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- Referred to codes
Companion bill
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Requires police to advise persons under 18 years of age to their rights to silence and to any attorney before any custodial interrogation
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Walter T. Mosley
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the criminal procedure law and the family court act, in relation to requiring law enforcement authorities to advise persons under the age of eighteen years of certain rights when such persons are questioned while in custody
Purpose
To ensure that juveniles accused of crimes are made fully aware of their legal rights, in order to decrease the rate of false confessions and wrongful convictions.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 amends section 60.45 of the criminal procedure law, adding a new subdivision 3 requiring a specific warning to 16 and 17 year olds prior to police custodial interrogation.
Section 2 renumbers subdivision 3 of section 344.2 of the family court act and adds a new subdivision 3 to require a specific warning to youths subject to family court jurisdiction when questioned prior to police custodial interrogation.
Justification
False confessions are a major problem in our criminal justice system. Though individuals of all ages are at risk for making false confessions, youths are particularly vulnerable due to their maturity and education. More than 115,000 pre-teens and over 1 million juveniles annually are criminally charged nationwide. There are numerous studies confirming that youth exercise their Miranda rights at rates much lower than adults, and make false confessions at a much higher rate than adults.
One important way to prevent this is by ensuring that youth understand their constitutional rights commonly known as "Miranda Rights." There is no standardized Miranda warning wording, with many jurisdictions using the same warning regardless of an individual's age. Warnings may range from less than 100 words in length, to over 1,000 words. Using the widely accepted "FleschKincaid" analysis, the wording of some warnings requires a college reading level.
The American Bar Association (ABA) adopted a resolution in 2010, calling upon state legislatures and Congress to enact legislation requiring special Miranda warning language for juveniles. The ABA rightly suggests that such legislation would benefit defendants, police, and prosecutors. When youth are made aware of their rights, they are less likely to make false statements, decreasing the risk of wrongful conviction. Simply, no one benefits when the wrong person is convicted of a crime, especially an innocent child.
The proposed language and waiver utilizes brief sentences, a short length in total and wording comprehensible for an elementary school reading level.
Legislative history
New Bill
Fiscal impact on the state
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become a law.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.