Chavez v. Martinez

Chavez v. Martinez
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 4, 2002 Decided May 27, 2003
Full case name	Ben Chavez v. Oliverio Martinez
Citations	538 U.S. 760 (more) 123 S. Ct. 1994; 155 L. Ed. 2d 984
Court membership
Chief Justice William Rehnquist Associate Justices John P. Stevens · Sandra Day O'Connor Antonin Scalia · Anthony Kennedy David Souter · Clarence Thomas Ruth Bader Ginsburg · Stephen Breyer
Case opinions
Plurality	Thomas, joined by Rehnquist (in full); O'Connor (Parts I and II-A); Scalia (Parts I and II)
Plurality	Souter, joined by Breyer (Part I and II); Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsburg (Part II)
Concurrence	Scalia (in judgment)
Concur/dissent	Stevens
Concur/dissent	Kennedy, joined by Stevens (in full); Ginsburg (in part)
Concur/dissent	Ginsburg

Chavez v. Martinez, 538 U.S. 760 (2003), was a decision of the United States Supreme Court, which held that a police officer does not deprive a suspect of constitutional rights by failing to issue a Miranda warning. However, the court held open the possibility that the right to substantive due process could be violated in certain egregious circumstances and remanded the case to the lower court to decide this issue on the case's facts.

A complex series of concurrences and dissents were filed, many partially joined by various justices. Justice Thomas announced the judgment of the court, finding that no constitutional rights were violated. However, the only opinion to gain the votes of a majority of the court was Part II of Souter's concurrence, which consisted of a direction to the lower court to consider the substantive due process claims on remand.