False Confessions In Juvenile Court Cases

Over years of cases and research, it has been found that a large proportion of false confessions are made by juveniles. To combat the rate of false confessions, there needs to be a reform of the legal practices used in juvenile court cases. The first significant step the court took in showing that adults and children are different was the case Roper v. Simmons – the ruling of this case forbid the use of execution on individuals under the age of 18. The court acknowledged that there are developmental differences between adults and children that make children at less fault for their crimes. These developmental differences include the “immaturity of judgement”, which highlights the differences of children and adults when it comes to risk taking, impulse control, and reasoning. These and other developmental differences are why …show more content…
Children do not have the same cognitive ability as adults – they have issues with retention and correctly remembering information. While research does show these issues exist, it also shows that they are only a major concern for eyewitness testimony made by youths. Research has also shown that the use of suggestive interrogation tactics such as long, complex sentences, double negatives, and forced choice questions decrease the reliability of a child’s testimony. Other common suggestive investigative tactics such as isolation, minimization, and confrontation can also decrease the reliability of juvenile testimony. Children are also influenced by authority figures – they have a desire to please officers and are affected by negative feedback. These factors are more likely to lead children to changing their responses or making false statements. Biased investigators can also affect the accuracy of a child’s testimony. Biased investigators may come into an interrogation with an opinion which can lead to them cherry-picking and only asking biased