In a five to four decision, the Supreme Court has concluded that a suspect’s silence alone did not invoke his right to remain silent. Instead, the suspect’s voluntary statement to police after three hours of silence -- responding “yes” when an interrogator asked whether he prayed to God to forgive him for a shooting – waived his Miranda right.

The dissent by Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Stevens, Ginsburg and Breyer, viewed the majority opinion as “a substantial retreat from the protection against compelled self-incrimination that Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U. S. 436 (1966), has long provided during custodial interrogation.”