THESIS: There needs to be better laws, and guidelines for questioning and interrogating suspects, to reduce the amount of false confessions which lead to wrongful convictions.
BACKGOUND: In the last few years there has been a lot of news coverage of convicted people being found innocent after serving years in prison for crimes they did not commit. It can take several years and many appeals for the false confessor to have their case heard in the court system; if at all. Courts seem to have the tendency to accept the confession at face value and are reluctant to question it. I believe this happens because “law enforcement” took the confession and judges tend to believe that all rules were followed by police. I believe that if the prosecution is going to use a confession in their case, and as one of their strongest pieces of “evidence”, a hearing should be set to decide on the validity of the confession. Even when defense attorneys file motions to have them thrown out due to allegations of coercion, the courts deny the motion almost instantly, which leads to a wrongful conviction. This is the very reason new laws, and guidelines need to be implemented in regards to questioning and interrogating a suspect by police, in order to get a confession.
OBJECTIVE: My intention is to show that with stricter laws and guidelines for questioning and interrogating suspects, the amount of false confessions would drop considerably, and in turn the wrongful conviction rate would drop as well. Through research of actual cases, law journals, false confession experts’ research, and the current laws, I intend to show that there is cause for better regulations. With supporting evidence I will show that the current laws are not working as they should.
SUPPORTING POINTS:
Innocent people are being convicted 1. People that have diminished mental capacities know no better. 2. People that are tired and hungry will confess to get food and sleep. 3. People that have faith that the justice system will figure out the truth.
Police questioning and interrogation practices 1. Denying a person there right to an attorney. 2. Depriving a person food and or sleep. 3. Lying to a suspect about evidence.
Courts have a tendency to accept confession at face value 1. Courts do not like to admit wrong doing of law enforcement. 2. Courts that have accepted false confessions don’t like to admit they were wrong. 3. Courts cite time constraints and scheduling as issues to push through confessions
COUNTER- ARGUMENTS: 1. A person would not confess to a crime they didn’t commit. 2. The laws that are in place work just fine. 3. It is too costly and time consuming.
RESPONSE TO COUNTER-ARGUMENTS: 1. This may be the general assumption by many, facts show that it does happen. 2. The amount of convictions that have been overturned recently, show differently. 3. The time and cost would actually be reduced.
IMPLICATIONS: Every individual should want our justice system to be fair and impartial. By implementing new laws and guidelines for questioning and interrogating suspects, society as a whole wins.
TENTATIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Perillo, Jennifer T.; Kassin, Saul M. “Inside Interrogation: The Lie, the Bluff and False Confessions," Law and Human Behavior, August 2011, Volume 35, Issue 4, pp 327-337 - See more at: http://journalistsresource.org/studies/government/criminal-justice/interrogation-lie-bluff-false-confession#sthash.gWg1sS1U.dpuf http://www.innocenceproject.org/understand/False-Confessions.php http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/opinion/sunday/why-do-innocent-people-confess.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Geoffrey Pickersgill, What Evidence Is There for a Link Between Mental Impairment and an Increased Risk of False Confessions? Internet J. of Crim. (July 2012), http://www.internetjournal of criminology.com/Pickersgill_Mental_Impairment_and_an_Increased_Risk_of_False_Confessions_IJC_July_2012.pdf.
Saul M. Kassin and Gisli H. Gudjonsson, The Psychology of Confessions: A Review of the Literature and Issues, 5 Psychol. Sci. in the Pub. Int. 33, 51 (2004). http://www.cornell.edu Wakefield, Hollinda & Underwager, Ralph (Autumn 1998). Coerced or nonvoluntary confessions. Behavioral Sciences and the Law 