Magna Carta to Miranda - The Due Process link between Law Day themes

Don't you just love it when Law Day themes click?! Each year, the American Bar Association establishes a theme for Law Day, which is observed on May 1. This year's theme, which turned our attention to the 50th anniversary of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, followed the 2015 Law theme celebrating the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. So, what do a medieval statute and a Warren Court decision separated by 751 years have in common? Simple - Due process.

The connection is extensively examined in a digital exhibit from the Law Library of Congress' titled Magna Carta: Muse & Mentor - Due Process of Law. Prior to June 15, 1215, Englishmen (and everyone else for that matter) had little protection from kings and noblemen hauling them away without cause or trial. When King John placed his seal on Magna Carta, chapter 39 of the document provided that:

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land.

Subsequent English statutes interpreted the phrase "the law of the land" to include procedural safeguards that protect individual rights. One such statute enacted in 1354 added the phrase "due process of law" to the English legal vernacular to describe this collection of procedural rights. The phrase continued in use and found its way into the U.S. Constitution via the Fifth Amendment. By the time Miranda v. Arizona was decided in 1966, the privilege against self-incrimination was a well-established tenet of American jurisprudence and the Court prohibited use of such statements without a showing of the use of procedural safeguards like the warnings that became known as Miranda Warnings.

For more on the Due Process connection from Magna Carta to Miranda v. Arizona, visit the Law Library of Congress digital exhibit Magna Carta: Muse & Mentor. You can also visit the Harris County Law Library's Law Day digital exhibits Magna Carta and Miranda: More than words to discover more about these landmark legal resources. Be sure to also visit the Law Library's lobby to view our 1763 copy of Magna Carta on display during the month of June.

Monthly Features: Magna Carta & Constitutional Law Resources at the HCLL

During the month of June, the Harris County Law Library is commemorating Magna Carta. Don’t miss our digital exhibit and the exhibit currently on display in the Law Library's lobby, where you can explore the origins of this historically-significant document and its impact on both the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights, as well as its influence on the rule of law in Texas.

To complement our Magna Carta exhibits, the Law Library has adopted a theme, Constitutional Law Resource Month, which will feature items from our collection, including treatises, reference works, CLE course materials, form books, and other practitioner tools that may be useful in conducting constitutional law research.

The Law Library will also feature a small display of commentaries and related examples of case law that demonstrate the connections between Magna Carta and American law. All of these resources and exhibits will be featured until the end of June. Don’t miss your chance to see them, and please feel free to ask the Law Library staff any questions about the materials you discover.

Memorial Day Hours

The Harris County Law Library will be closed on Monday, May 30, in observance of Memorial Day. We will resume normal hours of operation on Tuesday, May 31, at 8 a.m.

Memorial Day is an annual day of remembrance in honor of those who have died in defense of the United States. The commemoration began near the end of the Civil War, but it's true origins remain a mystery. Visit the Time Magazine article "A brief history of Memorial Day" to learn more about this day of observance.

Free Legal Assistance for Low-Income Texas Flooding Victims

Following the recent storms in the Houston area, President Obama issued a major disaster declaration for Harris County. In response, the State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, and the ABA Young Lawyers Division have joined forces to assist low-income individuals affected by the severe weather.

A toll-free legal line is now open (800-504-7030); calls are being accepted 24 hours a day. Issues that will be addressed include:

• Assistance securing FEMA and other government benefits available to disaster victims

• Assistance with life, medical, and property insurance claims

• Help with home repair contracts and contractors

• Replacement of wills and other important legal documents lost or destroyed in the disaster

• Consumer protection issues such as price-gouging and avoiding contractor scams in the rebuilding process

• Counseling on mortgage-foreclosure problems

• Counseling on landlord-tenant problems

More details are available from the American Bar Association, along with contact information for FEMA and the Small Business Administration, and from the State Bar of Texas.
See also Disaster Relief Resources from the State Bar of Texas and National Disaster Legal Aid.

Miranda Monday: Mirandizing Family Justice

Throughout the month of May, the Harris County Law Library is celebrating Law Day and the historic Miranda v. Arizona ruling of 1966. This decision, which established our right to remain silent when questioned by the police, is a cornerstone of our freedom and, for the last 50 years, an essential safeguard in guaranteeing procedural due process under the law.

Commemorating this decision and the fundamental rights it guarantees, including the protection against self-incrimination, is important. We at HCLL are committed to safeguarding justice and to reducing the barriers that impede equitable outcomes. We embrace all efforts that increase access to the legal system, especially for those in the greatest need, and we fully support any initiatives that improve expediency and fairness in the delivery of legal services. One such effort, which is slowly making a foothold in Texas, is the Family Justice Center initiative. (Bexar County, Hays County, and Tarrant County all have well-established FJC programs.)

Originating in San Diego, the Family Justice model was designed to increase efficiency and eliminate fragmentation in the delivery of legal services for victims of family violence. According to the program's design, combining governmental and community-based agencies under one roof allows for greater efficiency and better coordination of services, resulting in more effective intervention strategies for those in need of domestic relief.

At the same time, however, those who provide intervention services, including police, prosecutors, social workers, safety advocates, and medical personnel, are required to report any instances of violence, leading to a very problematic conflict of interest: the same duty that obligates these professionals to report abuse also grants them de facto authority to open criminal cases against the perpetrators, ostensibly in the best interests of their clients, but often in opposition with the confidentiality to which their clients are entitled.

A brilliant article by UC-Irvine law professor Jane K. Stoever explores this very conflict and raises the need for extending Miranda-like protections to those involved in the FJC system. Her article, "Mirandizing Family Justice," is worth a careful read. In academia, journalism, and politics, much has been written on the expansion of Miranda rights to civil matters.  As discussed in a previous Miranda Monday post, these protections are typically limited to criminal situations despite recent arguments in favor of the need for civil safeguards.