey the law while enforcing the law.

    Permalink to quote #25
  2. To get what you want, STOP doing what isn't working.

    Permalink to quote #27
  3. The old Court you and I served so long will not be worthy of its traditions if Nixon can twist, turn and fashion. If Nixon gets away with that, then Nixon make…

    Permalink to quote #24

Related quotes

  1. It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape. Where the suspect poses no immediate threat to the officer and no threat to others, the ha…

    Byron WhiteByron White quote #2
  2. When an individual is taken into custody or otherwise deprived of his freedom by the authorities and is subjected to questioning...he must be warned prior to a…

    Earl WarrenEarl Warren quote #3
  3. [C]onvictions following the admission into evidence of confessions which are involuntary, i.e., the product of coercion, either physical or psychological, cann…

    Felix FrankfurterFelix Frankfurter quote #13