On Friday, September 16, 2016, thousands across the state and country tuned into a special Constitution Day program to learn more about Miranda v. Arizona and its impact on criminal justice. Forced confessions have long been frowned upon in both English and American jurisprudence, but the 1966 Miranda case institutionalized the illegality of such confessions and made it part of the criminal procedure landscape in the United States.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the case, and in conjunction with Constitution Day, The Missouri Bar and HEC-TV hosted The Missouri Bar Constitution Day Program in cooperation with the Public Education and Community Outreach program at the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse in St. Louis. The event was streamed live throughout the day, and viewers could submit questions about Miranda v. Arizona to a panel that included Tim Anderson, former Missouri assistant attorney general; Frank Bowman, professor at the University of Missouri School of Law; John Bodenhausen, U.S. magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Missouri; and Tim Gore, moderator with HEC-TV.
Additionally, several guests sat in on the programming, including students from Fort Zumwalt South, McCluer South-Berkeley, Soldan and Webster Groves, and discussed how the Miranda decision impacted later cases, such as Brewer v. Williams in 1977 and Rhode Island v. Innis in 1980.
This was the ninth consecutive year that The Missouri Bar and HEC-TV have partnered for the event. In 2011, a Constitution Day Program on the presidency won a Telly Award for outstanding programming. Several other Constitution Day sessions have been nominated for the award.
Video from the day’s event remains available at hectv.org. To learn more about Miranda v. Arizona and its current implications, download The Missouri Bar’s Constitution Day study guide.
