You Have the Right to Remain Innocent

DNF @ 15%

Oh, this book. Why did I pick it? I read the summary and thought it sounded likely to be full of paranoid rantings, but I was curious because my own dad has always given me similar advice with regards to “lawyering up” when the police ask questions. In a way, I suppose I sought insight into the legal aspects of the situation.

I was very disappointed.

Within the first few pages - which are filled with dense paragraphs with clear points where they should be broken - I caught this book contradicting itself. On page five of the kindle edition, it says:

The only advice you will receive in that moment is likely to come straight from the police officer, who will lie to you by claiming to represent your best interests.

[...] try to see this from the police???s point of view. They are only looking out for your best interests.

The way this law was written by the morons in Congress, you are guilty of a felony if you send a postcard to your grandmother in a nursing home, trying to make her feel better by lying about how nice the weather has been in Florida, or how low the gas prices have been.

It gets so much worse.

I stopped reading when the author had the audacity to bitch and moan about how it's illegal to purchase a normal household item with intent to murder a pet with it in frustration over the kids not caring for it well enough. I fucking shit you not.

The way this statute is written, as the Supreme Court noted with frustration a couple years ago in Bond v. United States, it is a felony under federal law if a parent, ???exasperated by the children???s repeated failure to clean the goldfish tank, . . . considers poisoning the fish with a few drops of vinegar.??? And of course that is only half the problem, because this statute forbids both the use and the mere possession of such a chemical weapon, so you would be guilty of a violation just by picking up the vinegar at the grocery store for that purpose, even if federal agents caught and arrested you before you poisoned the tank.

intentionally murdering a defenseless pet because you're a lazy piece of shit

Every American Needs To Read This Book. In well documented yet easy to read prose, Duane lays bare why the stakes are so high for his ultimate premise: If a cop unexpectedly questions you, state your name, why you were in the location they saw you at the moment they saw you (and not even a second before), and four simple words: “I want a lawyer.” Citing case after case after case from around the country, many of which have wound up with Supreme Court decisions on them, Duane shows why this is so utterly imperative for every American. And yet he is also careful to bow to our police overlords with “appropriate” obsequiousness, lest they try to attack his argument as being just “anti-cop”. Truly one of the most important books any American will ever read in the modern American police state. Very much recommended.

Summary: A short book detailing how and why you should never talk to the police beyond identification and asking to speak with a lawyer.




You Have the Right to Remain Innocent is one of those books whose title jumped out at me. I saw it as one of Amazon's daily deals, and when I realized that it was free on both audio and kindle as part of Kindle Unlimited, I picked it up.

The book has a simple argument. Each with a chapter, do not talk to the police, do not plead the fifth (right to remain silent), do plead the sixth (right to counsel). That is it. Simple and easy to remember.

The reason to read the book is the detail. The legal system in the US is a mess. I am far from libertarian, but the legal system is an area where there needs to be significant reform and where less is likely much more. US criminal law is scattered, and there are criminal penalties mixed in with other statues, and much of criminal law is vague and unknown to most people. There is an estimate in the book based on another study that the average person commits three felonies a day. Not because of criminal intent, or even sheer ignorance, but because of vague drafting. If you have household cleaners, you have probably committed a felony. The possession of any part of a potential bomb is a felony. You do not have to have all of the pieces, you do not have to have intent, merely having one part is enough. So if you have Drano or fertilizer or many other legal everyday items, you are committing a felony. There are several other examples as well.

You Have the Right to Remain Innocent also details police and prosecutorial misconduct. James Duane affirms that most police and most prosecutors are just attempting to do their job. But their job is to arrest or convict people, not keep the peace or seek justice. Police ability to flat out lie to you and encourage you to violate your rights has been strongly supported by the courts. The police are not there to ensure that you are innocent. Prosecutors are virtually never held accountable for violating the law or your rights. In fact, the Texas Supreme courts upheld the firing of an assistant prosecutor last year. Eric Hillman found a witness that was not included in police reports that showed a plaintiff was innocent. He was ordered to not reveal the information to the defense, in violation of the law. Hillman chose to follow the law (and the ethics requirements of the Texas Bar) and turned over the information. He was then fired for not following orders. And the Texas Supreme Court upheld it because of the Texas law does not have protections for state employees refusing to violate the law, as non-governmental employees in Texas do.

The last two sections of You Have the Right to Remain Innocent are much briefer. They detail why your first step is not to claim the fifth amendment (not to incriminate yourself) because the courts have said that refusing to talk is inherently incriminating. But instead to claim the sixth amendment, right to counsel, so that you can stop all questioning and get intervention.

Part of what this whole book reveals is the problem of interacting with the police if you are not wealthy enough to be able to afford a lawyer. It is why wealth is a strong predictor of your conviction rate.

The book is not long, about 150 pages or 2.5 hours in audio. And it really is just making a simple point that I have reiterated already. But the detail does make it worth reading.

This same review is posted on my blog at http://bookwi.se/you-have-the-right-to-remain-innocent/