The Kids Aren’t Alright: The Road to Abandoning Deceptive Interrogation Techniques for Juvenile Suspects in Maryland

Allison Stillinghagan

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the right against self-incrimination. Under Miranda v. Arizona, police officers inform suspects of a crime of this protection when officers read the Miranda rights, which include the right to remain silent. However, during an interrogation, police officers often utilize psychologically deceptive techniques to elicit a confession from a suspect whom they believe is guilty. Deceptive interrogation techniques have been shown to lead to more false confessions than transparent questioning. Deceptive techniques tend to cause heightened concern when used in cases involving juvenile suspects. Juveniles do not yet have a fully developed prefrontal cortex, meaning that they are not yet fully able to control impulsivity or fully consider the lasting consequences of their actions. A child or adolescent is more likely to succumb to coercion during an interrogation than an adult under the same circumstances. Deceptive interrogation techniques have been noted in several high-profile cases of juveniles who produced false confessions, such as the now-exonerated Central Park Five and the more recent case of Brendan Dassey. On July 15, 2021, the Governor of Illinois signed Senate Bill 2122 into law, which prohibits law enforcement officers from deceiving juvenile suspects during custodial interrogations. This law bans techniques such as lying about protections that will be afforded to the juvenile and claiming to have false evidence in order to secure a confession. Any confession made by a juvenile suspect who was subject to such deceptive techniques during an interrogation will be deemed inadmissible as evidence. This law went into effect on January 1, 2022. A similar law banning the use of deceptive interrogation techniques on juvenile suspects has been passed in Oregon and was also enacted on January 1, 2022. Taking inspiration from these recent statutes, this Comment will explain why the Maryland General Assembly must implement statutory protections for juvenile suspects by banning the use of deceptive interrogation techniques when interrogating juveniles to protect their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Part I will explore the recent trends in police interrogation methods in the United States, highlight concerns for juveniles in interrogations, discuss current interrogation techniques practiced in Maryland, and evaluate the recent legislation passed in Illinois and Oregon. Part II will analyze specific concerns for juveniles in the context of false confessions, call attention to injustices in Maryland’s current interrogation practices, and, finally, introduce a model statute for the Maryland General Assembly that bans the use of deceptive interrogation techniques for juvenile suspects while urging the General Assembly to require implementation of a new method of police interrogation.