102: The Origin of Miranda Rights & an "Ugly" Anchorwoman

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We all know that Miranda rights are important. They’re a staple in every episode of Law & Order. They’re a quick and concise way of making a person aware of their rights. But how did we get Miranda rights? Well, it’s complicated. And it all started with a world-class douchebag named Ernesto Miranda.

Then, Kristin tells us about anchorwoman Christine Craft. Christine was good at her job. By the time she was hired to co-anchor the evening news in Kansas City, she’d proven herself as a talented reporter and a hard worker. But Christine was no dummy. She knew that women news anchors get unfairly judged for their looks. So before she took the job in Kansas City, she told the station management that she wasn’t looking for a makeover. They assured her they were hiring her for her journalistic talent. They were full of shit.

And now for a note about our process. For each episode, Kristin reads a bunch of articles, then spits them back out in her very limited vocabulary. Brandi copies and pastes from the best sources on the web. And sometimes Wikipedia. (No shade, Wikipedia. We love you.) We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the real experts who covered these cases.

In this episode, Kristin pulled from:
“The surfing and survival of Christine Craft,” by Elisabeth Bumiller for the Washington Post
“Judging the news by appearance,” The Age
“Jury awards Christine Craft $325,000,” by Peter Kerr for The New York Times
“Once fired for appearance: Christine Craft to be anchor in Sacramento,” by Jay Sharbutt for The Los Angeles Times
The appellate court opinion on Justia.com
The book, “Waiting for Prime Time: The Women of Television News” by Marlene Sanders and Marcia Rock
“Manager: Appearance key for the TV news anchor,” United Press International
“Christine Craft” wikipedia

In this episode, Brandi pulled from:
“Miranda v. Arizona: The Crime That Changed American Justice” by Mark Gribben, The Crime Library
“Miranda v. Arizona” wikipedia.org
“Facts and Case Summary - Miranda v. Arizona” USCourts.gov
“Miranda v. Arizona” Encyclopedia Britannica