NCJ Number
80764
Journal
California Law Review Volume: 68 Issue: 6 Dated: (December 1980) Pages: 1134-1166
Date Published
1980
Length
33 pages
Annotation
Methodologies and findings are presented from two empirical studies that examined juveniles' capacities to understand and make a decision on waiver of rights, in this case Miranda rights.
Abstract
In the first test, three measures were developed to assess comprehension of the words and phrases used in the Miranda warning. One test assessed the subjects' paraphrases of each of the four Miranda warning statements. The second test critiqued subjects' definitions of the six critical words from the Miranda statements, and the third test involved subjects' true or false responses to 12 rewordings of the Miranda warnings. The second study measured subjects' perceptions of the function and significance of the rights conveyed by Miranda statements. Three areas of perception were examined: (1) perception of the nature of police interrogation, (2) perception that the attorney is an arrestee's advocate and is required to maintain any confidence, and (3) perception that the right to silence is an absolute protection from self-incrimination. The studies indicate that as a class, juveniles younger than 15 do not understand the Miranda rights to remain silent and to retain counsel. These findings support the need for a per se exclusionary rule pertaining to the issuing of Miranda warnings for younger juveniles. Requiring the presence of counsel during the interrogation of any juvenile under 15 would appear to be the most effective rule. Tabular data and 117 footnotes are provided.