CHARLIE SAVAGE
The New York Times
May 11, 2010
- A d v e r t i s e m e n t
- {openx:49}
WASHINGTON — David Axelrod, the top White House political adviser, said Monday that President Obama was amenable to Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s call for a new law allowing interrogators to question terrorism suspects for lengthy periods without informing them of their rights.
In an interview on CNN, Mr. Axelrod said Mr. Obama was “open to looking at” changing the Miranda rule, which generally bans prosecutors from using as evidence statements made by suspects in custody before they have been warned that they have a right to remain silent and to consult a lawyer. “There may be some things that have to be done,” Mr. Axelrod said. “Certainly we’re willing to talk to Congress about that. But they would be in the area of adjustments, not a wholesale revision.”
Mr. Axlerod’s comments came a day after Mr. Holder called for Congress to enact legislation that would carve out a new exception to the Miranda rule. It comes from a landmark 1966 Supreme Court decision that is intended to ensure that confessions are not coerced, consistent with the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
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