Public Safety Exception

I have spoke with the tongue of angels
I have held the hand of the devil
It was warm in the night
I was cold as a stone
--U2

Near the bottom of this piece, Judge Nap explains the rationale of the public safety exception to the Miranda warning. It permits arresting officers who perceive imminent danger in the arresting environment to ask questions like "Where is the gun?" in an effort to protect themselves prior to securing suspects and reading them their rights.

Properly executed, the public safety exception is fleeting and temporary--meant to last until the arresting environment is secure.

In the case of Boston bombing suspect number two, the US attorney general advised told FBI agents to pretend that threats to public safety still existed even after the arrest was made local government officials sounded the all clear. Officials began questioning the suspect, who had yet to receive his Miranda warning, in the hospital days after his arrest.

Such behavior is clearly unconstitutional. As the judge observes, it wholly consistent with government tendency to appropriate freedom during times of crisis.

This tendency is as progressive as government appetite for power is insatiable.