Tags
No tags :(
The Beatles had the day off today before going back into the studio for the final sessions on Revolver, which would take place over the next week. The big news of the day was that the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the decision that established what became known as “Miranda rights,” a concept now so well-known that it even has its own verb (“Mirandize”).
Miranda rights are named after one Ernesto Miranda, who back in 1963 had been convicted of rape on the basis of a confession that was later ruled to have been coerced. According to History.com,
Although the victim did not identify Miranda in a line-up, he was brought into police custody and interrogated. What happened next is disputed, but officers left the interrogation with a confession that Miranda later recanted, unaware that he didn’t have to say anything at all….
The Supreme Court overturned his conviction, but Miranda was retried and convicted in October 1966 anyway, despite the relative lack of evidence against him. Remaining in prison until 1972, Ernesto Miranda was later stabbed to death in the men’s room of a bar after a poker game in January 1976.
As a result of the case against Miranda, each and every person must now be informed of his or her rights when arrested.
I’m trying hard to find some way to connect this to The Beatles, but I’m struggling. The best I can think of is the George Harrison–written “Not Guilty,” where George says that he is
Not guilty
For looking like a freak
Making friends with every Sikh
The Beatles recorded over 100 takes of this song for the White Album, and still ended up cutting it. It didn’t see the light of day until the release of The Beatles Anthology 3 in 1996. I’m picturing John Lennon walking into the studio to tell George his song is off the album; apoplectic, George sputters “But…but…” and Lennon cuts him off: “You have the right to remain silent.”
Thanks for posting something today.