Ohio Northern University

When are you entitled to your Miranda rights?

By Courtney Bailey

EDITOR’S NOTE: Know Your Rights is a regular series of the ONU Civil Rights Law Journal. Have a suggestion? Email the Editor at onucivilrightslawjournal@gmail.com

Thanks to modern law enforcement shows, most people believe that the police must read Miranda rights to them when they’re arrested — this is a myth. The trigger for Miranda rights is custody and interrogation, not just arrest.¹ Check out the decision tree below to know when you must be read your rights, and when questioning by the police must cease.

Sources

¹North Carolina v. Butler, 441 U.S. 369, 373 (1979).

²Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966).

³Thompson v. Keohane, 516 U.S. 99, 112 (1995).

⁴Rhode Island v. Innis, 446 U.S. 291, 300-01 (1980).

⁵Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370, 381-82 (2010).

⁶Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 472-73 (1966).

⁷Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 474-75 (1966).

⁸Moran v. Burbine, 475 U.S. 412, 421 (1986).

⁹Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370, 388-89 (2010).

Suggested Citation

Bailey, Courtney, Know Your Rights: When Are You Entitled to Your Miranda Rights? (Oct. 23, 2026). Ohio Northern University Civil Rights Law Journal. Available at https://onucrjournal.com/2026/10/23/know-your-rights/.