Montejo v. Louisiana

(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2008 1

Syllabus

NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is

being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued.

The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been

prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader.

See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U. S. 321, 337.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Syllabus

MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA

No. 07–1529. Argued January 13, 2009—Decided May 26, 2009

At a preliminary hearing required by Louisiana law, petitioner Montejo

was charged with first-degree murder, and the court ordered the ap

pointment of counsel. Later that day, the police read Montejo his

rights under Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436, and he agreed to go

along on a trip to locate the murder weapon. During the excursion,

he wrote an inculpatory letter of apology to the victim’s widow. Upon

returning, he finally met his court-appointed attorney. At trial, his

letter was admitted over defense objection, and he was convicted and

sentenced to death. Affirming, the State Supreme Court rejected his

claim that the letter should have been suppressed under the rule of

Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U. S. 625, which forbids police to initiate

interrogation of a criminal defendant once he has invoked his right to

counsel at an arraignment or similar proceeding. The court reasoned

that Jackson’s prophylactic protection is not triggered unless the de

fendant has actually requested a lawyer or has otherwise asserted

his Sixth Amendment right to counsel; and that, since Montejo stood

mute at his hearing while the judge ordered the appointment of

counsel, he had made no such request or assertion.

Held:

1. Michigan v. Jackson should be and now is overruled. Pp. 3–18.

(a) The State Supreme Court’s interpretation of Jackson would

lead to practical problems. Requiring an initial “invocation” of the

right to counsel in order to trigger the Jackson presumption, as the

court below did, might work in States that require an indigent defen

dant formally to request counsel before an appointment is made, but

not in more than half the States, which appoint counsel without re

quest from the defendant. Pp. 3–6.

(b) On the other hand, Montejo’s solution is untenable as a theo

retical and doctrinal matter. Eliminating the invocation requirement

2 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Syllabus

entirely would depart fundamentally from the rationale of Jackson,

whose presumption was created by analogy to a similar prophylactic

rule established in Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U. S. 477, to protect the

Fifth Amendment-based Miranda right. Both Edwards and Jackson

are meant to prevent police from badgering defendants into changing

their minds about the right to counsel once they have invoked it, but

a defendant who never asked for counsel has not yet made up his

mind in the first instance. Pp. 6–13.

(c) Stare decisis does not require the Court to expand signifi

cantly the holding of a prior decision in order to cure its practical de

ficiencies. To the contrary, the fact that a decision has proved “un

workable” is a traditional ground for overruling it. Payne v.

Tennessee, 501 U. S. 808, 827. Beyond workability, the relevant fac

tors include the precedent’s antiquity, the reliance interests at stake,

and whether the decision was well reasoned. Pearson v. Callahan,

555 U. S. ___, ___. The first two cut in favor of jettisoning Jackson:

the opinion is only two decades old, and eliminating it would not up

set expectations, since any criminal defendant learned enough to or

der his affairs based on Jackson’s rule would also be perfectly capable

of interacting with the police on his own. As for the strength of Jack

son’s reasoning, when this Court creates a prophylactic rule to pro

tect a constitutional right, the relevant “reasoning” is the weighing of

the rule’s benefits against its costs. Jackson’s marginal benefits are

dwarfed by its substantial costs. Even without Jackson, few badger

ing-induced waivers, if any, would be admitted at trial because the

Court has taken substantial other, overlapping measures to exclude

them. Under Miranda, any suspect subject to custodial interrogation

must be advised of his right to have a lawyer present. 384 U. S., at

474. Under Edwards, once such a defendant “has invoked his

[Miranda] right,” interrogation must stop. 451 U. S., at 484. And

under Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U. S. 146, no subsequent interro

gation may take place until counsel is present. Id., at 153. These

three layers of prophylaxis are sufficient. On the other side of the

equation, the principal cost of applying Jackson’s rule is that crimes

can go unsolved and criminals unpunished when uncoerced confes

sions are excluded and when officers are deterred from even trying to

obtain confessions. The Court concludes that the Jackson rule does

not “pay its way,” United States v. Leon, 468 U. S. 897, 907–908, n. 6,

and thus the case should be overruled. Pp. 13–18.

2. Montejo should nonetheless be given an opportunity to contend

that his letter of apology should have been suppressed under the Ed

wards rule. He understandably did not pursue an Edwards objec

tion, because Jackson offered broader protections, but the decision

here changes the legal landscape. Pp. 18–19.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 3

Syllabus

06–1807 (La.), 974 So. 2d 1238, vacated and remanded.

SCALIA, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS,

C. J., and KENNEDY, THOMAS, and ALITO, JJ., joined. ALITO, J., filed a

concurring opinion, in which KENNEDY, J., joined. STEVENS, J., filed a

dissenting opinion, in which SOUTER and GINSBURG, JJ., joined, and in

which BREYER, J., joined, except for n. 5. BREYER, J., filed a dissenting

opinion.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 1

Opinion of the Court

NOTICE: This opinion is subject to formal revision before publication in the

preliminary print of the United States Reports. Readers are requested to

notify the Reporter of Decisions, Supreme Court of the United States, Wash

ington, D. C. 20543, of any typographical or other formal errors, in order

that corrections may be made before the preliminary print goes to press.

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 07–1529

_________________

JESSE JAY MONTEJO, PETITIONER v.

LOUISIANA

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF

LOUISIANA

[May 26, 2009]

JUSTICE SCALIA delivered the opinion of the Court.

We consider in this case the scope and continued viabil

ity of the rule announced by this Court in Michigan v.

Jackson, 475 U. S. 625 (1986), forbidding police to initiate

interrogation of a criminal defendant once he has re

quested counsel at an arraignment or similar proceeding.

I

Petitioner Jesse Montejo was arrested on September 6,

2002, in connection with the robbery and murder of Lewis

Ferrari, who had been found dead in his own home one

day earlier. Suspicion quickly focused on Jerry Moore, a

disgruntled former employee of Ferrari’s dry cleaning

business. Police sought to question Montejo, who was a

known associate of Moore.

Montejo waived his rights under Miranda v. Arizona,

384 U. S. 436 (1966), and was interrogated at the sheriff’s

office by police detectives through the late afternoon and

evening of September 6 and the early morning of Septem

ber 7. During the interrogation, Montejo repeatedly

changed his account of the crime, at first claiming that he

2 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

had only driven Moore to the victim’s home, and ulti

mately admitting that he had shot and killed Ferrari in

the course of a botched burglary. These police interroga

tions were videotaped.

On September 10, Montejo was brought before a judge

for what is known in Louisiana as a “72-hour hearing”—a

preliminary hearing required under state law.1 Although

the proceedings were not transcribed, the minute record

indicates what transpired: “The defendant being charged

with First Degree Murder, Court ordered N[o] Bond set in

this matter. Further, Court ordered the Office of Indigent

Defender be appointed to represent the defendant.” App.

to Pet. for Cert. 63a.

Later that same day, two police detectives visited Mon

tejo back at the prison and requested that he accompany

them on an excursion to locate the murder weapon (which

Montejo had earlier indicated he had thrown into a lake).

After some back-and-forth, the substance of which re

mains in dispute, Montejo was again read his Miranda

rights and agreed to go along; during the excursion, he

wrote an inculpatory letter of apology to the victim’s

widow. Only upon their return did Montejo finally meet

his court-appointed attorney, who was quite upset that the

detectives had interrogated his client in his absence.

At trial, the letter of apology was admitted over defense

objection. The jury convicted Montejo of first-degree mur

der, and he was sentenced to death.

The Louisiana Supreme Court affirmed the conviction

and sentence. 06–1807 (1/16/08), 974 So. 2d 1238 (2008).

As relevant here, the court rejected Montejo’s argument

that under the rule of Jackson, supra, the letter should

——————

1 “The sheriff or law enforcement officer having custody of an arrested

person shall bring him promptly, and in any case within seventy-two

hours from the time of the arrest, before a judge for the purpose of

appointment of counsel.” La. Code Crim. Proc. Ann., Art. 230.1(A)

(West Supp. 2009).

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 3

Opinion of the Court

have been suppressed. 974 So. 2d, at 1261. Jackson held

that “if police initiate interrogation after a defendant’s

assertion, at an arraignment or similar proceeding, of his

right to counsel, any waiver of the defendant’s right to

counsel for that police-initiated interrogation is invalid.”

475 U. S., at 636.

Citing a decision of the United States Court of Appeals

for the Fifth Circuit, Montoya v. Collins, 955 F. 2d 279

(1992), the Louisiana Supreme Court reasoned that the

prophylactic protection of Jackson is not triggered unless

and until the defendant has actually requested a lawyer or

has otherwise asserted his Sixth Amendment right to

counsel. 974 So. 2d, at 1260–1261, and n. 68. Because

Montejo simply stood mute at his 72-hour hearing while

the judge ordered the appointment of counsel, he had

made no such request or assertion. So the proper inquiry,

the court ruled, was only whether he had knowingly,

intelligently, and voluntarily waived his right to have

counsel present during the interaction with the police. Id.,

at 1261. And because Montejo had been read his Miranda

rights and agreed to waive them, the Court answered that

question in the affirmative, 974 So. 2d, at 1262, and up

held the conviction.

We granted certiorari. 554 U. S. ___ (2008).

II

Montejo and his amici raise a number of pragmatic

objections to the Louisiana Supreme Court’s interpreta

tion of Jackson. We agree that the approach taken below

would lead either to an unworkable standard, or to arbi

trary and anomalous distinctions between defendants in

different States. Neither would be acceptable.

Under the rule adopted by the Louisiana Supreme

Court, a criminal defendant must request counsel, or

otherwise “assert” his Sixth Amendment right at the

preliminary hearing, before the Jackson protections are

4 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

triggered. If he does so, the police may not initiate further

interrogation in the absence of counsel. But if the court on

its own appoints counsel, with the defendant taking no

affirmative action to invoke his right to counsel, then

police are free to initiate further interrogations provided

that they first obtain an otherwise valid waiver by the

defendant of his right to have counsel present.

This rule would apply well enough in States that require

the indigent defendant formally to request counsel before

any appointment is made, which usually occurs after the

court has informed him that he will receive counsel if he

asks for it. That is how the system works in Michigan, for

example, Mich. Ct. Rule 6.005(A) (2009), whose scheme

produced the factual background for this Court’s decision

in Michigan v. Jackson. Jackson, like all other repre

sented indigent defendants in the State, had requested

counsel in accordance with the applicable state law.

But many States follow other practices. In some two

dozen, the appointment of counsel is automatic upon a

finding of indigency, e.g., Kan. Stat. Ann. §22–4503(c)

(2007); and in a number of others, appointment can be

made either upon the defendant’s request or sua sponte by

the court, e.g., Del. Code Ann., Tit. 29, §4602(a) (2003).

See App. to Brief for National Legal Aid & Defender Assn.

et al. as Amici Curiae 1a–21a. Nothing in our Jackson

opinion indicates whether we were then aware that not all

States require that a defendant affirmatively request

counsel before one is appointed; and of course we had no

occasion there to decide how the rule we announced would

apply to these other States.

The Louisiana Supreme Court’s answer to that unre

solved question is troublesome. The central distinction it

draws—between defendants who “assert” their right to

counsel and those who do not—is exceedingly hazy when

applied to States that appoint counsel absent request from

the defendant. How to categorize a defendant who merely

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 5

Opinion of the Court

asks, prior to appointment, whether he will be appointed

counsel? Or who inquires, after the fact, whether he has

been? What treatment for one who thanks the court after

the appointment is made? And if the court asks a defen

dant whether he would object to appointment, will a quick

shake of his head count as an assertion of his right?

To the extent that the Louisiana Supreme Court’s rule

also permits a defendant to trigger Jackson through the

“acceptance” of counsel, that notion is even more mysteri

ous: How does one affirmatively accept counsel appointed

by court order? An indigent defendant has no right to

choose his counsel, United States v. Gonzalez-Lopez, 548

U. S. 140, 151 (2006), so it is hard to imagine what his

“acceptance” would look like, beyond the passive silence

that Montejo exhibited.

In practice, judicial application of the Louisiana rule in

States that do not require a defendant to make a request

for counsel could take either of two paths. Courts might

ask on a case-by-case basis whether a defendant has

somehow invoked his right to counsel, looking to his con

duct at the preliminary hearing—his statements and

gestures—and the totality of the circumstances. Or,

courts might simply determine as a categorical matter

that defendants in these States—over half of those in the

Union—simply have no opportunity to assert their right to

counsel at the hearing and are therefore out of luck.

Neither approach is desirable. The former would be

particularly impractical in light of the fact that, as amici

describe, preliminary hearings are often rushed, and are

frequently not recorded or transcribed. Brief for National

Legal Aid & Defender Assn. et al. 25–30. The sheer vol

ume of indigent defendants, see id., at 29, would render

the monitoring of each particular defendant’s reaction to

the appointment of counsel almost impossible. And some

times the defendant is not even present. E.g., La. Code

Crim. Proc. Ann., Art. 230.1(A) (West Supp. 2009) (allow

6 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

ing court to appoint counsel if defendant is “unable to

appear”). Police who did not attend the hearing would

have no way to know whether they could approach a par

ticular defendant; and for a court to adjudicate that ques

tion ex post would be a fact-intensive and burdensome

task, even if monitoring were possible and transcription

available. Because “clarity of . . . command” and “cer

tainty of . . . application” are crucial in rules that govern

law enforcement, Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U. S. 146,

151 (1990), this would be an unfortunate way to proceed.

See also Moran v. Burbine, 475 U. S. 412, 425–426 (1986).

The second possible course fares no better, for it would

achieve clarity and certainty only at the expense of intro

ducing arbitrary distinctions: Defendants in States that

automatically appoint counsel would have no opportunity

to invoke their rights and trigger Jackson, while those in

other States, effectively instructed by the court to request

counsel, would be lucky winners. That sort of hollow

formalism is out of place in a doctrine that purports to

serve as a practical safeguard for defendants’ rights.

III

But if the Louisiana Supreme Court’s application of

Jackson is unsound as a practical matter, then Montejo’s

solution is untenable as a theoretical and doctrinal matter.

Under his approach, once a defendant is represented by

counsel, police may not initiate any further interrogation.

Such a rule would be entirely untethered from the original

rationale of Jackson.

A

It is worth emphasizing first what is not in dispute or at

stake here. Under our precedents, once the adversary

judicial process has been initiated, the Sixth Amendment

guarantees a defendant the right to have counsel present

at all “critical” stages of the criminal proceedings. United

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 7

Opinion of the Court

States v. Wade, 388 U. S. 218, 227–228 (1967); Powell v.

Alabama, 287 U. S. 45, 57 (1932). Interrogation by the

State is such a stage. Massiah v. United States, 377 U. S.

201, 204–205 (1964); see also United States v. Henry, 447

U. S. 264, 274 (1980).

Our precedents also place beyond doubt that the Sixth

Amendment right to counsel may be waived by a defen

dant, so long as relinquishment of the right is voluntary,

knowing, and intelligent. Patterson v. Illinois, 487 U. S.

285, 292, n. 4 (1988); Brewer v. Williams, 430 U. S. 387,

404 (1977); Johnson v. Zerbst, 304 U. S. 458, 464 (1938).

The defendant may waive the right whether or not he is

already represented by counsel; the decision to waive need

not itself be counseled. Michigan v. Harvey, 494 U. S. 344,

352–353 (1990). And when a defendant is read his

Miranda rights (which include the right to have counsel

present during interrogation) and agrees to waive those

rights, that typically does the trick, even though the

Miranda rights purportedly have their source in the Fifth

Amendment:

“As a general matter . . . an accused who is admon

ished with the warnings prescribed by this Court in

Miranda . . . has been sufficiently apprised of the na

ture of his Sixth Amendment rights, and of the conse

quences of abandoning those rights, so that his waiver

on this basis will be considered a knowing and intelli

gent one.” Patterson, supra, at 296.

The only question raised by this case, and the only one

addressed by the Jackson rule, is whether courts must

presume that such a waiver is invalid under certain cir

cumstances. 475 U. S., at 630, 633. We created such a

presumption in Jackson by analogy to a similar prophylac

tic rule established to protect the Fifth Amendment based

Miranda right to have counsel present at any custodial

interrogation. Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U. S. 477 (1981),

8 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

decided that once “an accused has invoked his right to

have counsel present during custodial interrogation . . .

[he] is not subject to further interrogation by the authori

ties until counsel has been made available,” unless he

initiates the contact. Id., at 484–485.

The Edwards rule is “designed to prevent police from

badgering a defendant into waiving his previously as

serted Miranda rights,” Harvey, supra, at 350. It does this

by presuming his postassertion statements to be involun

tary, “even where the suspect executes a waiver and his

statements would be considered voluntary under tradi

tional standards.” McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U. S. 171, 177

(1991). This prophylactic rule thus “protect[s] a suspect’s

voluntary choice not to speak outside his lawyer’s pres

ence.” Texas v. Cobb, 532 U. S. 162, 175 (2001) (KENNEDY,

J., concurring).

Jackson represented a “wholesale importation of the

Edwards rule into the Sixth Amendment.” Cobb, supra, at

175. The Jackson Court decided that a request for counsel

at an arraignment should be treated as an invocation of

the Sixth Amendment right to counsel “at every critical

stage of the prosecution,” 475 U. S., at 633, despite doubt

that defendants “actually inten[d] their request for counsel

to encompass representation during any further question

ing,” id., at 632–633, because doubts must be “resolved in

favor of protecting the constitutional claim,” id., at 633.

Citing Edwards, the Court held that any subsequent

waiver would thus be “insufficient to justify police

initiated interrogation.” 475 U. S., at 635. In other words,

we presume such waivers involuntary “based on the sup

position that suspects who assert their right to counsel are

unlikely to waive that right voluntarily” in subsequent

interactions with police. Harvey, supra, at 350.

The dissent presents us with a revisionist view of Jack

son. The defendants’ request for counsel, it contends, was

important only because it proved that counsel had been

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 9

Opinion of the Court

appointed. Such a non sequitur (nowhere alluded to in the

case) hardly needs rebuttal. Proceeding from this fanciful

premise, the dissent claims that the decision actually

established “a rule designed to safeguard a defendant’s

right to rely on the assistance of counsel,” post, at 6–7

(opinion of STEVENS, J.), not one “designed to prevent

police badgering,” post, at 7. To safeguard the right to

assistance of counsel from what? From a knowing and

voluntary waiver by the defendant himself? Unless the

dissent seeks to prevent a defendant altogether from

waiving his Sixth Amendment rights, i.e., to “imprison a

man in his privileges and call it the Constitution,” Adams

v. United States ex rel. McCann, 317 U. S. 269, 280

(1942)—a view with zero support in reason, history or case

law—the answer must be: from police pressure, i.e., badg

ering. The antibadgering rationale is the only way to

make sense of Jackson’s repeated citations of Edwards,

and the only way to reconcile the opinion with our waiver

jurisprudence.2

B

With this understanding of what Jackson stands for and

whence it came, it should be clear that Montejo’s interpre

tation of that decision—that no represented defendant can

ever be approached by the State and asked to consent to

interrogation—is off the mark. When a court appoints

counsel for an indigent defendant in the absence of any

request on his part, there is no basis for a presumption

——————

2 The dissent responds that Jackson also ensures that the defendant’s

counsel receives notice of any interrogation, post, at 6, n. 2.

But notice to what end? Surely not in order to protect some constitu

tional right to receive counsel’s advice regarding waiver of the right to

have counsel present. Contrary to the dissent’s intimations, neither the

advice nor the presence of counsel is needed in order to effectuate a

knowing waiver of the Sixth Amendment right. Our cases make clear

that the Miranda waivers typically suffice; indeed, even an unrepre

sented defendant can waive his right to counsel. See supra, at 7.

10 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

that any subsequent waiver of the right to counsel will be

involuntary. There is no “initial election” to exercise the

right, Patterson, 487 U. S., at 291, that must be preserved

through a prophylactic rule against later waivers. No

reason exists to assume that a defendant like Montejo,

who has done nothing at all to express his intentions with

respect to his Sixth Amendment rights, would not be

perfectly amenable to speaking with the police without

having counsel present. And no reason exists to prohibit

the police from inquiring. Edwards and Jackson are

meant to prevent police from badgering defendants into

changing their minds about their rights, but a defendant

who never asked for counsel has not yet made up his mind

in the first instance.

The dissent’s argument to the contrary rests on a flawed

a fortiori: “If a defendant is entitled to protection from

police-initiated interrogation under the Sixth Amendment

when he merely requests a lawyer, he is even more obvi

ously entitled to such protection when he has secured a

lawyer.” Post, at 3. The question in Jackson, however,

was not whether respondents were entitled to counsel

(they unquestionably were), but “whether respondents

validly waived their right to counsel,” 475 U. S., at 630;

and even if it is reasonable to presume from a defendant’s

request for counsel that any subsequent waiver of the right

was coerced, no such presumption can seriously be enter

tained when a lawyer was merely “secured” on the defen

dant’s behalf, by the State itself, as a matter of course. Of

course, reading the dissent’s analysis, one would have no

idea that Montejo executed any waiver at all.

In practice, Montejo’s rule would prevent police-initiated

interrogation entirely once the Sixth Amendment right

attaches, at least in those States that appoint counsel

promptly without request from the defendant. As the

dissent in Jackson pointed out, with no expressed dis

agreement from the majority, the opinion “most assuredly

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 11

Opinion of the Court

[did] not hold that the Edwards per se rule prohibiting all

police-initiated interrogations applies from the moment

the defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel at

taches, with or without a request for counsel by the defen

dant.” 475 U. S., at 640 (opinion of Rehnquist, J.). That

would have constituted a “shockingly dramatic restructur

ing of the balance this Court has traditionally struck

between the rights of the defendant and those of the larger

society.” Ibid.

Montejo’s rule appears to have its theoretical roots in

codes of legal ethics, not the Sixth Amendment. The

American Bar Association’s Model Rules of Professional

Conduct (which nearly all States have adopted into law in

whole or in part) mandate that “a lawyer shall not com

municate about the subject of [a] representation with a

party the lawyer knows to be represented by another

lawyer in the matter, unless the lawyer has the consent of

the other lawyer or is authorized to do so by law or a court

order.” Model Rule 4.2 (2008). But the Constitution does

not codify the ABA’s Model Rules, and does not make

investigating police officers lawyers. Montejo’s proposed

rule is both broader and narrower than the Model Rule.

Broader, because Montejo would apply it to all agents of

the State, including the detectives who interrogated him,

while the ethical rule governs only lawyers. And nar

rower, because he agrees that if a defendant initiates

contact with the police, they may talk freely—whereas a

lawyer could be sanctioned for interviewing a represented

party even if that party “initiates” the communication and

consents to the interview. Model Rule 4.2, Comment 3.

Montejo contends that our decisions support his inter

pretation of the Jackson rule. We think not. Many of the

cases he cites concern the substantive scope of the Sixth

Amendment—e.g., whether a particular interaction with

the State constitutes a “critical” stage at which counsel is

entitled to be present—not the validity of a Sixth Amend

12 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

ment waiver. See Maine v. Moulton, 474 U. S. 159 (1985);

Henry, 447 U. S. 264; Massiah, 377 U. S. 201; see also

Moran, 475 U. S. 412. Since everyone agrees that absent a

valid waiver, Montejo was entitled to a lawyer during the

interrogation, those cases do not advance his argument.

Montejo also points to descriptions of the Jackson hold

ing in two later cases. In one, we noted that “analysis of

the waiver issue changes” once a defendant “obtains or

even requests counsel.” Harvey, 494 U. S., at 352. But

elsewhere in the same opinion, we explained that Jackson

applies “after a defendant requests assistance of counsel,”

494 U. S., at 349; “when a suspect charged with a crime

requests counsel outside the context of interrogation,” id.,

at 350; and to “suspects who assert their right to counsel,”

ibid. The accuracy of the “obtains” language is thus ques

tionable. Anyway, since Harvey held that evidence ob

tained in violation of the Jackson rule could be admitted

to impeach the defendant’s trial testimony, 494 U. S., at

346, the Court’s varying descriptions of when the rule was

violated were dicta. The dictum from the other decision,

Patterson, supra, at 290, n. 3, is no more probative.3

The upshot is that even on Jackson’s own terms, it

——————

3 In the cited passage, the Court noted that “[o]nce an accused has a

lawyer, a distinct set of constitutional safeguards aimed at preserving

the sanctity of attorney-client relationship takes effect.” Patterson, 487

U. S., at 290, n. 3. To support that proposition, the Court cited Maine

v. Moulton, 474 U. S. 159 (1985), which was not a case about waiver.

The passage went on to observe that “the analysis changes markedly

once an accused even requests the assistance of counsel,” 487 U. S., at

290, n. 3 (emphasis in original), this time citing Jackson. Montejo

infers from the “even requests” that having counsel is more conclusive of

the invalidity of uncounseled waiver than the mere requesting of

counsel. But the Patterson footnote did not suggest that the analysis

“changes” in both these scenarios (having a lawyer, versus requesting

one) with specific reference to the validity of waivers under the Sixth

Amendment. The citation of Moulton (a nonwaiver case) for the first

scenario suggests just the opposite.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 13

Opinion of the Court

would be completely unjustified to presume that a defen

dant’s consent to police-initiated interrogation was invol

untary or coerced simply because he had previously been

appointed a lawyer.

IV

So on the one hand, requiring an initial “invocation” of

the right to counsel in order to trigger the Jackson pre

sumption is consistent with the theory of that decision, but

(as Montejo and his amici argue, see Part II, supra) would

be unworkable in more than half the States of the Union.

On the other hand, eliminating the invocation require

ment would render the rule easy to apply but depart fun

damentally from the Jackson rationale.

We do not think that stare decisis requires us to expand

significantly the holding of a prior decision—

fundamentally revising its theoretical basis in the proc

ess—in order to cure its practical deficiencies. To the

contrary, the fact that a decision has proved “unworkable”

is a traditional ground for overruling it. Payne v. Tennes

see, 501 U. S. 808, 827 (1991). Accordingly, we called for

supplemental briefing addressed to the question whether

Michigan v. Jackson should be overruled.

Beyond workability, the relevant factors in deciding

whether to adhere to the principle of stare decisis include

the antiquity of the precedent, the reliance interests at

stake, and of course whether the decision was well rea

soned. Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U. S. ___, ___ (2009) (slip

op., at 8). The first two cut in favor of abandoning Jack

son: the opinion is only two decades old, and eliminating it

would not upset expectations. Any criminal defendant

learned enough to order his affairs based on the rule

announced in Jackson would also be perfectly capable of

interacting with the police on his own. Of course it is

likely true that police and prosecutors have been trained

to comply with Jackson, see generally Supplemental Brief

14 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

for Larry D. Thompson et al. as Amici Curiae, but that is

hardly a basis for retaining it as a constitutional require

ment. If a State wishes to abstain from requesting inter

views with represented defendants when counsel is not

present, it obviously may continue to do so.4

Which brings us to the strength of Jackson’s reasoning.

When this Court creates a prophylactic rule in order to

protect a constitutional right, the relevant “reasoning” is

the weighing of the rule’s benefits against its costs. “The

value of any prophylactic rule . . . must be assessed not

only on the basis of what is gained, but also on the basis of

what is lost.” Minnick, 498 U. S., at 161 (SCALIA, J., dis

senting). We think that the marginal benefits of Jackson

(viz., the number of confessions obtained coercively that

are suppressed by its bright-line rule and would otherwise

have been admitted) are dwarfed by its substantial costs

(viz., hindering “society’s compelling interest in finding,

convicting, and punishing those who violate the law,”

Moran, supra, at 426).

What does the Jackson rule actually achieve by way of

preventing unconstitutional conduct? Recall that the

purpose of the rule is to preclude the State from badgering

defendants into waiving their previously asserted rights.

See Harvey, supra, at 350; see also McNeil, 501 U. S., at

177. The effect of this badgering might be to coerce a

waiver, which would render the subsequent interrogation

a violation of the Sixth Amendment. See Massiah, supra,

at 204. Even though involuntary waivers are invalid even

——————

4 The dissent posits a different reliance interest: “the public’s interest

in knowing that counsel, once secured, may be reasonably relied upon

as a medium between the accused and the power of the State,” post, at

9. We suspect the public would be surprised to learn that a criminal

can freely sign away his right to a lawyer, confess his crimes, and then

ask the courts to assume that the confession was coerced—on the

ground that he had, at some earlier point in time, made a pro forma

statement requesting that counsel be appointed on his behalf.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 15

Opinion of the Court

apart from Jackson, see Patterson, 487 U. S., at 292, n. 4,

mistakes are of course possible when courts conduct case

by-case voluntariness review. A bright-line rule like that

adopted in Jackson ensures that no fruits of interrogations

made possible by badgering-induced involuntary waivers

are ever erroneously admitted at trial.

But without Jackson, how many would be? The answer

is few if any. The principal reason is that the Court has

already taken substantial other, overlapping measures

toward the same end. Under Miranda’s prophylactic

protection of the right against compelled self

incrimination, any suspect subject to custodial interroga

tion has the right to have a lawyer present if he so re

quests, and to be advised of that right. 384 U. S., at 474.

Under Edwards’ prophylactic protection of the Miranda

right, once such a defendant “has invoked his right to have

counsel present,” interrogation must stop. 451 U. S., at

484. And under Minnick’s prophylactic protection of the

Edwards right, no subsequent interrogation may take

place until counsel is present, “whether or not the accused

has consulted with his attorney.” 498 U. S., at 153.

These three layers of prophylaxis are sufficient. Under

the Miranda-Edwards-Minnick line of cases (which is not

in doubt), a defendant who does not want to speak to the

police without counsel present need only say as much

when he is first approached and given the Miranda warn

ings. At that point, not only must the immediate contact

end, but “badgering” by later requests is prohibited. If

that regime suffices to protect the integrity of “a suspect’s

voluntary choice not to speak outside his lawyer’s pres

ence” before his arraignment, Cobb, 532 U. S., at 175

(KENNEDY, J., concurring), it is hard to see why it would

not also suffice to protect that same choice after arraign

ment, when Sixth Amendment rights have attached. And

if so, then Jackson is simply superfluous.

It is true, as Montejo points out in his supplemental

16 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

brief, that the doctrine established by Miranda and Ed

wards is designed to protect Fifth Amendment, not Sixth

Amendment, rights. But that is irrelevant. What matters

is that these cases, like Jackson, protect the right to have

counsel during custodial interrogation—which right hap

pens to be guaranteed (once the adversary judicial process

has begun) by two sources of law. Since the right under

both sources is waived using the same procedure, Patter

son, supra, at 296, doctrines ensuring voluntariness of the

Fifth Amendment waiver simultaneously ensure the

voluntariness of the Sixth Amendment waiver.

Montejo also correctly observes that the Miranda-

Edwards regime is narrower than Jackson in one respect:

The former applies only in the context of custodial interro

gation. If the defendant is not in custody then those deci

sions do not apply; nor do they govern other, noninterroga

tive types of interactions between the defendant and the

State (like pretrial lineups). However, those uncovered

situations are the least likely to pose a risk of coerced

waivers. When a defendant is not in custody, he is in

control, and need only shut his door or walk away to avoid

police badgering. And noninterrogative interactions with

the State do not involve the “inherently compelling pres

sures,” Miranda, supra, at 467, that one might reasonably

fear could lead to involuntary waivers.

Jackson was policy driven, and if that policy is being

adequately served through other means, there is no reason

to retain its rule. Miranda and the cases that elaborate

upon it already guarantee not simply noncoercion in the

traditional sense, but what Justice Harlan referred to as

“voluntariness with a vengeance,” 384 U. S., at 505 (dis

senting opinion). There is no need to take Jackson’s fur

ther step of requiring voluntariness on stilts.

On the other side of the equation are the costs of adding

the bright-line Jackson rule on top of Edwards and other

extant protections. The principal cost of applying any

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 17

Opinion of the Court

exclusionary rule “is, of course, letting guilty and possibly

dangerous criminals go free . . . .” Herring v. United

States, 555 U. S. ___, ___ (2009) (slip op., at 6). Jackson

not only “operates to invalidate a confession given by the

free choice of suspects who have received proper advice of

their Miranda rights but waived them nonetheless,” Cobb,

supra, at 174–175 (KENNEDY, J., concurring), but also

deters law enforcement officers from even trying to obtain

voluntary confessions. The “ready ability to obtain unco

erced confessions is not an evil but an unmitigated good.”

McNeil, 501 U. S., at 181. Without these confessions,

crimes go unsolved and criminals unpunished. These are

not negligible costs, and in our view the Jackson Court

gave them too short shrift.5

Notwithstanding this calculus, Montejo and his amici

urge the retention of Jackson. Their principal objection to

its elimination is that the Edwards regime which remains

will not provide an administrable rule. But this Court has

praised Edwards precisely because it provides “ ‘clear and

unequivocal’ guidelines to the law enforcement profes

sion,” Arizona v. Roberson, 486 U. S. 675, 682 (1988). Our

cases make clear which sorts of statements trigger its

protections, see Davis v. United States, 512 U. S. 452, 459

(1994), and once triggered, the rule operates as a bright

line. Montejo expresses concern that courts will have to

determine whether statements made at preliminary hear

ings constitute Edwards invocations—thus implicating all

the practical problems of the Louisiana rule we discussed

above, see Part II, supra. That concern is misguided. “We

——————

5 The dissent claims that, in fact, few confessions have been sup

pressed by federal courts applying Jackson. Post, at 8. If so, that is

because, as the dissent boasts, “generations of police officers have been

trained to refrain from approaching represented defendants,” post, at 9,

n. 4. Anyway, if the rule truly does not hinder law enforcement or

make much practical difference, see post, at 7–9, and nn. 3–4, then

there is no reason to be particularly exercised about its demise.

18 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

have in fact never held that a person can invoke his

Miranda rights anticipatorily, in a context other than

‘custodial interrogation’. . . .” McNeil, supra, at 182, n. 3.

What matters for Miranda and Edwards is what happens

when the defendant is approached for interrogation, and

(if he consents) what happens during the interrogation—

not what happened at any preliminary hearing.

In sum, when the marginal benefits of the Jackson rule

are weighed against its substantial costs to the truth

seeking process and the criminal justice system, we read

ily conclude that the rule does not “pay its way,” United

States v. Leon, 468 U. S. 897, 907–908, n. 6 (1984). Michi

gan v. Jackson should be and now is overruled.

V

Although our holding means that the Louisiana Su

preme Court correctly rejected Montejo’s claim under

Jackson, we think that Montejo should be given an oppor

tunity to contend that his letter of apology should still

have been suppressed under the rule of Edwards. If Mon

tejo made a clear assertion of the right to counsel when

the officers approached him about accompanying them on

the excursion for the murder weapon, then no interroga

tion should have taken place unless Montejo initiated it.

Davis, supra, at 459. Even if Montejo subsequently agreed

to waive his rights, that waiver would have been invalid

had it followed an “unequivocal election of the right,”

Cobb, 532 U. S., at 176 (KENNEDY, J., concurring).

Montejo understandably did not pursue an Edwards

objection, because Jackson served as the Sixth Amend

ment analogy to Edwards and offered broader protections.

Our decision today, overruling Jackson, changes the legal

landscape and does so in part based on the protections

already provided by Edwards. Thus we think that a re

mand is appropriate so that Montejo can pursue this

alternative avenue for relief. Montejo may also seek on

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 19

Opinion of the Court

remand to press any claim he might have that his Sixth

Amendment waiver was not knowing and voluntary, e.g.,

his argument that the waiver was invalid because it was

based on misrepresentations by police as to whether he

had been appointed a lawyer, cf. Moran, 475 U. S., at 428–

429. These matters have heightened importance in light

of our opinion today.

We do not venture to resolve these issues ourselves, not

only because we are a court of final review, “not of first

view,” Cutter v. Wilkinson, 544 U. S. 709, 718, n. 7 (2005),

but also because the relevant facts remain unclear. Mon

tejo and the police gave inconsistent testimony about

exactly what took place on the afternoon of September 10,

2002, and the Louisiana Supreme Court did not make an

explicit credibility determination. Moreover, Montejo’s

testimony came not at the suppression hearing, but rather

only at trial, and we are unsure whether under state law

that testimony came too late to affect the propriety of the

admission of the evidence. These matters are best left for

resolution on remand.

We do reject, however, the dissent’s revisionist legal

analysis of the “knowing and voluntary” issue. Post, at

10–14. In determining whether a Sixth Amendment

waiver was knowing and voluntary, there is no reason

categorically to distinguish an unrepresented defendant

from a represented one. It is equally true for each that, as

we held in Patterson, the Miranda warnings adequately

inform him “of his right to have counsel present during the

questioning,” and make him “aware of the consequences of

a decision by him to waive his Sixth Amendment rights,”

487 U. S., at 293. Somewhat surprisingly for an opinion

that extols the virtues of stare decisis, the dissent com

plains that our “treatment of the waiver question rests

entirely on the dubious decision in Patterson,” post, at 12.

The Court in Patterson did not consider the result dubious,

nor does the Court today.

20 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

Opinion of the Court

* * *

This case is an exemplar of Justice Jackson’s oft quoted

warning that this Court “is forever adding new stories to

the temples of constitutional law, and the temples have a

way of collapsing when one story too many is added.”

Douglas v. City of Jeannette, 319 U. S. 157, 181 (1943)

(opinion concurring in result). We today remove Michigan

v. Jackson’s fourth story of prophylaxis.

The judgment of the Louisiana Supreme Court is va

cated, and the case is remanded for further proceedings

not inconsistent with this opinion.

It is so ordered.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 1

ALITO, J., concurring

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 07–1529

_________________

JESSE JAY MONTEJO, PETITIONER v.

LOUISIANA

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF

LOUISIANA

[May 26, 2009]

JUSTICE ALITO, with whom JUSTICE KENNEDY joins,

concurring.

Earlier this Term, in Arizona v. Gant, 556 U. S. ___

(2009), the Court overruled New York v. Belton, 453 U. S.

454 (1981), even though that case had been on the books

for 28 years, had not been undermined by subsequent

decisions, had been recently reaffirmed and extended, had

proven to be eminently workable (indeed, had been

adopted for precisely that reason), and had engendered

substantial law enforcement reliance. See Gant, supra, at

___ (slip op., at 4) (ALITO, J., dissenting). The Court took

this step even though we were not asked to overrule Bel

ton and this new rule is almost certain to lead to a host of

problems. See Gant, supra, at ___ (slip op., at 10) (ALITO,

J., dissenting); Megginson v. United States, post, p. ___;

Grooms v. United States, post, p. ___.

JUSTICE SCALIA, who cast the deciding vote to overrule

Belton, dismissed stare decisis concerns with the following

observation: “[I]t seems to me ample reason that the

precedent was badly reasoned and produces erroneous . . .

results.” Gant, supra, at ___ (slip op., at 3) (concurring

opinion). This narrow view of stare decisis provides

the only principle on which the decision in Gant can be

justified.

In light of Gant, the discussion of stare decisis in today’s

2 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

ALITO, J., concurring

dissent* is surprising. The dissent in the case at hand

criticizes the Court for “[a]cting on its own” in reconsider

ing Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U. S. 625 (1986). Post, at 4

(opinion of STEVENS, J.). But the same was true in Gant,

and in this case, the Court gave the parties and interested

amici the opportunity to submit supplemental briefs on

the issue, a step not taken in Gant.

The dissent faults the Court for “cast[ing] aside the

reliance interests of law enforcement,” post, at 8–9, but in

Gant, there were real and important law enforcement

interests at stake. See 556 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 5–6)

(ALITO, J., dissenting). Even the Court conceded that the

Belton rule had “been widely taught in police academies

and that law enforcement officers ha[d] relied on the rule

in conducting vehicle searches during the past 28 years.”

556 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 16). And whatever else might

be said about Belton, it surely provided a bright-line rule.

A month ago, none of this counted for much, but today

the dissent writes:

“Jackson’s bright-line rule has provided law enforce

ment officers with clear guidance, allowed prosecutors

to quickly and easily assess whether confessions will

be admissible in court, and assisted judges in deter

mining whether a defendant’s Sixth Amendment

rights have been violated by police interrogation.”

Post, at 8.

It is striking that precisely the same points were true in

Gant:

“[Belton’s] bright-line rule ha[d] provided law en

forcement officers with clear guidance, allowed prose

——————

* One of the dissenters in the present case, JUSTICE BREYER, also

dissented in Gant and would have followed Belton on stare decisis

grounds. See 556 U. S., at ___ (slip op., at 1). Thus, he would not

overrule either Belton or Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U. S. 625 (1986).

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 3

ALITO, J., concurring

cutors to quickly and easily assess whether [evidence

obtained in a vehicle search] w[ould] be admissible in

court, and assisted judges in determining whether a

defendant’s [Fourth] Amendment rights ha[d] been

violated by police interrogation.” Post, at 8.

The dissent, finally, invokes Jackson’s antiquity, stating

that “the 23-year existence of a simple bright-line rule”

should weigh in favor of its retention. Post, at 9. But in

Gant, the Court had no compunction about casting aside a

28-year-old bright-line rule. I can only assume that the

dissent thinks that our constitutional precedents are like

certain wines, which are most treasured when they are

neither too young nor too old, and that Jackson, at 23, is

in its prime, whereas Belton, at 28, had turned brownish

and vinegary.

I agree with the dissent that stare decisis should pro

mote “ ‘the evenhanded . . . development of legal princi

ples,’ ” post, at 6 (quoting Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U. S.

808, 827–828 (1991)). The treatment of stare decisis in

Gant fully supports the decision in the present case.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 1

STEVENS, J., dissenting

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 07–1529

_________________

JESSE JAY MONTEJO, PETITIONER v.

LOUISIANA

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF

LOUISIANA

[May 26, 2009]

JUSTICE STEVENS, with whom JUSTICE SOUTER and

JUSTICE GINSBURG join, and with whom JUSTICE BREYER

joins, except for footnote 5, dissenting.

Today the Court properly concludes that the Louisiana

Supreme Court’s parsimonious reading of our decision in

Michigan v. Jackson, 475 U. S. 625 (1986), is indefensible.

Yet the Court does not reverse. Rather, on its own initia

tive and without any evidence that the longstanding Sixth

Amendment protections established in Jackson have

caused any harm to the workings of the criminal justice

system, the Court rejects Jackson outright on the ground

that it is “untenable as a theoretical and doctrinal mat

ter.” Ante, at 6. That conclusion rests on a misinterpreta

tion of Jackson’s rationale and a gross undervaluation of

the rule of stare decisis. The police interrogation in this

case clearly violated petitioner’s Sixth Amendment right

to counsel.

I

The Sixth Amendment provides that “[i]n all criminal

prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have

the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.” The right to

counsel attaches during “the initiation of adversary judi

cial criminal proceedings,” Rothgery v. Gillespie County,

554 U. S. ___, ___ (2008) (slip op., at 5) (internal quotation

2 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

STEVENS, J., dissenting

marks omitted), and it guarantees the assistance of coun

sel not only during in-court proceedings but during all

critical stages, including postarraignment interviews with

law enforcement officers, see Patterson v. Illinois, 487

U. S. 285, 290 (1988).

In Jackson, this Court considered whether the Sixth

Amendment bars police from interrogating defendants

who have requested the appointment of counsel at ar

raignment. Applying the presumption that such a request

constitutes an invocation of the right to counsel “at every

critical stage of the prosecution,” 475 U. S., at 633, we held

that “a defendant who has been formally charged with a

crime and who has requested appointment of counsel at

his arraignment” cannot be subject to uncounseled inter

rogation unless he initiates “exchanges or conversations

with the police,” id., at 626.

In this case, petitioner Jesse Montejo contends that

police violated his Sixth Amendment right to counsel by

interrogating him following his “72-hour hearing” outside

the presence of, and without prior notice to, his lawyer.

The Louisiana Supreme Court rejected Montejo’s claim.

Relying on the fact that the defendants in Jackson had

“requested” counsel at arraignment, the state court held

that Jackson’s protections did not apply to Montejo be

cause his counsel was appointed automatically; Montejo

had not explicitly requested counsel or affirmatively ac

cepted the counsel appointed to represent him before he

submitted to police interrogation. 06–1807, pp. 28–29

(1/16/08), 974 So. 2d 1238, 1261.

I agree with the majority’s conclusion that the Louisiana

Supreme Court’s decision, if allowed to stand, “would lead

either to an unworkable standard, or to arbitrary and

anomalous distinctions between defendants in different

States,” ante, at 3. Neither option is tolerable, and neither

is compelled by Jackson itself.

Our decision in Jackson involved two consolidated cases,

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 3

STEVENS, J., dissenting

both arising in the State of Michigan. Under Michigan

law in effect at that time, when a defendant appeared for

arraignment the court was required to inform him that

counsel would be provided if he was financially needy and

he requested representation. Mich. Gen. Ct. Rule 785.4(1)

(1976). It was undisputed that the Jackson defendants

made such a “request” at their arraignment: one by com

pleting an affidavit of indigency, and the other by respond

ing affirmatively to a question posed to him by the court.

See App. in Michigan v. Jackson, O. T. 1984, No. 84–1531,

p. 168; App. in Michigan v. Bladel, O. T. 1984, No. 84–

1539, pp. 3a–4a. In neither case, however, was it clear

that counsel had actually been appointed at the arraign

ment. Thus, the defendants’ requests for counsel were

significant as a matter of state law because they served as

evidence that the appointment of counsel had been effec

tuated even in the absence of proof that defense counsel

had actual notice of the appointments.

Unlike Michigan, Louisiana does not require a defen

dant to make a request in order to receive court-appointed

counsel. Consequently, there is no reason to place consti

tutional significance on the fact that Montejo neither

voiced a request for counsel nor affirmatively embraced

that appointment post hoc. Certainly our decision in

Jackson did not mandate such an odd rule. See ante, at 4

(acknowledging that we had no occasion to decide in Jack

son how its rule would apply in States that do not make

appointment of counsel contingent on affirmative request).

If a defendant is entitled to protection from police-initiated

interrogation under the Sixth Amendment when he

merely requests a lawyer, he is even more obviously enti

tled to such protection when he has secured a lawyer.

Indeed, we have already recognized as much. See Michi

gan v. Harvey, 494 U. S. 344, 352 (1990) (acknowledging

that “once a defendant obtains or even requests counsel,”

Jackson alters the waiver analysis); Patterson, 487 U. S.,

4 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

STEVENS, J., dissenting

at 290, n. 3 (noting “as a matter of some significance” to

the constitutional analysis that defendant had “not re

tained, or accepted by appointment, a lawyer to represent

him at the time he was questioned by authorities” (em

phasis added)).1 Once an attorney-client relationship has

been established through the appointment or retention of

counsel, as a matter of federal law the method by which

the relationship was created is irrelevant: The existence of

a valid attorney-client relationship provides a defendant

with the full constitutional protection afforded by the

Sixth Amendment.

II

Today the Court correctly concludes that the Louisiana

Supreme Court’s holding is “troublesome,” ante, at 4,

“impractical,” ante, at 5, and “unsound,” ante, at 6. In

stead of reversing the decision of the state court by simply

answering the question on which we granted certiorari in

a unanimous opinion, however, the majority has decided to

change the law. Acting on its own initiative, the majority

overrules Jackson to correct a “theoretical and doctrinal”

problem of its own imagining, see ante, at 6. A more

careful reading of Jackson and the Sixth Amendment

cases upon which it relied reveals that the rule announced

in Jackson protects a fundamental right that the Court

now dishonors.

The majority’s decision to overrule Jackson rests on its

assumption that Jackson’s protective rule was intended to

“prevent police from badgering defendants into changing

their minds about their rights,” ante, at 10; see also ante,

——————

1 In Patterson v. Illinois, we further explained, “[o]nce an accused has

a lawyer,” “a distinct set of constitutional safeguards aimed at preserv

ing the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship takes effect.” 487

U. S., at 290, n. 3 (citing Maine v. Moulton, 474 U. S. 159, 176 (1985)).

“Indeed,” we emphasized, “the analysis changes markedly once an

accused even requests the assistance of counsel.” 487 U. S., at 290, n. 3.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 5

STEVENS, J., dissenting

at 13, just as the rule adopted in Edwards v. Arizona, 451

U. S. 477 (1981), was designed to prevent police from

coercing unindicted suspects into revoking their requests

for counsel at interrogation. Operating on that limited

understanding of the purpose behind Jackson’s protective

rule, the Court concludes that Jackson provides no safe

guard not already secured by this Court’s Fifth Amend

ment jurisprudence. See Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S.

436 (1966) (requiring defendants to be admonished of their

right to counsel prior to custodial interrogation); Edwards,

451 U. S. 477 (prohibiting police-initiated interrogation

following defendant’s invocation of the right to counsel).

The majority’s analysis flagrantly misrepresents Jack

son’s underlying rationale and the constitutional interests

the decision sought to protect. While it is true that the

rule adopted in Jackson was patterned after the rule in

Edwards, 451 U. S., at 484–485, the Jackson opinion does

not even mention the anti-badgering considerations that

provide the basis for the Court’s decision today. Instead,

Jackson relied primarily on cases discussing the broad

protections guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment right to

counsel—not its Fifth Amendment counterpart. Jackson

emphasized that the purpose of the Sixth Amendment is

to “ ‘protec[t] the unaided layman at critical confrontations

with his adversary,’ ” 475 U. S., at 631 (quoting United

States v. Gouveia, 467 U. S. 180, 189 (1984)), by giving

him “ ‘the right to rely on counsel as a ‘medium’ between

him[self] and the State,’ ” 475 U. S., at 632 (quoting Maine

v. Moulton, 474 U. S. 159, 176 (1985)). Underscoring that

the commencement of criminal proceedings is a decisive

event that transforms a suspect into an accused within the

meaning of the Sixth Amendment, we concluded that

arraigned defendants are entitled to “at least as much

protection” during interrogation as the Fifth Amendment

affords unindicted suspects. See, e.g., 475 U. S., at 632

(“[T]he difference between the legal basis for the rule

6 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

STEVENS, J., dissenting

applied in Edwards and the Sixth Amendment claim

asserted in these cases actually provides additional sup

port for the application of the rule in these circumstances”

(emphasis added)). Thus, although the rules adopted in

Edwards and Jackson are similar, Jackson did not rely on

the reasoning of Edwards but remained firmly rooted in

the unique protections afforded to the attorney-client

relationship by the Sixth Amendment.2

Once Jackson is placed in its proper Sixth Amendment

context, the majority’s justifications for overruling the

decision crumble. Ordinarily, this Court is hesitant to

disturb past precedent and will do so only when a rule has

proven “outdated, ill-founded, unworkable, or otherwise

legitimately vulnerable to serious reconsideration.”

Vasquez v. Hillery, 474 U. S. 254, 266 (1986). While stare

decisis is not “an inexorable command,” we adhere to it as

“the preferred course because it promotes the evenhanded,

predictable, and consistent development of legal princi

ples, fosters reliance on judicial decisions, and contributes

to the actual and perceived integrity of the judicial proc

——————

2 Themajority insists that protection from police badgering is the

only purpose the Jackson rule can plausibly serve. After all, it asks,

from what other evil would the rule guard? See ante, at 9. There are

two obvious answers. First, most narrowly, it protects the defendant

from any police-initiated interrogation without notice to his counsel, not

just from “badgering” which is not necessarily a part of police question

ing. Second, and of prime importance, it assures that any waiver of

counsel will be valid. The assistance offered by counsel protects a

defendant from surrendering his rights with an insufficient apprecia

tion of what those rights are and how the decision to respond to inter

rogation might advance or compromise his exercise of those rights

throughout the course of criminal proceedings. A lawyer can provide

her client with advice regarding the legal and practical options avail

able to him; the potential consequences, both good and bad, of choosing

to discuss his case with police; the likely effect of such a conversation on

the resolution of the charges against him; and an informed assessment

of the best course of action under the circumstances. Such assistance

goes far beyond mere protection against police badgering.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 7

STEVENS, J., dissenting

ess.” Payne v. Tennessee, 501 U. S. 808, 827–828 (1991).

Paying lip service to the rule of stare decisis, the major

ity acknowledges that the Court must consider many

factors before taking the dramatic step of overruling a

past decision. See ante, at 12. Specifically, the majority

focuses on four considerations: the reasoning of the deci

sion, the workability of the rule, the reliance interests at

stake, and the antiquity of the precedent. The Court

exaggerates the considerations favoring reversal, however,

and gives short shrift to the valid considerations favoring

retention of the Jackson rule.

First, and most central to the Court’s decision to over

rule Jackson, is its assertion that Jackson’s “ ‘reason

ing’ ”—which the Court defines as “the weighing of the

[protective] rule’s benefits against its costs,” ante, at 14—

does not justify continued application of the rule it cre

ated. The balancing test the Court performs, however,

depends entirely on its misunderstanding of Jackson as a

rule designed to prevent police badgering, rather than a

rule designed to safeguard a defendant’s right to rely on

the assistance of counsel.3

Next, in order to reach the conclusion that the Jackson

——————

3 Even accepting the majority’s improper framing of Jackson’s foun

dation, the Court fails to show that the costs of the rule are more than

negligible or differ from any other protection afforded by the right to

counsel. The majority assumes, without citing any empirical or even

anecdotal support, that any marginal benefits of the Jackson rule are

“dwarfed by its substantial costs,” which it describes as harm to “ ‘soci

ety’s compelling interest in finding, convicting, and punishing those

who violate the law.’ ” Ante, at 14 (quoting Moran v. Burbine, 475 U. S.

412, 426 (1986)). That assumption is highly dubious, particularly in

light of the fact that several amici with interest in law enforcement

have conceded that the application of Jackson’s protective rule rarely

impedes prosecution. See Supplemental Brief for Larry D. Thompson

et al. as Amici Curiae 6 (hereinafter Thompson Supplemental Brief);

Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 12 (hereinafter United States

Brief).

8 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

STEVENS, J., dissenting

rule is unworkable, the Court reframes the relevant in

quiry, asking not whether the Jackson rule as applied for

the past quarter century has proved easily administrable,

but instead whether the Louisiana Supreme Court’s

cramped interpretation of that rule is practically worka

ble. The answer to that question, of course, is no. When

framed more broadly, however, the evidence is overwhelm

ing that Jackson’s simple, bright-line rule has done more

to advance effective law enforcement than to undermine it.

In a supplemental brief submitted by lawyers and

judges with extensive experience in law enforcement and

prosecution, amici Larry D. Thompson et al. argue per

suasively that Jackson’s bright-line rule has provided law

enforcement officers with clear guidance, allowed prosecu

tors to quickly and easily assess whether confessions will

be admissible in court, and assisted judges in determining

whether a defendant’s Sixth Amendment rights have been

violated by police interrogation. See generally Thompson

Supplemental Brief 6. While amici acknowledge that

“Jackson reduces opportunities to interrogate defendants”

and “may require exclusion of evidence that could support

a criminal conviction,” they maintain that “it is a rare case

where this rule lets a guilty defendant go free.” Ibid.

Notably, these representations are not contradicted by the

State of Louisiana or other amici, including the United

States. See United States Brief 12 (conceding that the

Jackson rule has not “resulted in the suppression of sig

nificant numbers of statements in federal prosecutions in

the past”).4 In short, there is substantial evidence sug

——————

4 Further supporting the workability of the Jackson rule is the fact

that it aligns with the professional standards and norms that already

govern the behavior of police and prosecutors. Rules of Professional

Conduct endorsed by the American Bar Association (ABA) and by every

State Bar Association in the country prohibit prosecutors from making

direct contact with represented defendants in all but the most limited

of circumstances, see App. to Supplemental Brief for Public Defender

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 9

STEVENS, J., dissenting

gesting that Jackson’s rule is not only workable, but also

desirable from the perspective of law enforcement.

Turning to the reliance interests at stake in the case,

the Court rejects the interests of criminal defendants with

the flippant observation that any who are knowledgeable

enough to rely on Jackson are too savvy to need its protec

tions, and casts aside the reliance interests of law en

forcement on the ground that police and prosecutors re

main free to employ the Jackson rule if it suits them. See

ante, at 12. Again as a result of its mistaken understand

ing of the purpose behind Jackson’s protective rule, the

Court fails to identify the real reliance interest at issue in

this case: the public’s interest in knowing that counsel,

once secured, may be reasonably relied upon as a medium

between the accused and the power of the State. That

interest lies at the heart of the Sixth Amendment’s guar

antee, and is surely worthy of greater consideration than

it is given by today’s decision.

Finally, although the Court acknowledges that “antiq

uity” is a factor that counsels in favor of retaining prece

dent, it concludes that the fact Jackson is “only two dec

ades old” cuts “in favor of abandoning” the rule it

established. Ante, at 13. I would have thought that the

——————

Service for the District of Columbia et al. as Amici Curiae 1a–15a

(setting forth state rules governing contact with represented persons);

ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 4.2 (2008); 28 U. S. C.

§530B(a) (making state rules of professional conduct applicable to

federal attorneys), and generations of police officers have been trained

to refrain from approaching represented defendants, both because

Jackson requires it and because, absent direction from prosecutors,

officers are reticent to interrogate represented defendants. See United

States Brief 11–12; see also Thompson Supplemental Brief 13 (citing

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Legal Handbook for Special Agents

§7–4.1(7) (2003)). Indeed, the United States concedes that a decision to

overrule the case “likely w[ill] not significantly alter the manner in

which federal law enforcement agents investigate indicted defendants.”

United States Brief 11–12.

10 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

STEVENS, J., dissenting

23-year existence of a simple bright-line rule would be a

factor that cuts in the other direction.

Despite the fact that the rule established in Jackson

remains relevant, well grounded in constitutional prece

dent, and easily administrable, the Court today rejects it

sua sponte. Such a decision can only diminish the public’s

confidence in the reliability and fairness of our system of

justice.5

III

Even if Jackson had never been decided, it would be

clear that Montejo’s Sixth Amendment rights were vio

lated. Today’s decision eliminates the rule that “any

waiver of Sixth Amendment rights given in a discussion

initiated by police is presumed invalid” once a defendant

has invoked his right to counsel. Harvey, 494 U. S., at 349

(citing Jackson, 475 U. S., at 636). Nevertheless, under

the undisputed facts of this case, there is no sound basis

for concluding that Montejo made a knowing and valid

waiver of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel before

acquiescing in police interrogation following his 72-hour

hearing. Because police questioned Montejo without

notice to, and outside the presence of, his lawyer, the

——————

5 In his concurrence, JUSTICE ALITO assumes that my consideration of

the rule of stare decisis in this case is at odds with the Court’s recent

rejection of his reliance on that doctrine in his dissent in Arizona v.

Gant, 556 U. S. ___ (2009). While I agree that the reasoning in his

dissent supports my position in this case, I do not agree with his

characterization of our opinion in Gant. Contrary to his representation,

the Court did not overrule our precedent in New York v. Belton, 453

U. S. 454 (1981). Rather, we affirmed the narrow interpretation of

Belton’s holding adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court, rejecting the

broader interpretation adopted by other lower courts that had been

roundly criticized by judges and scholars alike. By contrast, in this

case the Court flatly overrules Jackson—a rule that has drawn virtu

ally no criticism—on its own initiative. The two cases are hardly

comparable. If they were, and if JUSTICE ALITO meant what he said in

Gant, I would expect him to join this opinion.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 11

STEVENS, J., dissenting

interrogation violated Montejo’s right to counsel even

under pre-Jackson precedent.

Our pre-Jackson case law makes clear that “the Sixth

Amendment is violated when the State obtains incriminat

ing statements by knowingly circumventing the accused’s

right to have counsel present in a confrontation between

the accused and a state agent.” Moulton, 474 U. S., at

176. The Sixth Amendment entitles indicted defendants

to have counsel notified of and present during critical

confrontations with the state throughout the pretrial

process. Given the realities of modern criminal prosecu

tion, the critical proceedings at which counsel’s assistance

is required more and more often occur outside the court

room in pretrial proceedings “where the results might well

settle the accused’s fate and reduce the trial itself to a

mere formality.” United States v. Wade, 388 U. S. 218,

224 (1967).

In Wade, for instance, we held that because a post

indictment lineup conducted for identification purposes is

a critical stage of the criminal proceedings, a defendant

and his counsel are constitutionally entitled to notice of

the impending lineup. Accordingly, counsel’s presence is a

“requisite to conduct of the lineup, absent an intelligent

waiver.” Id., at 237 (internal quotation marks omitted).

The same reasoning applies to police decisions to interro

gate represented defendants. For if the Sixth Amendment

entitles an accused to such robust protection during a

lineup, surely it entitles him to such protection during a

custodial interrogation, when the stakes are as high or

higher. Cf. Spano v. New York, 360 U. S. 315, 326 (1959)

(Douglas, J., concurring) (“[W]hat use is a defendant’s

right to effective counsel at every stage of a criminal case

if, while he is held awaiting trial, he can be questioned in

the absence of counsel until he confesses?”).

The Court avoids confronting the serious Sixth Amend

ment concerns raised by the police interrogation in this

12 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

STEVENS, J., dissenting

case by assuming that Montejo validly waived his Sixth

Amendment rights before submitting to interrogation.6 It

does so by summarily concluding that “doctrines ensuring

voluntariness of the Fifth Amendment waiver simultane

ously ensure the voluntariness of the Sixth Amendment

waiver,” ante, at 15–16; thus, because Montejo was given

Miranda warnings prior to interrogation, his waiver was

presumptively valid. Ironically, while the Court faults

Jackson for blurring the line between this Court’s Fifth

and Sixth Amendment jurisprudence, it commits the same

error by assuming that the Miranda warnings given in

this case, designed purely to safeguard the Fifth Amend

ment right against self-incrimination, were somehow

adequate to protect Montejo’s more robust Sixth Amend

ment right to counsel.

The majority’s cursory treatment of the waiver question

rests entirely on the dubious decision in Patterson, in

which we addressed whether, by providing Miranda warn

ings, police had adequately advised an indicted but unrep

resented defendant of his Sixth Amendment right to coun

sel. The majority held that “[a]s a general matter . . . an

accused who is admonished with the warnings prescribed

. . . in Miranda, . . . has been sufficiently apprised of the

nature of his Sixth Amendment rights, and of the conse

quences of abandoning those rights.” 487 U. S., at 296.

The Court recognized, however, that “because the Sixth

Amendment’s protection of the attorney-client relationship

——————

6 The majority leaves open the possibility that, on remand, Montejo

may argue that his waiver was invalid because police falsely told him

he had not been appointed counsel. See ante, at 18. While such police

deception would obviously invalidate any otherwise valid waiver of

Montejo’s Sixth Amendment rights, Montejo has a strong argument

that, given his status as a represented criminal defendant, the Miranda

warnings given to him by police were insufficient to permit him to

make a knowing waiver of his Sixth Amendment rights even absent

police deception.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 13

STEVENS, J., dissenting

. . . extends beyond Miranda’s protection of the Fifth

Amendment right to counsel, . . . there will be cases where

a waiver which would be valid under Miranda will not

suffice for Sixth Amendment purposes.” Id., at 297, n. 9.

This is such a case.

As I observed in Patterson, the conclusion that Miranda

warnings ordinarily provide a sufficient basis for a know

ing waiver of the right to counsel rests on the questionable

assumption that those warnings make clear to defendants

the assistance a lawyer can render during post-indictment

interrogation. See 487 U. S., at 307 (dissenting opinion).

Because Miranda warnings do not hint at the ways in

which a lawyer might assist her client during conversa

tions with the police, I remain convinced that the warn

ings prescribed in Miranda,7 while sufficient to apprise a

defendant of his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent,

are inadequate to inform an unrepresented, indicted de

fendant of his Sixth Amendment right to have a lawyer

present at all critical stages of a criminal prosecution. The

inadequacy of those warnings is even more obvious in the

case of a represented defendant. While it can be argued

that informing an indicted but unrepresented defendant of

his right to counsel at least alerts him to the fact that he is

entitled to obtain something he does not already possess,

providing that same warning to a defendant who has

already secured counsel is more likely to confound than

enlighten.8 By glibly assuming that that the Miranda

——————

7 Under Miranda, a suspect must be “warned prior to any questioning

that he has the right to remain silent, that anything he says may be

used against him in court of law, that he has the right to the presence

of any attorney, and that if he cannot afford an attorney, one will be

appointed for him prior to any questioning if he so desires.” 384 U. S.,

at 479.

8 With respect to vulnerable defendants, such as juveniles and those

with mental impairments of various kinds, amici National Association

of Criminal Defense Lawyers et al. assert that “[o]verruling Jackson

would be particularly detrimental . . . because of the confusing instruc

14 MONTEJO v. LOUISIANA

STEVENS, J., dissenting

warnings given in this case were sufficient to ensure

Montejo’s waiver was both knowing and voluntary, the

Court conveniently avoids any comment on the actual

advice Montejo received, which did not adequately inform

him of his relevant Sixth Amendment rights or alert him

to the possible consequences of waiving those rights.

A defendant’s decision to forgo counsel’s assistance and

speak openly with police is a momentous one. Given the

high stakes of making such a choice and the potential

value of counsel’s advice and mediation at that critical

stage of the criminal proceedings, it is imperative that a

defendant possess “a full awareness of both the nature of

the right being abandoned and the consequences of the

decision to abandon it,” Moran v. Burbine, 475 U. S. 412,

421 (1986), before his waiver is deemed valid. See Iowa v.

Tovar, 541 U. S. 77, 81 (2004); Johnson v. Zerbst, 304

U. S. 458, 464 (1938). Because the administration of

Miranda warnings was insufficient to ensure Montejo

understood the Sixth Amendment right he was being

asked to surrender, the record in this case provides no

basis for concluding that Montejo validly waived his right

to counsel, even in the absence of Jackson’s enhanced

protections.

IV

The Court’s decision to overrule Jackson is unwar

ranted. Not only does it rests on a flawed doctrinal prem

——————

tions regarding counsel that they would receive. At the initial hearing,

they would likely learn that an attorney was being appointed for them,

In a later custodial interrogation, however, they would be informed in

the traditional manner of ‘their right to counsel’ and right to have

counsel ‘appointed’ if they are indigent, notwithstanding that counsel

had already been appointed in open court. These conflicting statements

would be confusing to anyone, but would be especially baffling to

defendants with mental disabilities or other impairments.” Supple

mental Brief for National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers

et al. as Amici Curiae 7–8.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 15

STEVENS, J., dissenting

ise, but the dubious benefits it hopes to achieve are far

outweighed by the damage it does to the rule of law and

the integrity of the Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

Moreover, even apart from the protections afforded by

Jackson, the police interrogation in this case violated

Jesse Montejo’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel.

I respectfully dissent.

Cite as: 556 U. S. ____ (2009) 1

BREYER, J., dissenting

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

_________________

No. 07–1529

_________________

JESSE JAY MONTEJO, PETITIONER v.

LOUISIANA

ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF

LOUISIANA

[May 26, 2009]

JUSTICE BREYER, dissenting.

I join JUSTICE STEVENS’ dissent except for footnote 5.

Although the principles of stare decisis are not inflexible, I

believe they bind the Court here. I reached a similar

conclusion in Arizona v. Gant, 556 U. S. ___, ___–___

(2009) (slip op., at 1–2) (BREYER, J., dissenting), and in

several other recent cases. See, e.g., Leegin Creative

Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U. S. 877, ___–

___ (2007) (slip op., at 17–19) (BREYER, J., dissenting);

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School

Dist. No. 1, 551 U. S. 701, ___–___ (2007) (slip op., at 65–

66) (BREYER, J., dissenting); Federal Election Comm’n v.

Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc., 551 U. S. 449, ___–___ (2007)

(slip op., at 31–32) (SOUTER, J., dissenting); Bowles v.

Russell, 551 U. S. 205, 219–220 (2007) (SOUTER, J., dis

senting); Gonzales v. Carhart, 550 U. S. 124, 190–191

(2007) (GINSBURG, J., dissenting); District of Columbia v.

Heller, 554 U. S. ___, ___–___ (2008) (slip op. at 41–45)

(STEVENS, J., dissenting).