Dayani. Meza
Professor Margayan
Constitutional Law
Vega v. Tekoh
Vega vs Tekoh was a case that went in front of the Supreme court. Terence B. Tekoh is a patient transporter for a hospital and was accused of sexual assault by a patient, so the hospital processed to contact the authorities. When this happened Deputy Carlos Vega, went to the hospital and questioned and took Terence’s statement. When doing so Vega did not read Tekoh his Miranda rights. Miranda rights are rights that are typically read to a person prior to being questioned and when they are under arrest. Miranda rights were established in 1966. Miranda rights are in the fifth and sixth amendments. They are what allow you to remain silent, to have an attorney, and to not self-incriminate. Terence B. Tekoh’s case ended up going to trial but was found innocent of the crime that he was accused of. After Tekoh was acquitted, he sued Vega under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 because Vega did not read him his Miranda rights, therefore, violating his fifth amendment. Anyone should be able to sue a police officer if they have violated their rights.
Under federal civil rights laws, people won’t be able to sue a police officer for not reading them their Miranda rights. This is a big problem because not everyone knows what Miranda rights are, especially young people. This will cause many people to go to jail because they might say the wrong thing and whatever they say gets held against them. Being able to sue a police officer for not reading us our right is a very important right that we should have at all times. If Police officers can’t get sued for not reading people their Miranda rights, then they won’t feel obligated to read it to people. It’s just the start of them not doing what they are supposed to. It’s a matter of time until they no longer say it. It’s a matter of time until that right is taken away. If whatever evidence that they used for your convection is from a statement that you gave a police officer without knowing your Miranda rights and you go to jail, you can’t sue said police officers for damages. And that is why is it important to be able to hold police officers accountable for their actions.
The Supreme court came to a 6-3 decision. Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett decided that it was not a constitutional right while Justice Elena Kagan, Justice Stephen Breyer and Justice Sonia Sotomayor disagreed and basically said that it should be a constitutional right. Miranda rights aren’t actually a constitutional right. You are entailed to them but under the constitution, it did not violate the 5th amendment. Miranda rights are a constitutional rule but not a constitutional right.
Works Cited:
Bond Shannon, “Supreme Court says police can’t be sued for not reading out Miranda rights”, 2022 Accessed 6 Jul.2022.
“Vega v. Tekoh.” Oyez, www.oyez.org/cases/2021/21-499. Accessed 6 Jul. 2022.
