Police shouldn't lie to minors during questioning, ABA House says
At the ABA Annual Meeting on Monday, the House of Delegates considered a resolution that addresses police questioning of minors. (Image from Shutterstock)
At the ABA Annual Meeting on Monday, the House of Delegates considered a resolution that addresses police questioning of minors.
Resolution 517, which was sponsored by the Criminal Justice Section, urges all legislative bodies and government agencies to establish laws and policies that ban law enforcement from purposely using deceptive tactics to elicit incriminating responses, confessions or admissions of culpability of a crime from youths under the age of 18. These tactics include falsification of facts and unauthorized promises of leniency, such as release from arrest or detention, dismissal of charges or refraining from treatment as an adult.
Wayne McKenzie, a Criminal Justice Section delegate, introduced the resolution. He said juveniles suspected of committing crimes “are subject to the same questioning strategies and interrogation tactics that police tend to use when questioning their adult counterparts.”
McKenzie added: “Presently, no laws exist to protect juveniles from interrogation techniques that are legal to practice with adults.”
In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court established in In re Gault that juveniles are entitled to due process protections under the 14th Amendment. These protections include the right to counsel and safeguards against self-incrimination.
Follow along with the ABA Journal’s coverage of the 2024 ABA Annual Meeting here.
Police questioning of minors, however, when paired with deceptive or coercive means, is more likely to result in false confessions and wrongful convictions, according to the report accompanying the resolution.
The report cites data from the Juvenile Law Center that shows “adolescents waive their Miranda rights at an astounding rate of 90%.” It also cites data from the National Registry of Exonerations, which reported in 2022 that 34% of exonerated defendants who were under 18 at the time of the crime falsely confessed.
“Advances in neuroscience support what any parent or teacher knows—teenagers are fundamentally different from adults in ways that are critically important to their treatment in the criminal justice system,” said McKenzie, who has three “very intelligent and high-functioning” daughters.
“Growing up, they always reminded me that the adolescent brain truly does not develop until the age of 24,” he said. “Now caught at this awkward middle stage of neurological development, children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to the external influences, such as that exerted by an experienced interrogator.”
Resolution 517 passed overwhelmingly.
See also:
ABA House addresses treatment of children and youths in pair of resolutions
Children should be protected from unreasonable restraints, seclusion and searches, ABA House says
