New law prohibits the police from lying to juveniles in custody
Illinois has become the first state to prohibit the police from lying to juveniles that are being interrogated. Any minor (under 18) in police custody and being questioned about a crime, whether a misdemeanor or felony, is protected if the police are “deceptive” in their interrogation. (See Illinois Senate Bill 2122 passed in 2021 below)
“Deception” is defined in the law as “the knowing communication of false facts about evidence or unauthorized statements regarding leniency by a law enforcement officer or juvenile officer to a subject of custodial interrogation.” Custody is based on whether “a reasonable person in the subject’s position would consider himself or herself to be in custody.”
The law is meant to stop the use of deceptive tactics often used by law enforcement to obtain a confession. It creates a presumption that any confession obtained as a result of in-custody questioning of a minor is inadmissible in court. This presumption may be overcome by a preponderance of evidence “that the confession was voluntarily given based on the totality of the circumstances.” The burden is on the state to prove this.
You can read the law for yourself here:
Illinois General Assembly – Full Text of SB2122 (ilga.gov)
