“The Resolution for Independence agreed to July 2, 1776”. The marks at the bottom right indicate the 12 colonies that voted for independence. The Province of New York abstained.

The Lee Resolution was the formal assertion passed by the Second Continental Congress on July 2, 1776, which resolved that the Thirteen Colonies in America were “free and independent States”, separated from the British Empire and creating what became the United States of America. News of this act was published that evening in the Pennsylvania Evening Post and the next day in the Pennsylvania Gazette. The Declaration of Independence is the formal document that officially announced and explained the resolution, approved two days later on July 4, 1776.

This commentary is part of The Appeal’s collection of opinion and analysis.

If you’ve ever seen a police procedural on TV, you are likely aware that officers are supposed to tell you about certain rights when you’re arrested. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in a court of law,” a common version begins. “You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you before questioning takes place.”

This disclaimer, known as the Miranda warning, is the product of a landmark 1966 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Miranda v. Arizona. It is meant to protect Americans from submitting to the police simply because they think, under the circumstances, that they have no other choice. If police don’t first recite it to people who are in custody, anything they say during subsequent interrogations cannot be used against them in court. 

In theory, at least. In the five decades since creating this safeguard, the Court has been consistently chipping away at it, carving out generous exceptions and crafting new rules that limit its real-world impact. Together, these carve-outs preserve the Miranda warning in form, while ensuring that it does as little as possible to keep people—especially members of marginalized

Source: theappeal.org for the complete article