Ernesto Miranda Ernesto Arturo Miranda was born in Mesa, Arizona, on March 9, 1941. During his elementary school years, Miranda began to get into trouble. His first criminal conviction was during his eighth grade year. The following year, a high school dropout, he was convicted of burglary. His sentence was one year in the reformatory, the Arizona State Industrial School for Boys (ASISB). After his release from the reformatory, he got into trouble with the law again and was returned to the ASISB. Once released for the second time, Miranda moved to Los Angeles where a few months later he was arrested on charges of armed robbery and sex crimes although he was not convicted of these crimes. He was eventually extradited to Arizona a couple of times. Some people might even argue that Miranda laws could actually be harmful to law enforcement. Because the Miranda rules specify that a suspect must be read his Miranda rights and has the right to waive those rights. If the suspect refuses, the police are required by law to stop all questioning. Even if the suspect initially waives his rights, during the interrogation he can at any time stop the process by asking for a lawyer or withdrawing the waiver. From that moment on, the police will no longer be able to suggest that he think again (ncpa.org). For this reason, many people believe that this has had a detrimental effect on law enforcement. Police have found that it is much more difficult to obtain a confession. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA), the percentage of interrogated suspects who confessed dropped from 49% to 14% in New York and from 48% to 29% in Pittsburgh. With fewer confessions, police have also found that it is much more difficult to solve crimes. For example, following the Court's decision, the rate of solved violent crime cases dropped dramatically from 60% (or more) to around 45%. This level has remained constant over the years. Additionally, due to fewer confessions and fewer crimes solved, this means there are fewer convictions. According to the NCPA, there are 3.85 fewer Miranda convictions each year. Defenders of the Miranda decision say the fewer crimes solved are for a good reason. They believe law enforcement was forced to stop coercive interrogation techniques that are unconstitutional. Over the years, the Supreme Court has softened its position by saying that the Miranda rules are not constitutional obligations, but rather “prophylactic” safeguards intended to ensure that officers do not extract a confession from a suspect. The need for both effective law enforcement and the protection of society dictates this necessity