Opinion · Supreme Court of the United States

Nix v. Williams

Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431 (1984)

Type: Opinion
Court: Supreme Court of the United States
Jurisdiction: Federal
Date: 1984-06-11
Topic: bankruptcy

Justice White, concurring. I join fully in the opinion of the Court. I write separately only to point out that many of Justice Stevens’ remarks are beside the point when it is recalled that Brewer v. Williams, 430 U. S. 387 (1977), was a 5-4 decision and that four Members of the Court, including myself, were of the view that Detective Learning had done nothing wrong at all, let alone anything unconstitutional.

Citator

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Justice White,

concurring.

I join fully in the opinion of the Court. I write separately only to point out that many of Justice Stevens’ remarks are beside the point when it is recalled that Brewer v. Williams, 430 U. S. 387 (1977), was a 5-4 decision and that four Members of the Court, including myself, were of the view that Detective Learning had done nothing wrong at all, let alone anything unconstitutional. Three of us observed: “To anyone not lost in the intricacies of the prophylactic *451 rules of Miranda v. Arizona, the result in this case seems utterly senseless . . . .” Id., at 438. It is thus an unjustified reflection on Detective Learning to say that he “decide[d] to dispense with the requirements of law,” post, this page, or that he decided “to take procedural shortcuts instead of complying with the law,” post, at 457. He was no doubt acting as many competent police officers would have acted under similar circumstances and in light of the then-existing law. That five Justices later thought he was mistaken does not call for making him out to be a villain or for a lecture on deliberate police misconduct and its resulting costs to society.