Is you read her her Miranda rights correct or should it be you read her the Miranda rights?

Answer 1

This is not really so much a legal question as one of grammar.

So we are asked which is "right": "you read her her Miranda rights" vs. "you read her the Miranda rights."

They are both correct. Certainly "the" Miranda rights is correct. Miranda rights are proper things and the definite article is warranted (give read "a" Miranda rights a whirl). However, any person in a U.S. jurisdiction is possessed of Fifth Amendment rights (either directly or via the 14th Amendment) and it is therefore proper to use the possessive when relating them to said rights. Thus, I have my rights and you have yours and she has her rights and those include "her Miranda rights."

However, there might be a more subtle pattern of inquiry here. What exactly do we mean by "Miranda rights"? The right to be read Miranda warnings is itself some sort of contingent right (If I understand Dickerson correctly--but really, does anyone?), or rather it's a right to have unwarned incriminating responses to custodial interrogation excluded from the government's case-in-chief.

I would hold that what we mean when we say "Miranda rights" is essentially the same as what we mean when we say the "Miranda warnings" (as distinct from the singular "Miranda warning"). It is a reference to the set of constitutionally protected rights actually described to the subject during the reading. Could it also be a reference to the specified text rather than the rights therein? I think that that is in the mind of many speakers--the ritual itself, but grammatically I think the conclusion that the words mean the rights is unavoidable. However, if we say "read her the/her Miranda warning" the use of the singular shifts meaning more to the ritual text. However this expression is uncommon. Much more common is the very practical expression "Mirandized." "Have you Mirandized her yet?" I expect this will continue to grow in popularity.

So, returning to the main issue, which is correct? "Her" or "the"? Again, they are both correct. Which is "best"? "The Miranda rights" is best. It avoids the awkward double pronoun "her her," [notice this is not an issue with "him his"], but is also focuses purely on the object, the rights being read, and, with the indirect object clearly specified, dispenses with the possessive pronoun, which is basically redundant.

Which is most common? "Her" is most common. This is probably because of the emphasis on the necessary ritual reading of the rights to each individual. "Did you read this one her rights yet?" "Her rights? Yeah, I read her hers. She's all set. Did you do his yet?" "Sure did. By the way, you seen my truncheon?"

Another question is whether "the Miranda rights" or "the Miranda Rights" is correct. Perhaps we should dig up Kate Turabian and ask her. She would know. But if someone decides to beat it out of me, I'll have to say "the Miranda Rights."