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Thompkins' rights were explained to him. They read him the Miranda card, asked him to read part of it back, then had him sign a disclaimer that he understood his rights. Instead of saying, "I've got nothing to say until my lawyer is present," he sat and allowed detectives to grind away at him for almost three hours.
He could have opted out at any time.
The dissent makes an interesting argument that Miranda "implies the need for speech to exercise that right [to remain silent]." While it does highlight an interesting conundrum, in practical terms, it reveals no shortcoming in the system.
Though I'm glad we have Miranda, I've always believed that people should learn how their rights work before the moment they have to exercise them.
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Sometimes it’s nice not to destroy the world for a change.
--Randall Munroe
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