It's always nice—and increasingly rare—when public policy catches up to science. Today, the King County Sheriff's Office did just that when the office updated its language used to warn juveniles of their Miranda rights.
Researchers on juvenile development and psychology have long pointed out that juveniles hardly understand their rights when officers read them their Miranda warning in legalese. Plus, younger juveniles are more likely to waive their rights and confess than older teens. (In one study, more than double the juveniles under age 15 confessed compared to teens over 15.) This is particularly troubling when it comes to false confessions. One experimental study found that 75 percent of falsely accused young adults in a simulation easily gave false confessions.
For these reasons, in 2013 the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry came out in support of alternate Miranda warnings tailored toward adolescents' cognitive development. Adolescents, the AACA wrote, don't have fully developed frontal lobes—the centers for reasoning and judgment—and as such, are more likely to act on impulse.
"In general, it is not sufficient to simply read or recite information to a juvenile," the AACA's statement read. "Ensuring meaningful understanding will usually require asking the individual to explain the information conveyed in his or her own words."
In a press release, the King County Sheriff's Office said it collaborated with the Department of Public Defense (DPD) and Creative Justice, a public art program that helps divert court-involved youth from incarceration.
Anita Khandelwal, interim deputy director of the DPD, told The Stranger that the issue came about when, during testimony in front of the King County Council on whether juveniles should be interrogated without the presence of an attorney, King County Sheriff chief of staff Chris Barringer mentioned that teens often don't understand their Miranda rights.
"We then reached out to him and said, 'You've identified a problem and this seems like something we could work on together,'" Khandelwal said.
Now the Sheriff's Office will conduct Miranda warnings with the following language:
1. You have the right to remain silent, which means that you don’t have to say anything.
2. It’s OK if you don’t want to talk to me.
3. If you do want to talk to me, I can tell the juvenile court judge or adult court judge and
Probation Officer what you tell me.
4. You have the right to talk to a free lawyer right now. That free lawyer works for you
and is available at any time – even late at night. That lawyer does not tell anyone
what you tell them. That free lawyer helps you decide if it’s a good idea to answer
questions. That free lawyer can be with you if you want to talk with me.
5. If you start to answer my questions, you can change your mind and stop at any time.
I won’t ask you any more questions.
"It's a really forward-looking policy by the Sheriff's Office," Khandelwal said.
